March 2, 2026 • 8 mins
I know it's hard to believe, but even I can be wrong sometimes. This week, I investigate ways in which my beliefs have changed over the last couple of decades.
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Male VO (00:04):
This is Bad Attitudes.
Laura (00:20):
Hello friends and strangers.
Welcome to another episode ofBad Attitudes, an uninspiring
podcast about disability.
I'm your host, Laura.
This week's supporter shout-outgoes to Bea Huff Hunter.
Thank you for your support,Bea.
If you'd like to hear your nameon a future episode, consider
(00:41):
supporting the podcast on Ko-Fi.
Visit ko-fi.com slashbadattitudes pod for more
information.
You can also support the pod byvisiting our merch store at
badattitudeshop.etsy.com, whereyou'll find podcast merch and
satisfyingly sarcastic designs,especially for the disabled and
(01:04):
chronically ill communities.
For questions, comments, orideas, visit the website at
badattitudespod.com, emailbadattitudespod at gmail.com, or
reach out on social media.
Follow at BadAttitudes Pod onInstagram, Facebook, Threads,
and Blue Sky.
(01:26):
As always, I want to remind youthat disability is not a
monolith.
My experience as a disabledperson is going to be different
from the experiences of otherdisabled people.
I am one voice for the disabledcommunity, but I am not the
only voice.
There's something you shouldknow about me.
I'm not great at admitting whenI'm wrong.
(01:49):
To be fair, it doesn't happenoften.
I'm kidding.
Mostly.
I don't enjoy being wrong, andI take great pains to avoid the
feeling.
So this is a pretty big deal.
I'm almost positive I've toldthis story before on the
podcast, and I know I told it inmy TED talk, which I'm not sure
(02:12):
you'll ever see again, by theby.
It's in some weird copyrightlimbo and may have vanished from
the face of the earth.
I should have had someonebootleg it.
Point is, I'm not going intominute detail for this story,
but hopefully you'll get thegist.
I majored in English in college,and in one of my classes we
(02:32):
read an essay called On Being aCripple by Nancy Mairs, a writer
with MS.
Being the only obviouslydisabled student in class, I was
put on the spot.
After a lot of back and forth,some covert ableism and some not
so covert ableism, we got onthe subject of the TV show ER.
(02:55):
You know, The Pitt before ThePitt?
Specifically the character ofCarrie Weaver, played by Laura
Innes.
Weaver was a doctor in thetitular ER, but she was also a
disabled woman.
She used a cane and walked witha pronounced limp.
I believe the story was thatWeaver had polio as a child, but
(03:16):
I'm not 100% on that.
Interestingly, so many years ofaffecting Weaver's limp was
causing damage to Innes' spine,leading showrunners to have
Weaver undergo surgery toeliminate her limp.
Someone in the class brought upWeaver as an example of
disability representation.
And you know, fair point.
(03:37):
She was a prime example ofdisability representation in a
major network TV show.
I suppose I didn't think of herat the time because her
character didn't particularlyresonate with me.
It's like that trope of sayingthat people of the same race all
look alike.
To a non-disabled person, anydisabled person is a reasonable
(03:58):
stand-in for all disabledpeople.
And if that had been myobjection, fine.
But my objection to CarrieWeaver was that a singular
character should not shoulder somany stereotypes.
he was a woman in amale-dominated field.
She was disabled.
At one point, she dated a blackman played by Jesse L.
(04:21):
Martin.
After that, she came out as alesbian.
My objection, basically, wasthat she belonged to too many
marginalized groups.
Be kind, I was just a baby.
The concept of intersectionalityhad never crossed my mind.
Even the concept of disabilityas being an identity was
(04:43):
something I was only juststarting to comprehend.
I wasn't new to being disabled,but I was very new to the study
and intellectual understandingof disability.
At the time, I didn't know anyopenly queer people.
Keep in mind this was the veryearly 2000s.
I didn't even know anyone in aninterracial relationship.
(05:06):
I'm realizing that while Ithought my circle was always
diverse, it was actually prettyhomogeneous.
