I do not know what I do not know: A case for intersectionality | Lyndsey Johnson | TEDxLSSU
The speaker recounts surviving a debilitating illness that led to a POTS diagnosis, illustrating that disability is multifaceted and invisible. She advocates for understanding intersectionality, demonstrating that single issues are insufficient to capture the complexity of lived experience. Ultimately, she urges the audience to listen and amplify the voices of others to drive collective change. ## Speakers & Context - Unnamed speaker, currently in junior year of high school. - Academic trajectory originally planned: great grades, early graduation, attendance at a "dream school," and becoming an anthropologist. - Initial extracurricular plans included baristas, tea service, and swimming. - Presenting on the challenges of invisible disabilities versus perceived ones. ## Theses & Positions - Illness and disability can manifest in ways that are not easily visible, requiring new concepts like "invisible disability" to describe. - Intersectionality defines the interconnected nature of social categorizations (race, class, gender, etc.) that create overlapping disadvantages. - Recognizing one's own privileges is a necessary first step toward tackling systemic issues. - Change requires collective action built on mutual understanding, as single issues cannot be addressed in isolation. ## Concepts & Definitions - **POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome):** A form of dysautonomia meaning the nervous system fails to properly pump blood to the head and heart when standing up, causing symptoms like racing heart, dizziness, and nausea. - **Dysautonomia:** A general term for autonomic nervous system dysfunction. - **Spoon Theory:** A framework used by chronically ill people to measure energy, equating limited energy reserves to a finite number of "spoons" (e.g., taking out of bed might cost 2 spoons). - **Intersectionality:** Defined as *"the interconnected nature of social categorization such as but not limited to race class and gender as they apply to a given individual or group regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage."* ## Mechanisms & Processes - **POTS mechanism:** Standing causes the nervous system failure to pump blood correctly to the head and heart, leading to symptoms. - **Energy rationing (Spoon Theory):** Requires careful allocation of limited daily energy units (spoons) to perform basic activities (e.g., 2 spoons to get out of bed, 3 spoons for a 50-minute class). - **Discrimination/Disadvantage:** Historical examples include denying Emma Grafton Reid a job at General Motors because the court could only process claims of racial *or* gender discrimination, failing to see the intersectional disadvantage. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Elementary School to High School Freshman Year:** Initial period where the speaker was on track academically with plans to become an anthropologist. - **Summer Period:** Instead of getting a driver's license or attending swim camp at Michigan State, the speaker contracted mono. - **Senoia Visit:** Day trip to Senoia, where the speaker collapsed after going halfway down Main Street due to a compromised immune system, leading to pneumonia. - **January (Year of diagnosis):** Attended the Mayo Clinic, where the speaker, unable to get out of a wheelchair for more than a minute, was diagnosed with POTS. - **Present:** Currently in junior year of high school, still working with doctors to manage symptoms. - **1989:** Year the term "intersectionality" was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw. - **2003:** Year the Spoon Theory was created by Christine Miserandino and Aron Fisher. ## Named Entities - **Michigan State:** Location of planned summer camp for the speaker. - **Georgia:** State where the speaker visited on a day trip to Senoia. - **Senoia:** Town in Georgia, noted for being a filming location for *The Walking Dead*. - **Mayo Clinic:** Medical facility where the speaker received diagnosis in January. - **LSU (Louisiana State University):** Location of the speaker's 50-minute class. - **Kimberlé Crenshaw:** Coined the term "intersectionality" in 1989. - **Emma Grafton Reid:** Woman involved in the case cited by Crenshaw, denied a job at General Motors. - **General Motors:** Company where the case involving Emma Grafton Reid took place. - **Susan B. Anthony:** White women's rights activist who advocated for only white women's rights. ## Numbers & Data - Age during initial plans: Elementary school level. - Number of planned activities: "a bunch of extracurricular projects in the works" (including baristas, tea, swimming). - Age of mono diagnosis period: Summer following freshman year. - Day trip location: Senoia. - Duration of inability to get out of wheelchair at Mayo Clinic: More than a minute, after four days. - POTS manifestation: Occurs when standing, as the nervous system fails to pump blood up correctly. - Percentage of POTS patients disabled: **25%**. - Year of Spoon Theory: **2003**. - Example class duration: **50 minutes**. - Year "intersectionality" coined: **1989**. ## Examples & Cases - **Mono/Illness manifestation:** Contracting mono, leading to fever, headaches, dizziness, brain fog, racing heart, nausea, and extreme fatigue. - **Mobility impairment:** Being unable to get from the car to the front door, and then to a wheelchair, within a store due to nausea. - **Invisibility of disability:** The speaker looking "fine" while wearing makeup but being unable to stand or walk for long enough, needing to collapse. - **The Wheelchair Trope:** The overused trope of wheelchair users standing up, exemplified by Stanley in an episode of *Cory in the House* feigning a sprain for sympathy. - **Intersectionality Case:** The struggle where the court viewed Emma Grafton Reid's discrimination as separate racial *or* gender issues, failing to see the intersectional disadvantage of being Black *and* a woman. - **Wage Gap Example:** The wage gap being even larger for men and women of color. - **Historical Conflict:** The conflict where white women's rights activists focused solely on white women's rights to vote, suggesting people of color could get their rights later or not at all. ## Tools, Tech & Products - Wheelchair: Mobility aid used by the speaker. - EKGs (Electrocardiograms): Test performed during diagnosis. - Halter monitors: Test performed during diagnosis. - Tilt table test: Test performed during diagnosis. - Blood tests: Tests performed during diagnosis. - Barista/Tea/Swimming: Original extracurricular activities. ## References Cited - *The Walking Dead*: Show filmed in Senoia. - *Cory in the House*: Show cited regarding the wheelchair trope. - *Good Girls Revolt*: Docu-series cited regarding the struggle between civil rights and women's rights. - Christine Miserandino and Aron Fisher: Creators of the Spoon Theory. - Kimberlé Crenshaw: Coiner of the term "intersectionality." - Disney's Pocahontas: Song cited regarding learning from others. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Disability visibility:** The choice between being outwardly visible (like needing a chair) versus having an invisible disability (like POTS). - **Social rights focus:** The trade-off faced by activists: focusing narrowly on one category of rights (e.g., white women's rights) versus fighting for all rights together. - **Energy expenditure:** The choice between immediate high energy use (e.g., protesting to be pushed in a borrowed wheelchair) versus conserving it for necessity. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - **Initial Self-Perception:** The speaker believed disability was something she could "easily see." - **Media Misrepresentation:** Media portrays standing up from a wheelchair only in moments of faking injury or seeking advantage, setting an unrealistic standard. - **Individual Agency:** The speaker notes that while she was disadvantaged by being ill, she still has goals she must reach through a "different way." ## Methodology - **Self-Disclosure:** Narrating personal health journey from planned trajectory to diagnosis and adaptation. - **Medical Testing:** Using a combination of EKGs, halter monitors, and tilt table tests to diagnose POTS. - **Social Theory Application:** Applying intersectional theory to analyze systemic disadvantage. - **Analogy Use:** Employing the "Spoon Theory" to quantify subjective energy levels. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The speaker remains committed to her goals despite physical challenges, adapting her approach rather than abandoning her ambitions. - The primary recommendation is to listen actively to the stories of others. - Acknowledging one's own privileges is proposed as the critical first step to begin correcting social imbalances. - *"Humanity will benefit when more people listen to each other."* ## Implications & Consequences - **Healthcare implications:** The difficulty in diagnosing and treating invisible, complex conditions like POTS. - **Social implications:** The danger of viewing marginalized identities through single-issue lenses, which fails to account for overlapping discrimination. - **Personal implications:** The realization that one's life experience (the "worst thing that ever happened") can become the greatest learning experience. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I slept you see the powers that be decided that instead of all that I should get mono"* - *"I had fevers headaches dizziness brain fog a racing heart nausea and extreme fatigue"* - *"I was in the perfect place for a walk-on role as a zombie"* - *"it takes me about two spoons to get out of to get out of bed take a shower and get dressed in the morning"* - *"the only examples of wheelchair users standing up that I've seen in media are used for an AHA they've been thinking it moment"* - *"she's second-class citizens and you and I know exactly how that feels don't we"* - *"there's no such thing a single issue struggles because we do not live single issues issue lives"* - *"I've got a lot of imperfections but I don't count my ambition in them"* - *"If you walk the footsteps of a stranger you'll learn things you never knew you never knew"*