as small as a world and as large as alone, Hello~ I was considering buying a pair of fake...

2:59am May 15, 2014

mamitomoesb00bs asked: Hello~ I was considering buying a pair of fake glasses(with the sole intent of accessorizing). Would this be considered/some form of ableist "appropriation"? I asked a friend who wears glasses(They have impaired vision), and they said that they never really thought about it, so I came here. I just figured this might be ableist because here I am with 20/20 vision wearing glasses because I think they're cute, when many people actually need them to see properly. Is wearing fake glasses ableist?

karalianne:

amphy64:

isthisableism:

missjessicasmith:

affairofthepoisons:

shutupkomaida:

isthisableism:

It would be considered appropriation, yes. -MO

this is ridic, wearing fake glasses is not appropriation. for the most part having poor vision isn’t even a disability anymore in the sense that we can correct it with relative ease in most people.

If you can’t afford glasses or eye exams you cannot. Are you saying poor people with vision problems are disabled but those that can afford it ‘with relative ease’ are not? I call bullshit.

Oh my god I am so done with tumblr right now. They’re glasses. Buy them. Wear them. Look fucking awesome in them. Who the fuck cares? Who the fuck is gonna actually upset because you’re wearing glasses when you have good vision? Nobody. Nobody is going to care. Someone on tumblr is going to cry appropriation because to tumblr if you’re white and eat a taco you’re appropriating. But who the fuck cares? It’s a god damn piece of plastic and glass and it’s your life and you only get one so fuck it

They asked a question so I answered it. Yes, they can do what they want. It doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be considered appropriation to some people. Personally, I couldn’t care less. I don’t wear glasses. But others do and they might be bothered. I’m not sure what getting all up in arms about this is going to do, anon was just asking and I was just answering. -MO

Interesting question. Prescription glasses are actually a medical aid, so I have always considered it iffy (in the sense of ‘I am rolling my eyes, behind my glasses, so hard at you right now’, rather than that I’m actually upset by it) to choose glasses as a fashion statement. Sunglasses aren’t the same thing, since they serve a different purpose. I have very bad eyesight due to a genetic connective tissue disorder, so don’t really have the luxury of choosing to wear glasses to look ‘cute’ or ‘smart’, and then just ditching them again when I get bored of the ‘look’. Instead I’ve been on occasion called four-eyes for wearing them (my reaction is usually more ‘I can’t believe you actually just said that’ than anything, though), and generally teased (for not being able to see well, ffs. One of the people who teased me then later -you guessed it- wore glasses as a fashion statement). It costs me over £100 just to have the lenses filed down to avoid the ‘bottle glass’ look that would potentially expose me to further ridicule. Losing or breaking glasses can be very debilitating (every person who wears glasses likely knows the terror of this possibility, especially when you think you’ve lost them or drop them accidentally), yet many people cannot afford a spare pair. There’s also issues with finding flattering prescription glasses, which can be limited to some extent if a special type of lens is needed (which is obviously again not an issue with non-prescription glasses). I do appreciate the role glasses being seen as fashionable may have in reducing stigma for people who need glasses (and maybe even in improving the variety of prescription glasses frames available), but I think the reduction in stigma has tended to apply mainly to people who are regarded as particularly attractive. A conventionally attractive person with glasses who doesn’t need them gets to be seen as cute, ‘geek-chic’ for wearing them, a more average looking person who actually really needs them to see doesn’t, and they may well still be a target for teasing or mockery. Representation in the media is also not that common/varied despite how many people wear glasses irl, glasses tend to be used to signal a specific type of character, such as indicating that the character is geeky (…not to mention the ‘Four Eyes Zero Soul’ trope, focused on the idea that concealing the eyes is unsettling). It’s also potentially fetishising of disability, if the vulnerability (since the person cannot see well) is seen as part of what makes the glasses-wearing cute (I’ll take ‘cute’ over mockery and hearing ‘men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses’, though. Not to mention glasses being used to signal unattractiveness in media, the ‘geek girl’ transformation that involves her ditching the glasses, ‘you look so much better without your glasses’ - obviously that’s not a good thing to say this to someone who needs glasses).

So, it might actually help with reduction in stigma, but to me the idea of glasses as a positive thing, cute, smart, etc., is more something that is mine (and other glasses-wearers) to reclaim, than an aesthetic for people who don’t even need them to play with.

I don’t mind, though, as long as you accept I have every right to tease you for your fashion choice. ; ) Honestly, I’m much much much more concerned with whether I can afford new glasses when I need them, than about if someone who doesn’t need them wears them, it’s just priorities. Donate a little to a vision charity or something, then go ahead and wear your non-prescription glasses, and I’ll consider us even (and will refrain from the teasing ; ) ). I can see your intentions are good, anyway, and that’s the most important thing to me.

Reblogging for this latest commentary. Thank you.

I have had glasses since fourth grade; I have astigmatism in both eyes. Due for another eye exam this August (insurance pays every two years for an exam and new lenses). I go to Pearl Vision so I can have two pairs for the price of one but it can be difficult to find frames that fit properly (I apparently have a wide head for a woman? IDK) and I have pretty bad vision so I have very thick lenses even with the high-index. IIRC, they have to make my lenses out of plastic rather than glass so they can get them thin enough and light enough that they won’t weigh a ton or look ridiculous. I get cheaper frames and my glasses still cost me $400 a pair, and this is something I wear on my face every single freaking day.

I’m not blind, but without my lenses I can’t drive and reading anything is pretty difficult. I have to hold things six inches away from my face - or closer - if I’m not wearing my glasses. The world around me is a mess of fuzzy coloured blobs when I’m not wearing them. My vision is still correctable, but this is absolutely a disability.

That said, I don’t care if you want to wear glasses when you don’t need them, though it seems to me like an awfully expensive fashion choice, given that frames (here at least) rarely cost under $100 (the ones I buy are usually closer to $200). After all, Clark Kent wears them and he definitely has perfect vision. ;) But like the previous person said, donate to a vision-related charity.

The idea of glasses as a fashion accessory is wonderful to me as a disabled person. It shows that something that began as something considered “ugly” and “unstylish” to wear, has become so mainstream that everyone wants them now. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was a teenager, and I seriously could not care less how or why someone else wears glasses. This is one of the worst examples of misuse of the idea of appropriation I have ever seen. And I seriously, seriously care about appropriation the real thing, and I’m a disability rights activist, and none of these things make me any more likely to see glasses as appropriation.

Moreover I don’t even think that using a wheelchair when you don’t need one should be appropriation either, because wheelchairs are just vehicles and you don’t see people talking about appropriating bicycles.

Notes: