Disability Representation in Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros  

I’m just happy EDS made its way into one of the most popular book series of our time. Of course we all have huge variations in how this condition affects us. But any mention of it at all is a good thing.

I've got to assume Yarros has a very mild version of EDS. That's not a slight, it just means that all that praise is going to set the belief that EDS is one thing and just a little extra work will make anything possible. Unfortunately, that's not the case depending on severity, and the praise is missing that fact. There are multiple tiers and types of EDS, and I have hEDS - EDS Type 1. I have to assume she does, as well, because Violet's struggles do exemplify the early stages of EDS Type 1. For me, I can't reach behind me to pet my cat on the back of the couch without my shoulders popping out partially. Typing this to you had to wait until my oxycodone kicked in because it's painful to type (devastating for a writer). I'll have to wait a bit after I finish because my fingers will well up. I could never do anything Violet does, and people are missing that part of the conversation, and this is why I actually hate 'representation' of EDS. It's condescending and never clarified, when it's hard enough for us to be believed. People look at others like Yarros, or Sia, or even--God, and I hate her--Lena Dunham, and they look at characters portrayed with EDS like Violet, then wonder why someone like me--who is still pretty mild on the spectrum of how bad this will get as we get older--hasn't done 'more'. They don't understand the yell of pain when walking in a straight line causes my knee to snap backwards or my hip to fall out of alignment. Did you know they did studies recently that show we become psychologically incapable of strength training? So afraid of damaging our joints, even with a concerted effort to try to not, our brains lock our motions into small, safe motions when trying to do exercises, making strength training extremely difficult, if not downright impossible. So yeah. It's a good example of an early form of EDS Type 1, but that's why it's insulting to those who have it much more severely. I'll take escapism over representation. That said, I'm glad you enjoyed the book. Nothing worse than putting in the time to read something you end up hating lmao EDIT: Oh, and when I write 'we', I do mean that, I registered you have EDS too.

Just because we have EDS doesn’t mean we can’t be a “ superhero “ in a book. We have the ability to be the same as everyone else, with the proper training!