Comforting Audiences: The Everyday Rhetorical Labor of Disability Annika Konrad University of Wisconsin-Madison konrad@wisc.edu www.annikakonrad.com @annika_konrad

…the everyday rhetorical labor of disability, or the rhetorical work that people do to make their audiences comfortable with their non-normative bodies, their embodied experiences, and the idea of having a disability.

where do we place rhetorical responsibility in the presence or implied presence of a disabled body?

“Claiming an identity is not a singular accomplishment; it is a mutual accomplishment performed by speakers and audiences” (Stephanie Kerschbaum, “On Rhetorical Agency and Disclosing Disability in Academic Writing,” Rhetoric Review 33:1, 2013, p. 62)

disabiity disclosures occur within “circulating narratives of disability and able-bodiedness, relationships among interlocuters, and institutional and environmental contexts” (Stephanie Kerschbaum, “On Rhetorical Agency and Disclosing Disability in Academic Writing,” Rhetoric Review 33:1, 2013, p. 63)

www.theoutlookfromhere.wordpress.com

Disclosing disability “runs the risk of undermining one’s own ethos” (Stephanie Kerschbaum, “On Rhetorical Agency and Disclosing Disability in Academic Writing,” Rhetoric Review 33:1, 2013, p. 69).

Does making audiences comfortable involve giving over some agency Does making audiences comfortable involve giving over some agency? Or instead, is it empowering?

…the last time I remember my guide dog not being wanted in a restaurant, and it was a restaurant I had been to before. And so I went in and typically if there were sighted friends they've been around me long enough to know that if things get ugly about the dog, I don't want them to do the talking because it's my dog. But I want them to do the dirty looks because I don't do dirty looks real well. So we went into this restaurant and the person said “No dogs.” And this was within the last two or three years so it's not an old story. So I said well (it was a person who was native to another country) and I said, “It's a guide dog,” and I put my hand over my eyes and said, “it's a guide dog and it's allowed by law.”

and he said, “No dogs. ” And I said, “Well, it’s okay and he said, “No dogs.” And I said, “Well, it’s okay. Would you like to see the law?” because we get issued a little card and they said that no, they couldn't read and I said, “Well I understand but it's the law would you want to call the police because they're aware of the laws?” “No, no dogs.” So I'm standing there chanting “it's the law!” and they're standing there chanting “No dogs!” Now, I could've just left, but I figure all right somebody someday is going to have to do this so I'm here now so we'll just do it and something made me change course

I don't know what, and I said, “Well you know I am hungry and I know that you really have good [and then I named one of their ethnic dishes] so how about I just settle in and you just serve me and it'll all be fine?” and that broke it because somehow that was just off track enough. So I got settled down and I lied—it wasn't good but I got served and at the end I went up and shook their hands “thank you thank you very good” because I thought okay you did the right thing and you need to do the right thing a little bit easier next time so go shake hands, make nice. So I think there's really been a, it's built my character to move from in your face “it's the law” to “okay how can everybody win here.” And that doesn't come naturally to me.

Why does Abigail have to “make nice” Why does Abigail have to “make nice”? Why does she have to change course from “it’s the law” to “how can everybody win here”?

Who gains power here? Does Abigail gain power by succeeding at convincing the host that she, like any able-bodied person, is hungry and enjoys their food? Or does Abigail lose power by abandoning her claim to her identity as a legally blind, legal guide dog user?

“Well I do a lot of negotiating in my daily interactions “Well I do a lot of negotiating in my daily interactions. I think the advantage of writing is you can take time to really figure out okay what is going to make sense here, rather than just sort of swinging at the ball as it goes by.”

If people who are blind and visually impaired have to labor in order to begin the conversation--to make the audience feel comfortable first--what does this say about where we place rhetorical responsibility?

But should they have to?

University of Wisconsin-Madison Thank You Annika Konrad University of Wisconsin-Madison konrad@wisc.edu www.annikakonrad.com @annika_konrad