M Is Entirely Too Personal About A Children's Book Series

(disclaimer: These are just my feelings and shit, I'm not trying to speak over anyone, and also, yeah, I am sighted, so take everything here with as much salt as you need to.)

I've read a lot of excellent, wonderful meta on the ableism in Warrior Cats, and for the most part, I agree, but there's always a little but that I want to say when they get to Jayfeather because yeah, I think that a lot of what they say makes sense, but also...

I first got into Warrior Cats around the time when my chronic pain started getting really bad, and I think that a lot of the messages of Jayfeather's character arc were things that I, as a young disabled kid, really needed to hear.

Stuff like- There are going to be things that your disability keeps you from doing, and that's okay. It's not a personal failing if you can't use pure willpower to do it anyway. Go find something you are able to do, and that will be just as worthwhile.

And- It's okay to be bitter and angry about being disabled and it doesn't make you bad. It's totally okay to cope via snark and joking. It's your disability, you get to make the jokes.

I just really needed to hear these things, because society pushes the "You can do anything as long as you put your mind to it" and "Disabled children, especially disabled girls, are pure innocent angels" so. fucking. hard. and I needed a counter-story to help me through how much being in pain, all the time, for no apparent reason sucks.

And yeah, would it have made these messages less Unfortunate Implication-y if Jayfeather's disability wasn't something like blindness but instead "being in pain, all the time, for no apparent reason" Syndrome?

Yes. I think it would. But I also really, really got something out of him, and I think that should count for something.