Of course, I was way off baseabout the character of Carrie
Weaver.
It is incredibly realistic forher to be a disabled queer woman
in an interracial relationship,along with a thousand and one
(05:28):
other identities.
There's not actually a limit onthe ways we can identify.
I think what I really objectedto, but didn't know how to
express, was this feeling thatCarrie Weaver was being made to
carry the mantle for multiplemarginalized communities rather
than spreading therepresentation around to
(05:49):
multiple characters.
While it was totally realisticfor Weaver to have these
multiple identities, it wasn'trealistic that she would be the
only multiply marginalizedcharacter in this large
ensemble.
Maybe I'm misremembering somecharacters.
I know there were multiplePOCs, but none stand out in my
(06:11):
mind the way Weaver does asmultiply marginalized.
She was shouldering a lot ofthe burden of representation on
her own.
And this isn't a practice thathas stopped.
It feels common that a singlecharacter would be given
multiple marginalized qualitiesor characteristics, and the
(06:31):
characters around them mighthave one such characteristic.
One character is given theburden of representing multiple
populations, but thosepopulations should be
represented by multiplemultidimensional characters.
Most marginalized people don'thave a single marginalized
(06:53):
identity.
Most marginalized people aremultiply marginalized.
I didn't recognize it at thetime, but Carrie Weaver
accurately reflected thatreality.
If I can learn and expand myunderstanding of identities and
identity politics, anyone canlearn and expand their
understanding of anything.
(07:14):
If they're willing.
The idea for this episode cameto me as I was completing the
last episode on Bad Bunny'shalftime show.
Much of the resistance to BadBunny's performance came from a
place of willful ignorance.
People unwilling to educatethemselves on the history of the
US and the history of PuertoRico.
(07:36):
People unwilling to expandtheir understanding of what it
means to truly be American.
It's so much easier to be openminded.
The amount of effort and mentalgymnastics it takes to keep
yourself closed off to learningis astronomical.
Just relax and let theknowledge in.
(07:58):
Thanks for listening, and I'lltalk to you in the next one.
This is Bad Attitudes.
Laura (00:20):
Hello friends and strangers.
Welcome to another episode ofBad Attitudes, an uninspiring
podcast about disability.
I'm your host, Laura.
This week's supporter shout-outgoes to Bea Huff Hunter.
Thank you for your support,Bea.
If you'd like to hear your nameon a future episode, consider
(00:41):
supporting the podcast on Ko-Fi.
Visit ko-fi.com slashbadattitudes pod for more
information.
You can also support the pod byvisiting our merch store at
badattitudeshop.etsy.com, whereyou'll find podcast merch and
satisfyingly sarcastic designs,especially for the disabled and
(01:04):
chronically ill communities.
For questions, comments, orideas, visit the website at
badattitudespod.com, emailbadattitudespod at gmail.com, or
reach out on social media.
Follow at BadAttitudes Pod onInstagram, Facebook, Threads,
and Blue Sky.
(01:26):
As always, I want to remind youthat disability is not a
monolith.
My experience as a disabledperson is going to be different
from the experiences of otherdisabled people.
I am one voice for the disabledcommunity, but I am not the
only voice.
There's something you shouldknow about me.
I'm not great at admitting whenI'm wrong.
(01:49):
To be fair, it doesn't happenoften.
I'm kidding.
Mostly.
I don't enjoy being wrong, andI take great pains to avoid the
feeling.
So this is a pretty big deal.
I'm almost positive I've toldthis story before on the
podcast, and I know I told it inmy TED talk, which I'm not sure
(02:12):
you'll ever see again, by theby.
It's in some weird copyrightlimbo and may have vanished from
the face of the earth.
I should have had someonebootleg it.
Point is, I'm not going intominute detail for this story,
but hopefully you'll get thegist.
I majored in English in college,and in one of my classes we
(02:32):
read an essay called On Being aCripple by Nancy Mairs, a writer
with MS.
