As a disabled person, I know: American bootstrap culture is a lie. [washingtonpost.com]

Mindy Atwood (PACEs Connection Staff) 9/12/2211:09 AM

By A. Andrews, Illustration: A. Andrews, The Washington Post, September 11, 2022

I’ve been thinking a lot about bootstrap culture: that American ideal that anyone should be able to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and succeed at anything. There’s a toxic root to the notion that we should all ascribe ourselves to impossible tasks. All of this affects life in a disabled body – a body that is constantly observed and assigned both too much expectation and little whatsoever.

The mixed messaging and over-emphasis on personal independence has led me to poorly defined goals and confusion about what my value is. In the face of this, how can we ever have any semblance of balance in our lives?

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