Making Things Work for You
Social constructionism is a theory that runs on the idea that our society has been constructed. Some societal ideas, or constructs, then grow to become ingrained expectations- the way things are done, or the ‘normal’ process. But, these things don’t always work for everyone- particularly those of us belonging to marginalised identities. We are people for whom the world wasn’t necessarily built or constructed (one of the reasons videos like this always make me laugh- cause what if it was the other way around?) Part of what the world not being built for us can mean is that sometimes, things don’t always work for us the same way they do for most people, or the way society has decided they ‘should’ work. And when something doesn’t work for you, there’s a few options- you could try to conform (emphasis on try here), you could give up, or, you could try to change the way the thing is done, and make it work for you instead. Accessibility and adjustments can definitely come into this, but it can also be adapting things so that it works for you. Changing a process or way of doing so that a brick wall becomes a hurdle. One phrase that I like is can’t. Can, with tools (to help or adapt) or a team (to assist you to do it, or do the parts you’re unable to)- it’s about making things work for you.
Another aspect of making things work for you is; just because everyone seems to be doing something in a particular way does not mean you have to do it in the same way if that isn’t a way that will work for you. I once head a support professional, as part of their introduction, tell me that in their room, ‘'should’ is not a word that was said. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I understand. In part, it’s because ‘should’ can indicate ‘standard’ or ‘expected’ ways, ways that don’t necessarily work for everyone, for whatever reason, for example, if your ability contradicts the ‘standard’ way and the ‘standard’ is simply not possible.
As another example, if social justice is important to you and you're interested in advocating for things you care about, there’s many ways you can do it. Participating in protests is not the only way- you could also sign petitions or raise awareness, to name a few possibilities.
If you’d like to explore this topic more, you may like to check out;
conversation around using your voice in ways that work for you, including advocating for your needs and engaging in activism
article on social constructionism