I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much | Stella Young

譯者: Caleb Shih 審譯者: Yi-Ting Chung

I grew up in a very small country town

我在一個偏遠的鄉鎮長大

in Victoria.

位於維多利亞

I had a very normal, low-key kind of upbringing.

從小的教養非常普通、低調

I went to school, I hung out with my friends,

我上學，和朋友玩耍

I fought with my younger sisters.

我和妹妹們爭吵

It was all very normal.

生活看似非常普通

And when I was 15, a member of my local community

我十五歲時，一位地方社區成員

approached my parents

聯絡上我的父母

and wanted to nominate me

他們想要提名我

for a community achievement award.

角逐社區成就獎

And my parents said, "Hm, that's really nice,

我的家人說：「嗯，那還真的不錯」

but there's kind of one glaring problem with that.

「但是，有一件很顯而易見的問題」

She hasn't actually achieved anything." (Laughter)

「她根本沒有成就任何事情」 （笑聲）

And they were right, you know.

他們並沒有說錯

I went to school, I got good marks,

我從學校畢業，拿到不錯的成績

I had a very low-key after school job

我在母親的沙龍

in my mum's hairdressing salon,

從事一份普通的工作

and I spent a lot of time watching

我大部份的時間都在看

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Dawson's Creek."

「 吸血鬼獵人巴菲」和「戀愛時代」

Yeah, I know. What a contradiction.

沒錯，我了解，這聽起來非常矛盾

But they were right, you know.

不過，他們並沒有說錯

I wasn't doing anything that was out of the ordinary

我完全沒有做什麼

at all.

與眾不同的事情

I wasn't doing anything that could be considered an achievement

我沒有做過可以被認為是成就的事情

if you took disability out of the equation.

如果沒有考慮到殘疾的因素的話

Years later, I was on my second teaching round

過幾年後，我再次回到學校教書

in a Melbourne high school,

在墨爾本中學

and I was about 20 minutes into a year 11 legal studies class

法律課程大概上了20分鐘後

when this boy put up his hand and said,

有位男學生舉手示意說：

"Hey miss, when are you going to start doing your speech?"

「老師，請問你什麼時候要開始演講？」

And I said, "What speech?"

我說：「什麼演講？」

You know, I'd been talking them

我花了整整20分鐘

about defamation law for a good 20 minutes.

在解釋誹謗罪

And he said, "You know, like,

他說：「你知道的」

your motivational speaking.

「我們想聽你激勵人心的演講」

You know, when people in wheelchairs come to school,

「通常如果有殘疾人士出現在學校」

they usually say, like, inspirational stuff?"

「都是來發表激勵我們的演講啊」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"It's usually in the big hall."

「而且通常都在大的 演講廳喔」

And that's when it dawned on me:

而那才讓我發現一件事

This kid had only ever experienced disabled people

這個孩子把殘疾人士自動聯想成

as objects of inspiration.

一個激勵的對象

We are not, to this kid --

我不是針對這名學生

and it's not his fault, I mean,

也不是他的錯

that's true for many of us.

大多數人都會這樣想

For lots of us, disabled people are not our teachers

對很多人而言，殘疾人士不是老師

or our doctors or our manicurists.

或是醫生、美甲師

We're not real people. We are there to inspire.

我們不是一般人，我們只是來激勵別人

And in fact, I am sitting on this stage

其實，我現在在講台上

looking like I do in this wheelchair,

看我坐在輪椅上面

and you are probably kind of expecting me

你們大概也會期望我

to inspire you. Right? (Laughter)

來激勵你們對吧？（笑聲）

Yeah.

沒錯

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid

各位先生女士，我恐怕

I'm going to disappoint you dramatically.

要讓你們大失所望了

I am not here to inspire you.

我不是來激勵你們的

I am here to tell you that we have been lied to

我是來告訴大家我們對於殘疾人士

about disability.

有錯誤認知

Yeah, we've been sold the lie

我們不斷被灌輸一個概念

that disability is a Bad Thing, capital B, capital T.

殘疾是一種壞事，是「壞事」

It's a bad thing, and to live with a disability

是不好的，而伴隨一生的殘疾

makes you exceptional.

