postr/StutterApril 7, 2022

"you can get over it"/"you can lose your stutter" attitude and my problem with Bridgerton.

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"you can get over it"/"you can lose your stutter" attitude and my problem with Bridgerton. I am sorry if this comes across as petty or silly, but I watched the first season yesterday and came across something that generally really irks me about the attitude towards stuttering/stammering. Spoiler ahead: >!Simon Hastings has a stutter as a child, that he works very hard to overcome. It is shown to be a part of his character arc. The aunt tells him that she can show him how to be better more confident etc etc blah blah. She tells a story about how she was a shy girl and she just overcame her shyness!< I was initially delighted to have some representation. A stutterer as a protagonist in a non-stutter related media! Amazing! But sadly, the entire purpose of that story arc was to eliminate it. He was helped to find his confidence and voila! Get rid of it! Just like that. Gone. I get it that >!he was a kid and many kids lose their stutter. !< I get that he was >!afraid of his father!< Etc. I would just have liked to see a storyline in which someone is a complete person, a confident person, a well respected person, despite their stutter. Their stutter is not a struggle, but just a part of their everyday life; nothing to do a double take about, nothing to think twice about. Now **that** is a character arc that would make me clap. The only thing that reduced my stutter (not eliminate it tho) was stopping to think about my stutter as something to cure or something to stop. I decided to let myself stutter freely. Also then my anxiety related to speech decreased, so I was able to be confident even when I stuttered. This stopped all bullying and funny remarks, when people got the vibes that I would not be affected if they made fun of me. I know that the show creators don't have to make me happy or care about this at all. Probably a lot of people will think that I'm being sensitive. But it was just something that I personally disliked due to my experiences with the impediment. Edit: I've tried to remove all the things I think are spoilers. If there is anything else that I should put the spoiler tag to, let me know please.

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceCauses & VariabilityCoping & AdvocacyIdentity & Disability

Subthemes

Avoidance & SubstitutionHiding & ConcealmentSituational VariabilityMindset shiftAuthenticity vs. MaskingAcceptance & Pride