Through reading Amanda Baggs’ blog posts and watching
her video, I can definitely see a difference in the way she treats her audience
compared to most other writers. Not
every writer is out there to be best buddies with their readers, but I usually find
it more common in blogs for writers to try to relate to their audience. Amanda doesn’t waste time on that. She’s not writing so that her readers will
develop an emotional connection to her, or so that they’ll feel like they’re reading
something from a friend; she’s not even crusading. She’s writing to get her point across.
Baggs’ writing is a bit shocking at first. She is clearly angry about the way she and
other disabled people are treated, and she’s not pulling any punches. She doesn’t sugar coat it; she wants her
readers to see the bare truth. If that
makes her readers uncomfortable, disgusted, outraged, or frustrated, then she’s
done her job. People should feel all these
things when they read about the inequalities that people with disabilities face
just because they do things differently.
One thing about Baggs’ writing that is especially
confrontational is the way she groups her audience with the people who mistreat
her. Some of the things she writes are
directly addressed to her tormentors, so that her readers, who may or may not
include the people she’s addressing, face the brunt of that. It makes her
readers question their own actions toward those with disabilities. Have they ever made someone this uncomfortable
before? Why have they never thought of things this way?
The reason why this approach can be useful is because
Baggs knows that her audience wouldn’t take her as seriously if she were just
blogging nice stories about cats (which she does, but she keeps it to a
separate blog). Not everything she posts
is as bitter as others, but that’s just because she’s speaking the truth. Some
things make her angry and some don’t. She posts the truth of what she’s feeling and
thinking, and if that makes her readers uncomfortable, then she’s making them
see how she feels.
I think you make a really great point when you said "if that makes her readers uncomfortable, then she's making them see how she feels." I think that's a really great way of phrasing it. She doesn't shirk from the issue at hand, and forces the audience to feel. It's impressive whenever a writer can write so clearly and still be confident and unafraid. The internet (as well as people in general) can be really harsh and people like to hide behind the anonymity of the web, which is sad.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with how she doesn't sugar coat things, and instead wants her readers to see the bare truth. While I was reading her blog entries, I also noticed how blunt they. It was the first thing I noticed. And she does seem to do this to show her readers the truth. It seems to work well.
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