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I Am Breaking Up With “Inclusivity”
My dance company made an announcement earlier this week about our sister-company called ComeBacks. ComeBacks is… er, coming back, since the pandemic put everything on pause a year ago and we went into hiatus.
ComeBacks is actually a company for chronically or progressively ill dancers, and although it used be an in-person workshop experience, now it is shifting to online to protect our dancers and thus provide an opening for more who want the opportunity.
Even though our website (linked above) still says words like “inspiring” and “inclusive”, I am personally SO over these words, and want to make edits ASAP to reduce them.
The more time I’ve had to consider what I want to do when the world spins faster again, the more I want to edit the verbiage I choose. I don’t want to say “inclusive” or “adaptive” if I don’t have to because… shouldn’t the arts be this automatically? Shouldn’t we, in any field, take the steps to make this a given?
“Inspiring” is a lovely word when used to flatter someone else, but I’m fairly opposed to those who give it to themselves willingly. I met a woman the other day (from a distance) who told me she wants to “inspire people” by talking to them and do something “inspiring” on stage one day, but when I asked what story she had to tell or art to give or show to create, she didn’t have one. But she was certain she was inspiring.
In one way, that’s nice. Confidence is a good thing, and who am I to cynically trash on someone else (Me. I’m me. That’s very much a me thing)… but in another: Aren’t the most inspiring people those who don’t think they’re inspiring?
So that’s where I am today. I’m breaking up with these words where and when possible, and moving on to more equal pastures instead.
What About You: Are there certain words used in your CF treatment or to refer to you as a patient that you wish we could strike or remake all together?
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2 Replies
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There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.
Rumi
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“Words, Words Words” so sung Eliza in a rather famous musical. they can be so powerful. ‘Inclusivity’ – a word with so much meaning, so powerful and so often misused. So often it it used in a way that simply pushes ‘my agenda’ to the exclusion of others – often to the exclusion of established mores. Minority unconventional groups often use it to silence the majority who may hold other views.
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