Episode 108: What Is, Ableism?

Recent articles about a Jeopardy champion have left me with a nasty taste of ableism in my mouth.

Transcript

TRANSCRIPT OF “WHAT IS, ABLEISM”

[rock guitar music]

MALE VO [00:03]
This is Bad Attitudes.

[rock guitar music]

LAURA [00:20]
Hello friends and strangers! And welcome to another episode of Bad Attitudes: An Uninspiring Podcast About Disability. I’m your host, Laura.

Just to clarify, this is not an episode defining ableism. It’s an episode about Jeopardy.

This week’s supporter shoutout goes to Ruky Savaedra! Thank you for your continued support!

If you’re interested in supporting the podcast, be sure to check out the Ko-Fi page at ko-fi.com/badattitudespod. You can subscribe to one of SEVEN membership tiers for special perks like bonus episodes, book reviews, a virtual book club, and more! Tiers start at just $2 per month and your support helps keep the pod running.

If subscribing isn’t for you, you can also make one-time donations through Ko-Fi, and each donation will be shouted out in a future episode. But there is no pressure to subscribe or donate. Sharing and interacting with the podcast is incredibly helpful. The best way to grow the podcast and our community is through word of mouth, so if you like this episode, be sure to share it with your friends. Leaving a rating or review on your favorite podcast platform also really helps me out.

Have you ever thought you’d make a good podcast guest? Now’s your chance! Visit the Bad Attitudes LinkTree or check the episode notes to apply to guest on a future Bad Attitudes episode. I can’t wait to share your story!

For questions, comments, or ideas, email badattitudespod@gmail.com or reach out through social media. Follow @Badattitudespod on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok! 

As always, I want to remind you that disability is not a monolith. My experience as a disabled person is going to be different from the experiences of other disabled people. I am one voice for the disabled community but I am not the only voice.

[02:24]
[rock guitar chord]

I’m a consistent Jeopardy watcher. It is the one show that can make me feel incredibly smart and also remind me how little I know. It is the only game show my personality is suited for. I just don’t have it in me to act as perky as other shows require. An appearance on the show would certainly cross something off my bucket list. I’ve taken the test a few times, but, alas, I have not yet gotten the call.

Because I watch it so regularly, it’s not surprising articles about the show and its contestants cross my newsfeed with similar regularity. Normally, I don’t pay that much attention to the articles, unless they have something to do with a change coming to the show or I happen to really like a long-running contestant.

Recent articles, however, have been concerning me. All the ones I’ve been seeing lately are related to recent champion Grant deYoung and the fact that he was sitting during his games. DeYoung’s reign ended last week, but the articles are still popping up.

Typically, Jeopardy contestants stand behind their podiums during the game. I can count on one hand the number of times I remember seeing a contestant deviate from the norm, although, according to one of the producers, the option to sit is offered to all contestants.

Over the past few days, all the Jeopardy-related articles I’ve seen have asked the same question, “Why is Grant deYoung sitting? Why, why, why?” Did I notice when watching the show? Of course, I did. Did I care? Absolutely not. (Well, until his near-constant swiveling started getting on my nerves.) I noted that deYoung was sitting, and sure, I was curious about why. But I didn’t rush to the internet and social media to do a deep dive into his personal history to find out why he was sitting down. I was perfectly content with knowing that he must have a reason for requiring a chair and to leave it at that.

DeYoung didn’t mind sharing his reason for sitting: severe back arthritis makes it difficult for him to stand still for long periods. Fair enough. Jeopardy records five episodes a day and, depending on how long a champion stays in the game, that’s a minimum of 2 and a half hours standing. That is just the recorded game time and doesn’t include the downtime we don’t see on TV. Standing in one place for that long would probably be difficult for most people, regardless of their health.

So, he shared his reasoning, my curiosity was certainly sated, that should be the end of it, right? It SHOULD be.

But, someone on Twitter couldn’t accept that at face value and had to double down. “If deYoung can’t stand to play Jeopardy, how can he keep a job as a grocery clerk?” Oooh, gotcha! At least, that person thought it was a “gotcha.”

If you were listening, I said DeYoung’s arthritis makes it difficult for him to stand STILL for long periods. He clarified, in response to this Twitter thread, that being a grocery clerk means he’s in almost constant motion.

In the grand scheme, this is not a big deal. DeYoung was comfortable with sharing his physical status and his reasoning for using a chair during the game. I am also comfortable sharing information about my diagnosis, but it doesn’t mean I’m obligated to do so.

The fact that people kept harping on WHY DeYoung used a chair is a problem. It’s an ableism problem. All the audience had to do was accept that this particular individual had a reason for needing to sit. They weren’t entitled to know the reason, weren’t within their rights to keep posting the “why” question to social media, and certainly shouldn’t expect others to be so accommodating with their personal information.

It was also ableist to assume that because DeYoung needed to sit during his Jeopardy appearances he couldn’t hold a physically demanding job. Standing behind a podium and constantly moving as a grocery clerk are not equivocal. They are two very different situations requiring different physical abilities. There is no shortage of conditions that make it easier for a person to move around a lot than to stay in one position. 

This is a wildly different situation than in 1999 when Jeopardy hosted its first blind contestant, Eddie Timanus. At the time, there were a lot of questions about how the game was modified to accommodate Timanus’s visual impairment. Why are the questions about DeYoung’s appearance ableist and the questions about Timanus’s appearance not?

For one thing, the questions about DeYoung are just that: they are questions ABOUT DeYoung. During Timanus’s appearance, the questions were about the game, and how the show altered its format to better host a disabled contestant. For example, Timanus had a Braille document of the categories and dollar amounts at his podium. I’m sure plenty of people had personal questions about Timanus and his condition, but that was not the focus. We didn’t need to ask questions to know how the show accommodated DeYoung: They gave him a chair. End of story. But we kept asking anyway.

It also didn’t hurt that the internet was in its infancy and social media didn’t exist. If Timanus appeared now, I’m sure I’d be seeing article after article trying to suss out the sordid details of his condition and his life as a blind man. I’m sure plenty of people would be on various social media platforms casting doubt on his abilities not only to play Jeopardy but also on his abilities as a sports writer, or to hold a job in that field. Timanus was a 5-game champion and, at the time, Jeopardy capped winners at five games. There’s no telling how much farther he could have gone if he had continued playing, so I think he was probably doing all right.

Maybe Jeopardy should just go ahead and give all contestants a chair. I’m sure players would find it more comfortable than just standing there. I, personally, would like to avoid further articles speculating on why someone is sitting down rather than standing up, especially when it has no bearing on the game whatsoever. Then we can start speculating about players who choose to stand rather than sit.

Thanks for listening and I’ll talk to you in the next one.

[08:53]
[rock guitar music]