I know that this is several months old, and I apparently missed the whole storm when it blew up, but I want to take a moment to discuss this.
Basically, two able-bodied musicians are dressing up as 'conjoined twins' and performing as a satire act, cribbing from the whole 'Freakshow' era on the early 1900's. A website called Disabled Feminists took offense.
Below, I'll explain why they're missing the point entirely.
I am a person with disabilities. I am a music fan. I am (sort of) an artist — one who mostly does graphic work about the disabilities of non-fictional people. However, Evelyn Evelyn, as a multimedia project, seems designed to keep people like me — real people with disabilities — out; this is not a new thing, considering the attitudes that folks in our culture hold about people with disabilities and their acceptable social roles. There are other, more creative ways to portray people with disabilities that don’t rely on facile stereotypes or on the ways that PWDs are already represented in popular culture. Representing Evelyn Evelyn as variously inspiring, freakish, weird and a “wonder” just reinforces existing stereotypes about PWDs, while ignoring the cultural context in which the project was conceived; while Evelyn Evelyn may be artistic and, at first glance, “different,” the attitudes beneath the project’s surface seem awfully mainstream.
First, when did I become a PWD? Who the fuck keeps MAKING these fucking stupid terms? WHY do we need more? I am getting sick and tired of all the PC names and terms we keep getting saddled with, and NOBODY EVER asks ME what I want to be called. Am I missing meetings?
Second, I've used the term 'gimpface', similar to 'cripface' that they use in the article I linked to and this? This is NOT gimpface. To me, gimpface is when an able-bodied actor or actress gets cast to play a disabled character, when a perfectly capable disabled actor or actress could do the job. This? This is farce. Absurdism. Satire.
Third, AS satire, it's SUPPOSED to play on cliches and tropes. That's what satire DOES. Here are the lyrics to Shock and Awe, the song mentioned in the article:
Behold, the eighth wonder
Of the natural world!
Come one and come all
See the two-headed girl
Stupendous! Revolting!
You'll be shocked, you'll be awed
A true freak of nature
A blunder of God
But possessing such talents
Hear them sing, see them dance
As seen in the highest class
Parlours of France
Just ten bucks a photograph
Get your seats while they last
We take Visa and Master Card
Debit or cash!
Isn't it nice that they're being so nice to us?
If I'm not mistaken I think they might like us
Aren't we lucky to be here?
Stop moving, they're taking a picture
Smile for the camera, Evelyn
Come in, come in
Must be cold out there, gentlemen
Take off your coats
And just guess what the wind blew in
I know you like twins
Have I got a surprise!
They're identical sisters
Attached at the sides!
Just imagine the fun
You could have with these chicklets
And they're so well behaved
Not a single complaint yet
Just look at these photos
While I pour your a cocktail
I don't know whether I should charge
Double or triple!
Isn't it nice that they're being so nice to us?
If I'm not mistaken I think they might like us
Aren't we lucky to be here?
Stop moving, they're taking a picture
Smile for the camera, Evelyn
Ladies and gentlemen
Critics and hipsters
Have you heard the new disc
By the Evelyn sisters?
Seamlessly floating with grace
Between eras and genres
They sing timeless new songs
Rife with double-entendres
As featured in Rolling Stone
Spin, the New Yorker
And Pitchfork (Pitchfork)
There's an in-store appearance
Today at the corner of
Bedford and Seventh Ave.
Come get a photograph
Sticker, and autographed shirt!
Isn't it nice that they're being so nice to us?
If I'm not mistaken I think they might like us
Aren't we lucky to be here?
Stop moving, they're taking a picture
Smile for the camera, Evelyn!
It's really fucking obvious (aren't we lucky to be here?) that this is SATIRE. The CHARACTERS of the twins are being exploited.
Now, I'm a big fan and amateur historian of the whole Freakshow phenomenon in the early 1900's, and the language used in the lyrics by the barker (the announcer) is not too far off from the shit they'd do in exploiting the 'freaks' to sell tickets. Other songs, like Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?, are tongue-in-cheek, getting laughs from the audience for asking where her (conjoined) sister went. Again, offensive unless you realize that the actual performers in these kinds of shows did shit EXACTLY LIKE THIS in the original Freakshows.
