day 4:ROSIE JONES

Today I wanted to talk about someone who is not only super successful in her field despite the challenges that disabled people face, but has actually incorporated it into her work and has made her stand out from the rest. Rosie Jones is a successful British comedian who has ataxic cerebral palsy which affects her speech, and her style of comedy often includes making jokes that subvert the punchline which is complimented by her slower speech.

 

Jones’s success is shown in the number of popular shows she has helped to write and has appeared on, such as The Last Leg and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, as well as the numerous awards she has won for her comedy. In interviews she has stated that the reason she wanted to get into comedy is because of the underrepresentation of disability in mainstream media. Jones wanted to have her story heard because of her unique point of view as disability is rarely heard of in comedy and as result this has drawn many people to her refreshing perspective. 

 

Although, when talking about her childhood she says that she didn’t feel like she was treated any differently from other able-bodied children and was always encouraged to follow her dreams, she does say that in adult-life she feels like comedy is a great way to diffuse any tension and awkwardness when interacting with people who aren’t comfortable around disability. 

 

I think Rosie Jones is admirable for never believing that her disability restricts what she can do with her life, she has followed her dreams and not let others' opinions stop her from doing so. Every single person with a disability should ignore what society expects from them and be ambitious and follow their dreams.

 

However, given the joke she made about Greta Thunberg earlier this year I think it’s important to highlight that people with disabilities need to support each other, as although we are all different we are part of the same community. Since the joke she has stated that people have misinterpreted her, however no matter her intention she has still caused harm and she needs to accept responsibility for that.