Hey, cripples. We have to talk.
This movement is called Cripplepunk. And I know some of you don’t know what this shit is about. It’s okay, when I first found this movement I just saw people who looked like me and rushed in, too. It’s okay.
So I am here to teach you. Okay?
Before you learn about cripplepunk, I have to teach you about the base movement, the punk subculture. What I need you to understand is that if you are cripplepunk, you are a punk. And a good punk always supports the cripplepunk movement. If they don’t, disregard them.
Punk is about ideology. But it’s also music. It’s dance. It’s art. It’s fashion.
The punk fashion can sometimes seem inaccessible. Punks have to make our own clothes fit the image. The runway and the fashion store don’t embody what we represent. We represent DIY ethics.
However, I personally don’t wear punk gear all the time and you don’t have to, either. You can never wear it if you don’t wanna. I’m a cripple and leaning back on a chair when the entire back panel of your jacket is studded isn’t comfortable when I’m feeling shitty. If you feel like you can, just a pin badge can help us clock each other in public. Punks won’t judge how much you fit the mould, because we aren’t about fitting the mould. Do what you want. It’s about the attitude.
Punks are non-conformists. You see a generic image for us, because that’s what media likes. And it’s what a lot of us like anyways. But if you don’t like it, or you don’t want to, that just makes you more punk. Don’t conform if you don’t want to.
Punks are against authoritarianism. We do not submit to authority. We stand up against the people who try to control us.
We are anti-corporatism. We do not believe that big corporations should have the power or influence they do, we do not think they should have the ability to effect the public health or anything else. We are against ridiculous medical charges, privatised healthcare. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, though. Don’t feel bad for buying Pepsi.
The DIY ethic is important to punks. We have handmade patches, we stud our clothes by hand. Learning to sew is incredibly beneficial. (Side note: if you don’t know how to sew and have a wardrobe malfunction, find the closest punk, they can probably fix it.)
We believe in direct action. We are against selling out.
Zines are an underground press function, and while it seems there are many artistic zines these days, punk zines are how we get our ideas into paper and out to each other when the Corp papers are scared to let us speak.
Even if you don’t like punk music… try your best. Clubs that play club music and other places that blast it is where you’re gonna find other punks.
What makes cripplepunk different?
Worried if you fit into this category? Easy fix. Have you ever been called a cripple? Are you physically disabled? There you have it.
If you’re not physically disabled you cannot be cripplepunk.
This movement was started by Tyler Trewhella in 2014, right here on tumblr. @crpl-pnk. They died in 2017, but our movement lives on and still is based on their rules. It takes punk ideas and values and uses it to raise our voices higher. It is a movement that strives to push the truth that cripples do not need to be GOOD or SWEET or INSPIRATIONAL or MORALLY PERFECT. We can smoke, drink, refuse any treatment we don’t want, talk back and have attitude, we can be loud and rude and brash. We can do whatever the fuck we want just like everyone else.
The principles are as follows, entirely Tyler’s words:
-cripple punk is exclusively by the physically disabled for the physically disabled
-cripple punk is about solidarity & is open to all physically disabled people
-cripple punk rejects pity, inspiration porn, & all other forms of ableism
-cripple punk rejects the “good cripple” mythos. cripple punk is here for the bitter cripple, the uninspirational cripple, the smoking cripple, the drinking cripple, the addict cripple, the cripple who hasn’t “tried everything”
-cripple punk fights internalized ableism & fully supports those struggling with it
-cripple punk respects intersections of race, culture, gender, sexual/romantic orientation, size, intersex status, mental illness/neuroatypical status, survivor status, etc.
-cripple punk recognizes that there is no one universal disabled experience
-cripple punk does not pander to the able bodied
-cripple punk is not conditional on things like mobility aids & “functioning levels”
-always listen to those w/ different physical disabilities & different intersections than yourself. do not speak over them
-disabled people do not need to personally identify w/ the words “cripple” or “punk” individually to be a part of cripple punk
-able bodied people wishing to spread the message may only ever amplify the voices of the disabled
-able bodied people may never use uncensored slurs themselves but never censor our language -able bodied people must always tag things like reblogs with “i’m able bodied”
-physically disabled people wanting to be a part of the movement who are uncomfortable using the slur may refer to it as “cpunk”
We are angry. We are punk.
These can not be separated.
If you can’t handle the fury that comes with this movement, please wait until you can. Because we are fucking pissed at the world and it’s injustice, and telling us to “stop gatekeeping” or “acting ___” only adds fuel to our fires.
Some of us are living even when it seems like anything else would be a mercy, and some of us are dying before we ever thought we would. Some of us have dead friends. Some of us have a LOT of dead friends.
I bet you feel some of this, too. Don’t you?
That’s why I wanted to post this quick rundown. to weed out abled idiots and people who don't see this for what it is: politics. punk is political. cripplepunk is political.
so… yeah, welcome to our movement. its time to start screaming.
