Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body

Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body is a memoir by writer, teacher, and disability advocate Rebekah Taussig. Aimed at a general audience, the book was published in 2020. Rather than following a linear timeline, Taussig offers eight essays that describe her personal experiences with disability in relation to disability issues and concepts. The book was named a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read. Its themes include Disability as an Identity, Disability Impacts Everyone, and Combating Ableism.

This study guide is based on the 2020 hardcover edition published by HarperOne.

Content Warning: Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body uses identity-first language, rather than person-first language, when discussing disability and ableism. It also uses the terms “fat” and “cripple,” which are preserved only in direct quotations.

Summary

Rebekah Taussig offers eight essays that describe her personal experiences with disability issues involving relationships, disability education, work, health care, accessibility, media representation, womanhood and feminism, and kindness.

The Preface reveals that Taussig wrote Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body to illustrate the experiences of people with disabilities.