Being the only obviouslydisabled student in class, I was
put on the spot.
After a lot of back and forth,some covert ableism and some not
so covert ableism, we got onthe subject of the TV show ER.
(02:55):
You know, The Pitt before ThePitt?
Specifically the character ofCarrie Weaver, played by Laura
Innes.
Weaver was a doctor in thetitular ER, but she was also a
disabled woman.
She used a cane and walked witha pronounced limp.
I believe the story was thatWeaver had polio as a child, but
(03:16):
I'm not 100% on that.
Interestingly, so many years ofaffecting Weaver's limp was
causing damage to Innes' spine,leading showrunners to have
Weaver undergo surgery toeliminate her limp.
Someone in the class brought upWeaver as an example of
disability representation.
And you know, fair point.
(03:37):
She was a prime example ofdisability representation in a
major network TV show.
I suppose I didn't think of herat the time because her
character didn't particularlyresonate with me.
It's like that trope of sayingthat people of the same race all
look alike.
To a non-disabled person, anydisabled person is a reasonable
(03:58):
stand-in for all disabledpeople.
And if that had been myobjection, fine.
But my objection to CarrieWeaver was that a singular
character should not shoulder somany stereotypes.
he was a woman in amale-dominated field.
She was disabled.
At one point, she dated a blackman played by Jesse L.
(04:21):
Martin.
After that, she came out as alesbian.
My objection, basically, wasthat she belonged to too many
marginalized groups.
Be kind, I was just a baby.
The concept of intersectionalityhad never crossed my mind.
Even the concept of disabilityas being an identity was
(04:43):
something I was only juststarting to comprehend.
I wasn't new to being disabled,but I was very new to the study
and intellectual understandingof disability.
At the time, I didn't know anyopenly queer people.
Keep in mind this was the veryearly 2000s.
I didn't even know anyone in aninterracial relationship.
(05:06):
I'm realizing that while Ithought my circle was always
diverse, it was actually prettyhomogeneous.
Of course, I was way off baseabout the character of Carrie
Weaver.
It is incredibly realistic forher to be a disabled queer woman
in an interracial relationship,along with a thousand and one
(05:28):
other identities.
There's not actually a limit onthe ways we can identify.
I think what I really objectedto, but didn't know how to
express, was this feeling thatCarrie Weaver was being made to
carry the mantle for multiplemarginalized communities rather
than spreading therepresentation around to
(05:49):
multiple characters.
While it was totally realisticfor Weaver to have these
multiple identities, it wasn'trealistic that she would be the
only multiply marginalizedcharacter in this large
ensemble.
Maybe I'm misremembering somecharacters.
I know there were multiplePOCs, but none stand out in my
(06:11):
mind the way Weaver does asmultiply marginalized.
She was shouldering a lot ofthe burden of representation on
her own.
And this isn't a practice thathas stopped.
It feels common that a singlecharacter would be given
multiple marginalized qualitiesor characteristics, and the
(06:31):
characters around them mighthave one such characteristic.
One character is given theburden of representing multiple
populations, but thosepopulations should be
represented by multiplemultidimensional characters.
Most marginalized people don'thave a single marginalized
(06:53):
identity.
Most marginalized people aremultiply marginalized.
I didn't recognize it at thetime, but Carrie Weaver
accurately reflected thatreality.
If I can learn and expand myunderstanding of identities and
identity politics, anyone canlearn and expand their
understanding of anything.
(07:14):
If they're willing.
The idea for this episode cameto me as I was completing the
last episode on Bad Bunny'shalftime show.
Much of the resistance to BadBunny's performance came from a
place of willful ignorance.
People unwilling to educatethemselves on the history of the
US and the history of PuertoRico.
(07:36):
People unwilling to expandtheir understanding of what it
means to truly be American.
It's so much easier to be openminded.
The amount of effort and mentalgymnastics it takes to keep
yourself closed off to learningis astronomical.
Just relax and let theknowledge in.
(07:58):
Thanks for listening, and I'lltalk to you in the next one.
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