Written by contributor Nicole Wilson
Sitting Pretty was a recommendation. The fact that the audiobook is narrated by Taussig herself clinched my decision to read it and I am so glad I did! I hold my hands up and say that I am still working on reading more books about disabled people or featuring disabled characters so this was an eye opening read. It is one of those examples I want to hold in the air, point at and yell, “this is why you read books about people with entirely different experiences to you!” It is so important for these stories to be told, to uplift these voices, to gather a greater sense of understanding about the world surrounding us and how it affects people just trying to live their everyday lives.
“The goal is not to avoid falling or needing help. The goal is to be seen, asked, heard, believed, valued as we are, allowed to exist in these exact bodies, invited to the party, and encouraged to dance however we want to.”
It may be a memoir in essays, but this book flows so well through the stages of Taussig’s live, taking you on a journey with her from childhood right through to now. Listening to her talk honestly about her experiences will give readers so many eye opening moments—you know those times when something is obvious, if you’d only thought about it? She talks about the difficulty in finding accessible housing, about the plethora of times people thought her partner was her brother or carer, or where he was congratulated for dating her because people honestly couldn’t see why somebody in a wheelchair was attractive, about the amount of times people offered to help when she was doing a task she had done a thousand times before—oftentimes this making her rush and fumble something instead. One example was where she was getting out of her car into her wheelchair when a man started yelling at her and running towards the car yelling “don’t fall, don’t fall!” Why was the assumption that she needed help and would definitely fall if an able-bodied person didn’t assist? A lot of the time able-bodied people assume that disabled people need help and step in rather than actually asking first.
Taussiq goes into great detail about kindness towards disabled people and how it is a complicated matter at heart. Attempts at kindness can be anything from healing to humiliating, helpful to traumatic for her. The act of kindness often spotlights the able bodied person rather than the disabled, for example the teenager who helped a deaf and blind man on a flight who became a feel good news story or when her boyfriend at the time carried Taussiq through a long cave, which resulted in everyone heaping praise on him. This book definitely highlights how these types of events are viewed by people and the media as a whole.
“A world built on speed, productivity, more, more, more! and far too few bathrooms (and bathroom breaks) does not consider or care for the actual bodies we live in. In other words, ableism affects all of us, whether we consider ourselves disabled or not.”
Taussig talks about being a working woman nowadays, about how she went to a panel where they spoke about how a 60 hour week is not uncommon and about how having a work life balance is a struggle—and that’s for able bodied people. It is a lot harder for disabled people to live in a world so focused on productivity, where getting in early, staying late and working through lunch is encouraged. She talks about how having a flexible work environment doesn’t just benefit disabled people but the workforce as a whole in finding that balance.
“This is one of the most beautiful parts of being a human—the drive to connect and understand, heal and blossom. This is the kernel that takes my breath away. The piece I want to hold on to.”
Taussiq’s writing draws you in and is easy to read despite it being non fiction. She flows through topics and explores them just enough to explain her side of the story and pique your interest in exploring further outside of her work. If you’re looking for an open and honest account of what it means to be disabled in a world built for the able bodied, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Sitting Pretty is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up Sitting Pretty? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.
Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.
Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life.
Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.
