The secret behind the book's first sentence
Hello,
“Let me tell you about the time a bouncer wouldn’t let me into a club because I use a wheelchair.”
That’s the first sentence of my book, The View From Down Here (out in paperback next week).
I start the book with this story for two reasons. Firstly, the absurdity of it is very effective at jolting people into paying attention. It slaps them around the face a bit, which is what you want for the opening of a book. Secondly, it really neatly allows me to illustrate the whole premise of the book: that disabled women’s lives are affected not just by ableism, but a specifically sexist ableism.
Still, it’s funny to me that this story is so shocking to people (it’s one of the stories from the book that people really want to talk about).
Because here’s the little secret: this story is actually quite mundane.
This isn’t to say it’s unimportant or boring, nor to say that I don’t want people to think about it or take it seriously. It’s just to say that literally the only difference between this story and the hundreds of others I have like it is that it went viral on Twitter.
And the truth is, if you asked me for a list of the twenty instances of sexist ableism that have shaped me most profoundly, it wouldn’t even make the cut. Which I suppose is a bit sad.
(Don’t fear! The ones that do make the cut are also in the book. Lucky you!)
The casual refusal of access that the nightclub story represents is an everyday reality. Sure, it might have been more brazen than usual, but in a way that made it better - everyone else could see it too.
As I say in the book, it’s also not really about one ruined night out. It’s about how all of these moments of refused access add up to more: a culture of exclusion that limits the choices you can make and the opportunities you can take. Ultimately, it all limits who you can be. And that’s why even the mundane, not-even-that-traumatising-really stories of sexist ableism matter, too.
I hope you’ll read the book and discover many more.
Speak soon,
Lucy
My book, The View From Down Here: On being disabled in an ableist world, is coming out in paperback on 6 November!
“A vital call to arms that demands we confront ableism at every level of society. Lucy Webster’s work is fierce, unapologetic, and essential - this is the blueprint for a world where all women belong.” - Sophie Morgan, TV presenter
“I have never related to a book more. Disabled or not, you must read it! Amazing. I love it.” - Rosie Jones, comedian
“A sharp, funny & deeply beautiful memoir that doesn’t shy away from the realities of disabled life and instead takes power from them.” - Ruth Madeley, actress