Sunday, April 09, 2006

What do you think about my new blogroll?

I have been shuffling round my blogroll and would appreciate feedback. I have long had a serious disability-bias to my blogroll, partly because most of my on-line friends are crips and partly because I am interested in what other disabled people have to say whether they are my friends or not. However, recently I have been thinking that I perhaps I ought to spell this out.

Not that I want my blog to be any sort of platform for disability issues particularly, but I wanted to draw attention to the quantity and quality of disabled bloggers, as disabled people. As far as the blog itself is concerned, this is my soapbox, nothing more and after a year of miscellany you are not about to find any sense or order to the things I decide to write about.

However, I would like your opinions as it is your blogs on the blogroll. Can I use the word crip? Do people get that? And I must say that in some cases I have identified people as disabled even though they haven’t explicitly said they are. But they are. In other cases, I may have wrongly assumed that folks were non-disabled.
I also think I have made Melbamae and Bloggine Mone honoury disabled people - I say think because I don't actually know if Mone is disabled or not.

And do non-disabled bloggers mind being singled out and shoved at the bottom? I can't see Bitch PhD putting on a limp to try and get a higher spot up my sidebar, but these are by no means lesser bloggers for the fact they wound up at the bottom. In fact, given the disability-bias to my browsing, they have to have impressed me some.

And I've made the rash move of naming my favourite disabled bloggers. I thought of saying blogpals because these are folks who are either my actual factual friends or people I am fairly friendly with, but blogpals sounds really childish. I don't actually think that any disabled bloggers who aren't writers or artists or one of my favourites ever comes here, so they'll never know that I put them second place in the hierarchy, but I still feel a bit guilty about this - the others are well worth reading, a mixed bag but well worth it.

What do you think about all this?

And if you want to move your own position on this blogroll, do let me know - chances are there will be brain fog mistakes as well as wrong decisions.

13 comments:

PaulaO said...

I like it. Makes surfing from your site easier.

In my opinion, humble that it is. :D

BloggingMone said...

I like that blogroll. It is easier to read than the previous list. And - I feel very honoured by being made an honoury disabled person and I am proud to be regarded as "Crip Hip", but I am non-disabled and therefore not certain if I deserve all this ;-)
It would be a long story to explain why and how, but I somehow ended up in a sort of mixed environment, having friends with all kind of disabilities. We are constantly arguing whether this was successful integration of non- disabled people into the group of disabled people or vice versa as we are about equal in numbers.
Same situation at work: Half of my colleagues are Deaf.

Anonymous said...

I have never been called crip art before - but I quite like it.

Marcelle Proust said...

I'm just flattered to be on anybody's blogroll.

marmiteboy said...

Hi Goldfish,

I'm both flattered and honoured to be included amongst your favourite bloggers, thank you.

As for being called a 'crip', well it's what I call myself and as I advertise my 'Hip Cripness' via my Hip Crip messenger bag from Mumpy's online shop I think you could say I use it as a badge of honour.

Thanks again,

Marmite

The Goldfish said...

Thanks for your comments, glad everyone is happy so far.

Mone, you are quite welcome to be an honoury disabled person so long as you don't mind. Melbamae is similar to yourself in so far she's always worked with disabled people and is married to one. :-)

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to add that I'm proud to be on your blogroll and that I'm listed in the correct category.

Louise

midwesterntransport said...

I like it. And I don't mind being toward the bottom, at all.

It's cool to see a site which highlights "crip hip."

Anonymous said...

Much as I enjoy the ill-informed ramblings, why are there two of him?

The Goldfish said...

Well spotted Anon - I have too ramblings and have lost the meanderings. Shall put it right as soon as poss'.

Katie said...

Thank you Goldfish! I too am honoured to be in your Crip hip list of favourite disabled bloggers!

Ah! Such a terrific honour!!!!!!!

Brilliant!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I, too, feel really honoured to be placed where I am on it.

On a less self-obsessive note, I find it easy to navigate and really well defined :)

Anonymous said...

I don't feel jaded for being in the second section. I'm happy to be on it at all, & to have been discovered as a disabled blogger.

As far as crip goes, I'm sure lots of folks don't find it tasteful... but that goes with *anything*. If someone without a disability called me a crip I'd be furious. "That's differently-abled to you!" But another crip can call me a crip . It's a cultural thing. I'm also gay, & if a straight person called me a fag there would be hell to pay. But another gay man can use the term & it's ok.

People: we sure are picky, aren't we?