Something rather interesting, and more than a little problematic, has just come to my attention. I didn’t watch The Traitors for the most part as that kind of reality TV doesn’t really appeal to me, but I caught glimpses of it. I watched the finale last night over a few beers. In the follow-up coverage this morning, though, it was mentioned that one of the finalists, a guy called Jake, claims to have Cerebral Palsy. That obviously immediately pricked my interest.
If he has CP, I didn’t notice it. Of course, not everyone’s CP is as obvious as mine; but he was clearly perfectly ambulant, as dexterous as anyone else and could speak perfectly clearly. Thus the way in which he seemed to be going out of his way to emphasise that he was disabled didn’t sit well with me. A disability should surely have a significant effect on one’s ability to perform day to day activities; otherwise, what’s the point of categorising yourself as disabled? If you can do anything which anyone else can, you’re not disabled. Admittedly, I didn’t get a clear, long view of the guy, but at a glance I’d have said he was perfectly normal.
I hope everyone can understand why this doesn’t sit well with me. My Cerebral Palsy has caused me to struggle all my life; I’ve known people even more profoundly effected by it, including Lyn. It isn’t my place to judge other people’s disabilities, but frankly this smacked of bandwagon jumping, or what I call Cultural Intrusion. Jake was claiming to have a disability which he doesn’t really have, or which effects him only very mildly; yet he was going out of his way to emphasise that he has it for social gain. That is like someone claiming to be gay, trans, jewish or even black when they have absolutely no experience of any of those minorities, but then trying to speak on behalf of all other members of that minority. Would you not feel offended by someone appearing on national television, claiming to be a member of the minority you belong to, speaking for you or as though they shared your life experience, when they clearly know nothing of the discrimination you face on an almost daily basis? Unfortunately this is a social phenomenon I’m now seeing more and more of; this simply makes me more certain that I’m not just imagining it.
The Ill-Informed Ramblings of a Cripple 
I don’t know him personally and have never watched Traitors, but Jake is local to me and therefore there has been stuff about him in the local press. He does have mild hemiplegia and it does affect him, his stamina and his balance…so to you he looked “normal” (you really used that word!) but compared to young people without any sort of CP, like when he was at school, he was quite disabled at times.
CP, as you know, affects people very differently…but just because not everyone with CP is a wheelchair user, with poor hand function and little or no speech does not mean that they are “jumping on the disability bandwagon” You have fairly significant CP, as does my adult child, but neither of you have any idea what it is like to be so very mildly affected that people assume you are a fake, when you actually have huge problems with handwriting, or balance or whatever. Just as i have no idea what it is actually like to have any sort of CP…but I hope I have learned over the years that someone elses experience is not mine, and I cannot possibly know how it is for them, and so I should not be too quick to judge, cos it works both ways.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for that bit of context. You’re right: everyone’s CP is different, and it’s not my place to judge anyone else’s. The way which he seemed to be going out of his way to stress that he has CP, when it clearly didn’t seem to effect him, was just striking.
LikeLike