Britney Spears’s Conservatorship and the Harm of “For Your Own Good”
What’s terrifying about Spears’s situation, for a certain kind of disabled person, is that we are a razor’s edge away from joining her.
ThisisAn Unquiet Mind, a National Magazine Award-winning column by s.e. smith that explores disability identity and its interaction with the world at large.
s.e. smith is a National Magazine Award-winning Northern California-based writer who has appeared in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Bitch Magazine, and numerous other fine publications.
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More by this author
Making Connections Through the “Trans Trade”
The act of the trans trade, and its ritualization, came readily to hand for me, but it’s a distant possibility for so many of us.
Listening to Long Covid’s Lessons and Teachers—Today and Tomorrow
We will adapt. We will find new nesting places. But there will be no return to “before.” Not for the flock.
In a Time of Mass Mourning, Grief Stories Are a Lifeline
In our constrained culture where public, raw grief is not socially acceptable, I fear that grief stories are being asked to do too much.
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Why the Label of ‘Gifted Kid’ Isn’t Always a Gift
Here’s a thing about being labeled “smart” as a kid: When there’s a thing you’re not good at, people assume it is because you are lazy.
First You Must Know Something Is Wrong
Everyone’s experience of a diagnosis is different. Here is mine: A key opens a lock I didn’t know existed, sending a door swinging wide.
Disability Status Shouldn’t Have a Hierarchy
While someone’s disability may not be evident to you, it still affects their life—and how they’re treated within and outside the disability community.