Award-winning journalist and author Frances Ryan recently released her latest book: Who Wants Normal? The Disabled Girl’s Guide to Life. Editor Melissa Holmes caught up with Frances to reflect on advocacy, inequality and media representation
Q: What inspired you to write Who Wants Normal?, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: The media and wider culture often frame disability as negative, and at the same time exclude disabled voices. I wanted to challenge that. Yes, there’s inequality and pain and pills – and I talk about that in detail. But there’s also great creativity, humour, and joy in the disabled experience and I wanted to reflect that nuance, all whilst elevating the voices of disabled women.
I hope readers will see their lives reflected in the book – I know how rare that still is – and feel supported and galvanised. And ideally laugh at the jokes.
Q: The book is divided into sections including school, careers, body image, relationships and representation. Which did you find the most interesting or rewarding segment to write, and why?
A: I loved writing the body image chapter because it spoke about wider feminist issues around beauty standards but it also brought up so many questions about disability that go beyond just how we look. There’s this persistent idea that the best way for disabled people to have a good life is to act like we’re not disabled. That translates even to how we move or talk, especially for women who are dealing with sexism on top of ableism. So, for example, we get praised for ditching mobility aids and walking through the pain because ‘You’re too pretty for that chair, love’. It implies that disability and being attractive – or fun or desirable – are mutually exclusive.
What’s actually radical, I think, is to say that you can wear that dress, date or dance whilst being exactly as you are. Disabled women have no obligation to change – society does.
Q: The book is marketed as a disabled girls’ guide to life, but I feel people of any gender will be able to learn something from it. What are your thoughts around this?
A: I’m so pleased you feel that. Whether it’s micro aggressions in the workplace or representation on TV, so many experiences I talk about in the book are shared across the disabled community.
I also wanted to make the book as inclusive as possible, so I interviewed some fantastic non-binary people as well as women for the book – that last bit just wouldn’t fit in the book title!
I hope disabled men who read Who Wants Normal? will be nodding along, and perhaps get a new insight into the unique experiences of disabled women too.
Q: As a journalist and author, your work has highlighted the realities of disabled people’s lives in the UK. What first motivated you to use your platform for disability advocacy?
A: I’m the first wheelchair user to be a columnist in the British press. I’m one of the first physically disabled people full stop to be in a high profile newspaper role. And that’s wild, right? There were countless incredibly talented people long before I showed up, but they didn’t get the chance because they weren’t allowed to use the train to get to the office, or they didn’t have a decent education because they were sent to a segregated school.
Once I got a rare place at the table as a political journalist, I felt a responsibility to cover some of the disability issues the media often ignores or distorts. The start of my career happened to time with sweeping cuts to disabled people’s services, which cemented that feeling.
Q: What advice would you give to disabled people who want to challenge inequality but don’t know where to start?
A: One of the key messages of the book is that the inequality disabled people face is not right, and it isn’t on us to somehow fix – but whilst it does exist, let’s share the tools with each other to thrive.
Your doctor should absolutely believe you and work to ease your symptoms but, if he doesn’t, here are some ways to get better health outcomes. Your boss should give you the reasonable adjustments you need at work but, if she doesn’t, here’s information about your legal rights.
That’s why for every issue I discuss in the book, I share insights from experts I interviewed – 99% of whom have a disability themselves. They say knowledge is power (and it is) but pooling our knowledge to fight inequality together is even better.
Q: Looking ahead, what gives you hope for the future of disability rights in the UK, and what role do you hope your work will play in shaping that future?
A: Just as Who Wants Normal? came out, the government was introducing large scale disability benefit cuts. It felt almost inappropriate to launch something optimistic at a time when much of the media’s rhetoric is deeply regressive and people are afraid. But maybe that’s when we really need this stuff? To build our own narrative. To elevate disabled voices and experiences. To be louder. This is a book that says disabled people are valuable, worthy, and here. That shouldn’t need saying but I’m glad I have. Now more than ever.
Who Wants Normal? (in hardback, or audiobook narrated by Ruth Madeley) is available now.
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