[Air-l] ableist language (was facebook)

[Kathy Mancuso]

In answer to Mr Cornwell's commment (and possibly Dr Goddard's--since
he said it was paraphrased I don't know what wording Dr Goddard used)
that we are all half-blind on the internet, it is inappropriate and
ableist to use the word blind to denote what appears from this post to
mean wilful ignorance.  By using that term in that way, you are
arguing that just because blind people cannot see they are somehow
less aware of the world around them than sighted people, which isn't
true: just differently aware.  The sort of wilful spin on it here just
makes the ableism even worse.

Perhaps we could use a term like oblivious or unaware instead.  A
thesaurus will provide you with many excellent options that do not
cast aspersions on a particular group.  Thank you in advance for your
consideration in keeping AIR-L a friendly and non-discriminatory space
for everyone.

Kathy

-- 
. . . connection in an isolating age . . .
Katherine Mancuso, graduate student, Emory University

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