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Most disability charity hinges on that notion - that you need to send your money in quick before all these poor, pitiful people die. Peddling pity brings in the bucks, yo.
Stella Young
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote critiques how disability charities often exploit pity to encourage donations.

Stella Young's quote highlights a troubling aspect of fundraising for disability charities, suggesting that many organizations create narratives that evoke pity in order to compel people to donate money. By framing the disabled as 'poor, pitiful people' who need immediate assistance, these charities may distract from the complex realities of disability and the potential for empowerment and dignity among disabled individuals.

Themes

DisabilityCharityPityFundraisingEmpowerment

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about fundraising ethics.

More from Stella Young

I, like many women, buy into patriarchal standards of beauty every day. I very rarely leave the house without make-up. I dye my hair. I wear clothes that I choose carefully for how they make me look to the outside world.
Stella YoungRead
We often hear that people mean well: that so many just don't how to interact with people with disabilities. They're unsure of the 'right' reaction, so they default to condescension that makes them feel better in the face of their discomfort.
Stella YoungRead
In my own home, where I've been able to create an environment that works for me, I'm hardly disabled at all. I still have an impairment, and there are obviously some very restrictive things about that, but the impact of disability is less.
Stella YoungRead
We fill our lives with all sorts of things that make it easier for us to get along in the world: wheelchairs, crutches, grabber sticks, hearing aids, canes, guide dogs, modified vehicles, ramps, as well as other kinds of services and supports. Disability does not necessarily mean dependence on other people.
Stella YoungRead
For me, disability is a physical experience, but it's also a cultural experience and a social experience, and for me, the word 'crip' is the one that best encapsulated all of that.
Stella YoungRead
We are a society that treats people with disabilities with condescension and pity, not dignity and respect.
Stella YoungRead

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