Chloe Magazine: Can We Joke About Disability?

Happy New Year, Action online readers!

To start the new year off on a relatively light note, here’s an interesting food-for-thought article by Madonna Long on Chloe Magazine, which is loaded with good information and thoughtful pieces by and for people with disabilities (mostly).

What do you think about this question? Is it okay to joke about disability? Is it okay for people without disabilities to joke about it? How big is the line between what is and isn’t acceptable, and where is it drawn for you? What do you do when someone crosses the line?

Please tell us what you think in the comments following this excerpt from Long’s piece after the jump.

Saturday Night Live is in the dog house for their jokes on New York Governor Dave Patterson and focusing that joke on his blindness. The Governor said, “And I’m afraid that the kind of third-grade depiction of individuals and the way they look and the way they move add to that negative environment.”

I think that we all joke about our disabilities, but when does it cross the line? I am sure that SNL is rethinking the way they might want to joke about any disability. I know that I joke about my disability and my family jokes about it as well.

Sometimes that is the way we deal with a situation that is not our choice.

There are ways that we can joke about disability and there are ways we cant, I mean we see people do it all the time, Robin Williams for instance. The other day I was watching him on a YouTube video, (he is my favorite comedian) and he joked about Stevie Wonder. It made me think about all the jokes made about Stevie, who is a marvelous singer. Jokes about being blind. There are others like Ray Charles and Jeff Healey who are also talented and also blind who have their disabilities mocked while having their talent touted. I think it all depends on the situation. Who is involved etc.

Read the piece in its entirety here. Then come back and tell us what you think!