Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism
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- Create Date：2021-10-10 10:19:08
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Elsa Sjunneson
- ISBN：B08STXGP1C
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Summary
A deafblind writer and professor explores how the misrepresentation of disability in books， movies， and TV harms both the disabled community and everyone else。
As a deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids， Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight， hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of the world around her。 While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane， she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they’re whispering behind her back。 And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be。
As a media studies professor， she’s also seen the full range of blind and deaf portrayals on film， and here she deconstructs their impact， following common tropes through horror， romance， and everything in between。 Part memoir， part cultural criticism， part history of the deafblind experience， Being Seen explores how our cultural concept of disability is more myth than fact， and the damage it does to us all。
As a deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids， Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight， hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of the world around her。 While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane， she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they’re whispering behind her back。 And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be。
As a media studies professor， she’s also seen the full range of blind and deaf portrayals on film， and here she deconstructs their impact， following common tropes through horror， romance， and everything in between。 Part memoir， part cultural criticism， part history of the deafblind experience， Being Seen explores how our cultural concept of disability is more myth than fact， and the damage it does to us all。
Reviews
Courtney
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I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review。 This book is an educational look at the ways in which society reinforces ableist attitudes， some （relatively） innocuous and some incredibly insidious， yet all overlooked。 As a disabled person myself， I’ve faced some of the challenges discussed in the book， while also being stunned and horrified at others that were brought up。 I love the way Sjunneson used to her own experiences as a reference point， but also I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review。 This book is an educational look at the ways in which society reinforces ableist attitudes， some （relatively） innocuous and some incredibly insidious， yet all overlooked。 As a disabled person myself， I’ve faced some of the challenges discussed in the book， while also being stunned and horrified at others that were brought up。 I love the way Sjunneson used to her own experiences as a reference point， but also spoke to the wider issues and how they impact people she knows or has read about。 I especially appreciated her insights into the intersections of disability with race and sexuality， especially as they add additional nuances that also don’t get acknowledged， like police brutality or the stereotypes around sexual attraction for disabled people。 。。。more
Jaye Viner
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Intimate and wonderfully sarcastic exploration of one person's experiences and explorations of disability in an abled society with thoughtful unearthing into our ideas of heroic figures， disabled tropes and the way disabled bodies in our media influence the lived experiences of disabled people。 Intimate and wonderfully sarcastic exploration of one person's experiences and explorations of disability in an abled society with thoughtful unearthing into our ideas of heroic figures， disabled tropes and the way disabled bodies in our media influence the lived experiences of disabled people。 。。。more
Corrie
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Beautiful， funny， informative， and relatable。 Elsa Sjunneson does an incredible job at sharing her story while writing on the broader topic of ableism and accessibility。 As a disabled person， I appreciate the necessary and difficult work Sjunneson has put into this book。 Too many people experience ableism on a daily basis and there is little attention to the harm it causes。 "It is a truth universally unacknowledged that you could become disabled at any point in your life" - Elsa SjunnesonI revie Beautiful， funny， informative， and relatable。 Elsa Sjunneson does an incredible job at sharing her story while writing on the broader topic of ableism and accessibility。 As a disabled person， I appreciate the necessary and difficult work Sjunneson has put into this book。 Too many people experience ableism on a daily basis and there is little attention to the harm it causes。 "It is a truth universally unacknowledged that you could become disabled at any point in your life" - Elsa SjunnesonI reviewed this book in exchange for an advance copy。 Thank you to the author， publisher， and NetGalley for providing me this opportunity。 。。。more
Heather Jones
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I had mixed feelings that made me wait a while before opening this book。 I got the book because I'm familiar with the author through science fiction fandom - I saw her speech accepting a Hugo award and liked her more for it， and she's just delightful on Twitter， a fountain of knowledge and snark。 But this book looked like it might be an inspiring disability story， and I wasn't especially in the mood to be inspired。I was wrong， though - this is the opposite of that。 It's a book about disability a I had mixed feelings that made me wait a while before opening this book。 I got the book because I'm familiar with the author through science fiction fandom - I saw her speech accepting a Hugo award and liked her more for it， and she's just delightful on Twitter， a fountain of knowledge and snark。 But this book looked like it might be an inspiring disability story， and I wasn't especially in the mood to be inspired。I was wrong， though - this is the opposite of that。 It's a book about disability activism， about living with disability， about why Inspirational Stories are not just irritating but offensive。 It would also be very excerptable for class， and actually might work very well as assigned reading in a high school or college classroom， if you're at a school where parents won't scream too much about the sections which address the fact that disabled people do have sex lives， and sexual trauma， too。Loved it， would recommend widely。 。。。more