會讓你與眾不同

It's not a bad thing, and it doesn't

其實，這不是一件壞事

make you exceptional.

而且也不會讓你與眾不同

And in the past few years, we've been able

最近這幾年

這種錯誤的認知透過媒體的傳播

to propagate this lie even further

via social media.

散布到更多地方

You may have seen images like this one:

你可能會聯想到一個畫面，像是這張

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude."

「人生唯一的殘疾是態度不對」

Or this one: "Your excuse is invalid." Indeed.

或是這張「你的藉口不足以成立」

Or this one: "Before you quit, try!"

或是這張「別放棄！繼續嘗試！」

These are just a couple of examples,

這些只是一些例子

but there are a lot of these images out there.

外面還有更多這樣的畫面

You know, you might have seen the one,

你可能也有看過

the little girl with no hands

一位小女孩失去雙手

drawing a picture with a pencil held in her mouth.

用嘴含著鉛筆做畫

You might have seen a child running

或是你也曾經看過小孩子

on carbon fiber prosthetic legs.

穿戴義肢跑完馬拉松

And these images,

這些畫面

there are lots of them out there,

已經非常普及

they are what we call inspiration porn.

它們被我稱為「激勵色情片」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And I use the term porn deliberately,

我刻意使用色情一詞

because they objectify one group of people

因為為了給另外一群人帶來好處

for the benefit of another group of people.

他們物化了一群人

So in this case, we're objectifying disabled people

以我們的例子來說 我們物化了殘疾人士

for the benefit of nondisabled people.

好帶給其他人一些益處

The purpose of these images

這些畫面的動機

is to inspire you, to motivate you,

就是要為了激勵你們

so that we can look at them

所以我們可以看著這些畫面

and think, "Well, however bad my life is,

然後心想： 「嗯，不論我的生活有多糟」

it could be worse.

「還有比我更慘的人」

I could be that person."

「我本來可能是那一種人」

But what if you are that person?

但如果你就是那一種人呢？

I've lost count of the number of times that I've

我數不清多少次

been approached by strangers

遇到陌生人

wanting to tell me that they think I'm brave

來跟我說，我有多麼勇敢

or inspirational,

或是多具啟發性

and this was long before my work

這還是在我的工作

had any kind of public profile.

還沒什麼名氣之前的狀況

They were just kind of congratulating me

他們不斷恭喜我

for managing to get up in the morning

就只是因為我早上起床

and remember my own name. (Laughter)

記得自己的名字（笑聲）

And it is objectifying.

這是一種物化

These images, those images

這些畫面

objectify disabled people

確實物化了殘疾人士

for the benefit of nondisabled people.

只為了使其他非殘疾人受益

They are there so that you can look at them

這些照片只是為了讓你看了之後

and think that things aren't so bad for you,

想說自己的生活其實也沒那麼糟

to put your worries into perspective.

覺得比上不足比下有餘

And life as a disabled person

生活對於殘疾人士而言

is actually somewhat difficult.

的確是相當不容易的

We do overcome some things.

我們確實克服了許多困難

But the things that we're overcoming

但是，我們克服的困難

are not the things that you think they are.

和你想像的不一樣

They are not things to do with our bodies.

那跟我們生理上的限制無關

I use the term "disabled people" quite deliberately,

我一直不斷使用「殘疾」這個字眼

because I subscribe to what's called the social model of disability,

因為我同意所謂的「殘疾社會模式」

which tells us that we are more disabled

意思是比起生理和病理上的限制

by the society that we live in

我們的社會所造成的殘疾

than by our bodies and our diagnoses.

更加嚴重

So I have lived in this body a long time.

我生活在這個軀體有一段時間了

I'm quite fond of it.

其實我還蠻喜歡的

It does the things that I need it to do,

因為身體可以做我需要它做的事情

and I've learned to use it to the best of its capacity

我也學會如何把身體的功能發揮到極致

just as you have,

就跟你們一樣

and that's the thing about those kids in those pictures as well.

剛剛照片中的孩子們也一樣

They're not doing anything out of the ordinary.

他們並沒有做任何與眾不同的事

They are just using their bodies

他們只不過是把身體的功能

to the best of their capacity.