It's fucking satire.
Fourth, here's a newsflash - you DON'T HAVE TO BE DISABLED TO ENGAGE IN DISABLED SATIRE. One of my favorite comedians, Louis CK, wrote for Chris Rock's HBO show (and won an Emmy for it), and wrote and directed the movie Pootie Tang. Louis CK? Is white. Are only gimps allowed to make fun of gimp stereotypes? Which brings me to THIS gem from the author of the blog post:
Alright, folks, I think this thread is ceasing to be productive and/or make anyone think about these issues in ways other than they have already decided to think about them. It is really, intensely obvious to me that a lot of people aren’t listening and are definitely not getting the whole “letting people who actually have firsthand experience with things like ableism and disability raise these questions” thing because it is too important for them to, for example, analogize peoples’ lived experiences to hobbies, or excuse things away under the guise of “art.”
Social justice 101: When you have more privilege (look it up) than members of a marginalized group — some of whose members are talking about something problematic or offensive — you do not get to decide what is offensive or not to some members of a marginalized group when you are not a member of that group yourself (ie: non-disabled people do not get to decide what is offensive and not to people with disabilities). Asking me “what’s wrong with you” (as one unpublished comment did), telling me that I need to chill, that this is not important, that you’re able bodied and don’t find this offensive, that I am somehow disrespectful of your rights by wanting the conversation to stay on topic, that it’s just “art,” that I am ruining peoples’ fun by getting upset — all are classic derailing or silencing tactics. We PWDs can speak for ourselves now and express our own opinions, amazing as that may sound.
I and other contributors have repeatedly asked people in this thread to examine their privilege and prejudices, and to listen to what we have to say. By and large, this has not happened. I, for one, am sick of having played nice with people who are ultimately not interested in what I have to say (or in examining these issues from the perspective that disability is an actual human experience and not just something to draw upon for art’s sake), and having my willingness to explain very basic concepts spit right back into my face.
I understand. It doesn’t matter to you. I totally get it now. I’m sorry that we mean, humorless disabled folks ever invaded the internet with our feminist-y media criticism and all. Of course, now that I’ve made this decision, I’ll probably get slammed for “censorship.” I have no responsibility to let people say whatever kind of bigoted stuff they want here and get away with it. You have the entire internet for that.
I’m done. Further comments will not be published.
This was in response to commenters who were not disabled offering opinions. Some, yes, were fucking mouthbreathers, but others were thoughtful and well spoken. The response? Only gimps can talk about gimp life. And they say it in a way that makes it sound like they speak for all of gimpdom.
Fuck that!
They use the defense on one hand - when asked if they are themself a conjoined twin - that they are disabled and that alone qualifies them to talk about it, regardless of whether or not their disability is the same. Then they turn around and tell non-disabled they can't understand it. I call bullshit. I don't know what it's like to be blind, and I won't pretend to, but I'm not going to opine as an authority on the blind simply because I'm disabled and tell you, as an able-bodied person, to shut the fuck up. This 'oh woe is me, only a PWD can understand' crap is disgusting and offensive to me as a disabled person.
Fifth, the one and only area I can see legitimate criticism is on the bit about the twins being sexually abused as a part of the background. Is it necessary? No. Is it unrealistic? Also, no. These performers in the Freakshows - especially the females - were often seen as exotic and exploited sexually, as well. So while it's unnecessary, it isn't utterly out of left field, either and as Amanda Palmer (one of the two 'twins') was a victim of rape (and wrote a hysterical song and video about it), I think she's entitled to touch a subject she's experienced firsthand.
I'll leave you with the video to that song, Oasis, in which she simultaneously mocks teenage culture, religious right stereotypes on rape (only sluts get raped) and abortion (it's an easy decision with no consequences - the pink coathanger is fucking genius) all in one song.
That is FAR more offensive and inflammatory than anything in Evelyn Evelyn, and gods bless her for making it.