Honestly as a blind person I’m so tired of seeing fictional blind characters who don’t use white canes or other guides. “They have special powers so they know what’s around them” or “they’re confident enough to not need a guide” are common tropes, and I’m tired.
Are people scared that using a white cane will make their blind character seem weak? They can’t use a cane because they’re so special that they already know what’s around them, and other blind people who use guides are inferior because they’re not special?
I’m tired. Give your blind characters white canes and other guides. Let them hold onto their friends, let them have guide dogs. Don’t make white cane users feel ostracized for not being “strong enough” to go without.
Another thing that pisses me off is when a sighted character comes up with the fantasy equivalent of braille and teaches it to the blind character. Braille was invented by Louis Braille, a blind man, in 1824. The blind character should be the one coming up with it.
Tldr I’m blind and tired of sighted people lol
🔪 Sighted People MUST Reblog This 🔪
Hiiiiii I’m OP.
I deleted this post bc I was overwhelmed with all the notes on it and the additions of sighted people saying “is this character good representation though? Have you read so-and-so with this blind character in it, is that okay? LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY BLIND OC, ARE THEY OFFENSIVE?” Or saying “well my relative/friend is blind and actually they blah blah blah” as if I’m the authority on blindness now.
And I Was Tired Of That.
I also received MASSIVE amounts of ableism directed at me in my inbox and DMs and the notes of this post (look at all the “you’re blind and sick of seeing? lol” comments, as well as people acting like the knife emojis can hurt them somehow, yes I get it everyone’s a comedian haha). People saw that I was an artist and a writer and hounded me with questions about how I can draw if I can’t see, or how I’m even using the Internet at all as if people are exempt from being part of modern life, someone said “stop taking pictures of your guide dog’s art and posting it as your own” about my art. I had the fact that I’m deafblind written in my bio but I took it out bc I was getting harassed bc of it.
Sometimes I check back on this just to see how popular it’s gotten and I honestly never intended it to reach this far. I still encourage people to reblog it but I could definitely do without all the unnecessary additions, and people coming up to me with questions about how I wrote this in the first place if I’m blind and yadda yadda yadda.
To Answer Your Questions: Daredevil (Matt Murdock) is excellent blind representation. His abilities have clear limits and they do not REPLACE sight. He uses echolocation and other enhanced senses but he still has the challenges faced by blind people because He Is Blind. Same goes for Toph Bei Fong; clear limits to what she can sense, she can’t use her seismic sense on non-earth/non-metal material, she can’t read or write or know what things look like. She just feels the vibrations. I don’t care about homestuck so stop telling me abt it lol. If you write a blind character with powers, absolutely take a page from Daredevil or ATLA— but give them a cane too please! Matt himself uses a cane! It’s not mutually exclusive to have powers and use mobility aids.
TLDR I deleted this originally bc I was sick of dumbasses and ableism but you can still reblog it but keep your comments to yourself or those knife emojis will be a lot more aggressive. I’m tired.
Also consider sending me financial compensation for the ableist harassment and braindead comments ive gotten these past few months, here’s my ko-fi ❤️
If y’all are gonna keep spreading this then reblog THIS version.
Sighted people shut the fuck up in the notes challenge. Stop asking me questions and making your own additions. Reblog the damn post without commentary because I promise you I do not give a shit about your opinions.
