Existing complaint: SFF often has physically disabled people get cured or killed by the end of the story, which can convey the idea that being disabled is inherently a state of unsatisfactory tension which needs to be resolved.
I don’t know if I have the things in my head to know how to think about this complaint. Comparing to nearsightedness, which is inconvenient but not normally treated that way, is one tool I have for it. Also after writing out the above there’s also something like standard representation issues, although I have a hard time understanding those too.
I’m pretty confident the complaint has merit, but I’m not really sure why, and arguments that assume* that all the inconvenience of not being able to walk comes from society are hard to believe.
I’d appreciate help figuring out what to think about this, and to what extent if any and in what ways it’s not good to have removal-of-disability as a plot point.
Concept: Willingly remaining in wheelchair and rejecting cyberlegs perceived as Amish-like.
I remember some SFF things – maybe the McCaffrey Ship who Sang stuff? that were like “what if you could be integrated with machines in an ultimate way, but you had to give up your bodily senses and mobility in exchange?” and the initial adopters were disproportionately disabled
Which was an interesting point re: “if yuo coludnt’ see the skey r touch anutther person… wolud u still be huuman?” like, there exist people like that already and as far as they’re concerned they are