An unpopular defence of a woman with a disability

Like most people in this country I don’t know, and I have never met, Heather Mills.  As a result I have no real view on her character or morals, which seemingly puts me in a minority in the UK.

But, for the sake of this piece alone, let’s assume that she is as venal and self-obsessed as she is portrayed.

It seems unlikely, but let’s pretend she’s really, really awful. That still wouldn’t justify making jokes about her having lost a leg.

When someone makes a joke about Ms Mills having only one leg, or about her prosthesis (and we’ve all heard them), what they are doing is poking fun at a disabled woman because of her disability.

It’s laughing at a cripple, to be brutal about it.

I have had this argument before, in person, with a colleague who made such a joke. He didn’t care for my objection. His position was that he was making a joke about a horrible woman, a spoiled gold-digger; a deserving target for his ridicule.

See the disclaimer at the top of the piece. If Ms Mills is that awful, then yes, perhaps she does deserve ridicule, and vituperation.

But not for losing a leg.  To suffer such an injury in a car accident, or any other way, is worthy only of sympathy.  And I have a degree of admiration for her for overcoming such a setback, particularly in appearing on Dancing With The Stars on US TV.

But that’s not important. The point is, it’s not funny and it’s not right to make jokes about her disability. 

When Jeremy Clarkson called then PM Gordon Brown “a one-eyed Scottish idiot”, he was rightly criticized for using Brown’s disability against him. And he apologized.  When serial offender Jeremy Clarkson understands that making jokes about illness or disability is beyond the pale, then it can’t be that difficult to comprehend.

But to make it plainer. Let’s assume Heather Mills was not one-legged, but, say, black.  Same person, same character and (supposed) moral flaws. But with two legs and black.  Still deserving then of ridicule for venality, pomposity and all that. 

But would those jokes focus on her ethnicity? The colour of her skin, or her hair, or whatever other racist tropes there might be? Would we all gladly laugh along when some comic on a panel show makes a little crack about nasty, greedy Heather Mills and her love of watermelon?  No.

So please, if you want to make jokes about a woman you don’t know because you’ve heard she’s awful, then go ahead. But don’t poke fun at her because she’s disabled.

That just isn’t nice.