Harrison Schweiloch
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Being Seen by Elsa SjunnesonI don’t usually read a lot of non-fiction， but I was intrigued when I heard about this book。 The author is a nominee this year for the Best Fan Writer Hugo Award。 I was reading her website and some of her essays in the Hugo voter packet and her website noted that she had this book coming out this year， so I requested a copy from NetGalley。 The book is very well written and I really like her writing style。 I felt like I really got to know her as a person and I loved he Being Seen by Elsa SjunnesonI don’t usually read a lot of non-fiction， but I was intrigued when I heard about this book。 The author is a nominee this year for the Best Fan Writer Hugo Award。 I was reading her website and some of her essays in the Hugo voter packet and her website noted that she had this book coming out this year， so I requested a copy from NetGalley。 The book is very well written and I really like her writing style。 I felt like I really got to know her as a person and I loved her use of footnotes。 I don’t know any deaf blind people and I know very few disabled people so a lot in this memoir was - well， I was going to say “eye-opening”， but I’m going to try to use less ableist language in my own writing， so instead I’ll say it was edifying。 I learned a lot and I really enjoyed reading this book。 My only complaint is that it was a memoir and autobiography， and therefore jumped around a lot in the authors life and left several gaps making me wish that I knew more。 Still， that’s a small quibble。 I very much enjoyed it。 。。。more
Lillie Lainoff
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*REVIEW OF E-ARC* （Thank you Elsa and Tiller Press！）Gloriously snarky， emotionally resonant， and filled with sword-sharp， justifiable rage， Being Seen is not just a book。 It is not just a memoir or a piece of critical analysis。 It is a statement。 It is a statement that says I am here， we are here， disabled people are here。。。 and it is high time you acknowledged us as who we truly are， rather than who you'd have us be。 *REVIEW OF E-ARC* （Thank you Elsa and Tiller Press！）Gloriously snarky， emotionally resonant， and filled with sword-sharp， justifiable rage， Being Seen is not just a book。 It is not just a memoir or a piece of critical analysis。 It is a statement。 It is a statement that says I am here， we are here， disabled people are here。。。 and it is high time you acknowledged us as who we truly are， rather than who you'd have us be。 。。。more
Meaghan Babin
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Thank you to Elsa， Netgalley， Tiller Press and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review！Being Seen is part-memoir and part critical analysis as to people view disability in media。 While there is some sections that really delve into Elsa's own experience being Deafblind， it really enables the reader to gain insight as to how people with disabilities are portrayed in media and the experiences of people with disabilities in a society that is really Thank you to Elsa， Netgalley， Tiller Press and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review！Being Seen is part-memoir and part critical analysis as to people view disability in media。 While there is some sections that really delve into Elsa's own experience being Deafblind， it really enables the reader to gain insight as to how people with disabilities are portrayed in media and the experiences of people with disabilities in a society that is really ableist。 I really love everything about this book and I hope that we as a society really take the opportunity to learn from this book how to be better humans。 。。。more
Jasmine
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Elsa Sjunneson has crafted a masterpiece with this nonfiction account。 It is part memoir， part critical analysis of disability in media， and part historical account of the Deafblind experience。 Elsa discusses her own experience as a Deafblind woman and the experiences that other disabled people have faced and continue to face in a predominantly ableist society。 As a media studies professor， she expertly explains the harmful and ableist ways disability is portrayed in films and TV。 Elsa states th Elsa Sjunneson has crafted a masterpiece with this nonfiction account。 It is part memoir， part critical analysis of disability in media， and part historical account of the Deafblind experience。 Elsa discusses her own experience as a Deafblind woman and the experiences that other disabled people have faced and continue to face in a predominantly ableist society。 As a media studies professor， she expertly explains the harmful and ableist ways disability is portrayed in films and TV。 Elsa states that she was raised by her queer parents to not think of herself as disabled。 It was not until a bit later in life that she began to identify as disabled and as a Deafblind woman with a capital “D”。Elsa discusses everything from what it’s like for disabled people to be denied services to being infantilized and， contrastingly， to being fetishized。 She also discusses the intersectionality of being disabled and belonging to other marginalized groups。 She describes her life as an activist and the harm that disabled people have experienced from police brutality。 When I started this book， I hoped that the author would discuss the most ableist and offensive movie I have ever seen: Me Before You。 And， yes， Elsa delivered。 She summed the movie’s message up perfectly: the only good disabled partner is a dead one。 This book handles some serious topics， but humour is also injected throughout。 Some parts made me chuckle， others made me angry at the ableism that is so ingrained into our society。 Elsa states early on in the book that she did not write this for readers to feel inspired by her achievements， but rather to inspire and create real changes to end ableism。 Thank you to Netgalley， Tiller Press， and Simon & Schuster for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review。 。。。more
Connor
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