Avoiding ableism in postapocalyptic fiction

[msmcknittington]

I was having a conversation in cleolinda's journal on LJ about how frustrating the Dies the Fire and other books in that universe by SM Stirling are because of the ableism. This is a pretty big stumbling block for me in postapocalyptic fiction, because I have insulin-dependent diabetes, and I basically see myself written out of the story whenever I pick up one of these books. And not just "you don't exist" but "you existed, but you died a horrible death which the author just couldn't be bothered to write about".

So! With that in mind, can anyone recommend any postapocalyptic fiction which addresses people with disabilities and/or chronic medical conditions? It could even be as simple as the character needing glasses to see and not being able to get them because of the postapocalyptic setting. I think I'd prefer it if the character was a major character in the novel who was fully fleshed out, rather than an emotional accessory for or someone to be "rescued" by the protagonist. Happy ending, if possible.

I feel like this is a pretty tall order, but there must be something out there somewhere. I'd even be open to just plain fantasy recommendations which deal with disability in a realistic way. That aren't, um, the Vorkosigan Saga, that is.

Comments

[brigid]

This probably isn't helpful AT ALL but in "The Postman," the narrator (I forget his name, you know, the guy played by Kevin Costner in the movie) is kind of obsessed with his toothbrush because he's seen people get tooth abscesses from lack of dental care. It was a really nice, realistic touch but not on the same level of needing medication or assistive devices to function.

If my glasses got broken in a post-apoc world without eye doctors, I'd be in so much trouble.

not sure this is what you're looking for

[redbird]

There's a very myopic character in Edgar Pangborn's The Judgment of Eve (from decades ago), who has grown up not long after an apocalypse, unable to see properly, and thinking of himself as clumsy and incompetent. Then someone meets him and takes him to a long-abandoned optician's shop. His reaction to the first pair of glasses he's handed is to fling them across the room, because they make things even worse; the second is good enough to change his life.

This is an able-ist narrative, in the sense that the disability is cured, but the character guards those eyeglasses very closely, and he continues to be affected by having grown up treated as incompetent.

And it does make some of the point that in that sort of society, a lot of us wouldn't exist because we wouldn't be helped/allowed to live. (The culture described also routinely kills visibly disabled newborns.)

[forestofglory]

I one of the main character in Winter of Magic's Return by Pamela F. Service wears glasses -- though I don't recall how he got them. It a bit of an odd bit being a fantasy set 500 years after the nuclear apocalypse. I'm not sure it's still in print.

[cereus]

Have you heard of Winterlong by Elizabeth Hand?

It might not be what you're looking for because it can be very dark, even though it's beautiful. The reactions I've heard about it go from wonderful to couldn't handle it.

The main character is a "cured" autistic person (which usually I might hate), meaning when she was young (back in the high tech days) they totally scrambled and rewired her brain. This means she's non-typically wired in a new, third way. It's shown as a very normal mixture of everyday highs or lows. And she slowly realizes what she can do that she was supposed to not be able to do. There are other characters with disabilities, too. She has a love affair with a woman who is just sort of chronically a little sick.

OK enough, I'm sorry for giving anything away. I'll edit if called upon or re-write with no spoilers.