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The comic’s argument that ableist abuse is everywhere risks getting lost in a social media backlash, writes Lucy Webster
There are many things that are difficult to watch in Rosie Jones’s new documentary, Am I a R*****?. But there’s one in particular that I keep thinking about: the fact that she has to wear headphones every time she leaves the house alone. Not because she’s a music-obsessive (although she does love Steps), but because it’s the only way she can drown out the abuse that follows her around. When she appears on TV and makes her audience laugh, Jones is something of a national treasure. But out and about – and in the Wild West of social media – she is a disabled person. And that means people are nasty and cruel.
The documentary, which airs on Channel 4 today, aims to put the spotlight on ableism and the abuse it feeds. Understandable backlash around the documentary’s controversial title has, sadly, distracted from its crucial message: ableist abuse is constant, horrific, and too often ignored. Jones’s open and frank exposing of the abuse she faces sends that message loud and clear – and forces the audience to question why it has been tolerated for so long.
That tolerance is starkly exposed when Jones reports a tweet calling her the r-word to Twitter, only to get an email saying it...