Sitting Pretty By Rebekah Tassig

Through a collection of memoirs, Rebekah Taussig’s, "Sitting Pretty," advocates for a more accepting and inclusive society of disabled people. She recalls the struggles of living in a world not designed for her. Taussig strives to tell a true story about living as a disabled woman; discarding the stereotypical image that all disabled people with a platform should be inspiring. Her book encourages readers to see disabled people through a social lens rather than a medical one. Instead of trying to “cure” disabled people to fit our idealist world created for able-bodied people, our world needs to change to be accommodating to everyone. “Sitting Pretty” gives readers an intimate look inside one disabled woman’s life while simultaneously challenging

The traditional work schedule does not work for disabled people. The physically disabled have concerns over transportation and the ability to perform at the level of an able-bodied person. A mentally disabled person may not have the capacity to work 8 hours a day. If jobs are not made accessible to disabled people, how would they make a living and get their much-needed health insurance? Rebekah Taussig makes it astoundingly clear that systemic ableism in the workforce prevents disabled people from providing for themselves. What I did not consider is how the workforce harms able-bodied people as well. Millions of Americans lose 40 years of their lives to their jobs, having to sacrifice sleep, time, and self-care. Taussig uses her father's story to demonstrate to readers the need for change and flexibility in our traditional workforce. Growing up, she watched her father wake up at 4:30 every morning to catch a 6:13 bus so that he could provide for his family by working an office job at the bank. Though Tim Taussig was a healthy able man, he suffered from the structured Full-Time Adult Job that everyone is expected to have. He was stuck at his current job constantly worrying about losing it and his ability to provide for his family. Rebekah Taussig states that after her father retired, he was “made new” (Taussig 135). He became more present and “lighter” in his everyday life. The workforce itself is ableist by placing value on the output of the individual rather than on the individual themself resulting in a lack of fairness, tolerance, and