發揮到極致而已

So is it really fair to objectify them

所以物化他們

in the way that we do,

再散播出去

to share those images?

是公平的嗎？

People, when they say, "You're an inspiration,"

當人們說：「你真是激勵了我。」

they mean it as a compliment.

他們是稱讚你

And I know why it happens.

而我知道這背後的原因

It's because of the lie, it's because we've been sold

那是因為我們一直被灌輸 這樣的錯誤認知

this lie that disability makes you exceptional.

殘疾使你與眾不同

And it honestly doesn't.

但其實不然

And I know what you're thinking.

我知道你們是怎麼想的

You know, I'm up here bagging out inspiration,

我一直強調激勵是錯的概念

and you're thinking, "Jeez, Stella,

你也許會想：「天阿，史黛拉」

aren't you inspired sometimes by some things?"

「難道你沒有被激勵過嗎？」

And the thing is, I am.

事實上是有的

I learn from other disabled people all the time.

我每次都從其他殘疾人士 身上學到很多事

I'm learning not that I am luckier than them, though.

但我學到的 並不是因為我比他們更幸運

I am learning that it's a genius idea

我學到的不過就是

能用一支烤肉夾撿東西

to use a pair of barbecue tongs

to pick up things that you dropped. (Laughter)

是不錯的想法而已（笑聲）

I'm learning that nifty trick where you can charge

我學到了你能巧妙地

your mobile phone battery from your chair battery.

利用輪椅電池來幫手機充電而已

Genius.

真是個好主意

We are learning from each others' strength and endurance,

我們學習彼此擁有的力量和耐力

not against our bodies and our diagnoses,

不是用來對抗自己生理或病理上的限制

but against a world that exceptionalizes

而是用來對抗投予我們異樣的眼光

and objectifies us.

對抗物化我們的社會

I really think that this lie that we've been sold

我真的覺得我們對於殘疾人士的迷思

about disability is the greatest injustice.

是非常不公平的

It makes life hard for us.

那使我們的生活變得很困難

And that quote, "The only disability in life

剛才那一句格言 「人生唯一的殘疾」

is a bad attitude,"

「是態度不對」

the reason that that's bullshit

它之所以是胡扯

is because it's just not true,

是因為那並不是事實

because of the social model of disability.

而是殘疾社會模式所致

No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs

不會因為你對著一排樓梯微笑

has ever made it turn into a ramp.

它就會自動變成斜坡

Never. (Laughter) (Applause)

不可能（笑聲和掌聲）

Smiling at a television screen

光對電視微笑

isn't going to make closed captions appear

螢幕也不會因此

for people who are deaf.

出現造福聽障人士的字幕

No amount of standing in the middle of a bookshop

站在書店中

and radiating a positive attitude

散發出正面能量

is going to turn all those books into braille.

也不會使書本變成點字書

It's just not going to happen.

根本不可能發生

I really want to live in a world

我真的希望未來的世界

where disability is not the exception, but the norm.

能夠把殘疾視為尋常的事，而不是例外

I want to live in a world where a 15-year-old girl

我希望未來的世界 一個十五歲的少女

sitting in her bedroom

能夠坐在房間裡

watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

看吸血鬼獵人巴菲

isn't referred to as achieving anything

而不會只因為她坐著收看

because she's doing it sitting down.

就被視為一種成就

I want to live in a world

我希望未來的世界

where we don't have such low expectations

我們對於殘疾人士的期望

of disabled people

不會那麼低

that we are congratulated for getting out of bed

不會只因為早上能自己下床

and remembering our own names in the morning.

能記得自己的名字，就有人說恭喜

I want to live in a world where we value genuine achievement

我希望未來的世界 可以重視殘疾人士

for disabled people,

真正的成就

and I want to live in a world

我希望未來的世界

where a kid in year 11 in a Melbourne high school

一位十一歲的學生在墨爾本中學

is not one bit surprised

看到自己的老師坐在輪椅上

that his new teacher is a wheelchair user.

完全不會感到驚訝

Disability doesn't make you exceptional,

殘疾並不會使你與眾不同

but questioning what you think you know about it does.

你對於與眾不同的反思 才能真正讓你與眾不同

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）