„Access, as Tanya Titchkosky (2011) has observed, should not be understood simply as a bureaucratic procedure, but is about how spaces are experienced and lived as oriented toward bodies, with their differing capacities and incapacities. That we notice some modifications of spaces to make them more accessible reveals how spaces are already shaped around certain bodies. As Nirmal Puwar (2004) describes some bodies are perceived as “space invaders.” The modifications required for spaces to be opened to other bodies are often registered as willful impositions on those spaces.“
– Sara Ahmed on racism, ableism, misgendering and heterosexist assumptions. She argues that, if your body and your very being don’t fit into spaces (because they are already built and fit for others), you not only feel like an imposition, but you become an imposition to those spaces (and to others, who already fit in). Accomodations have to be made, so you can fit in. Therefore „you must be willing to minimize differences in order to fit in“.
Her sharp and sometimes metaphorical analyses of how individuals keep discriminatory structures and spaces alive by reproducing them in their mindsets and actions, are always an inspiration to me for taking responsibility and getting into action.
So check out her blog feministkilljoys.com and her twitter account.