Aaron John DizonWarning, very long post ahead.
I’m Aaron John Dizon, the person Howie Severino mentioned in his recent essay. He used my feedback on ableist language to explore a broader point, and while I welcome the conversation, it missed the deeper message of my advocacy.
Let me start by saying this straight:
I’M BLIND, AND I’M PROUD OF IT.
Being blind doesn’t mean I’m lost, stupid, or incapable of thinking for myself. So, when people use “blind” as a negative word, like “blind faith” or “blind obedience”, it hits differently. It’s not just a figure of speech. It’s a reflection of how society still connects blindness to ignorance.
Now, to be clear, I am not against the word blind. I am not trying to avoid it. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. I embrace it. I use it. I introduce myself as blind with pride. Even to my own three-year-old son, who might not yet understand what blindness fully means, I make it clear: Mama and Dada are blind. And he gets it — he knows we don’t see like most people do, but he also knows that doesn’t make us less. We move, we love, and we live fully. That’s the kind of understanding I want to grow in him, that blindness is not a curse, not a defect, not something to be pitied. It’s just a part of who we are, and we’re proud of it. I love the word because it’s part of who I am, and it represents my strength, my independence, and my truth.
What I don’t accept is when people use blind to mean something negative, when it’s used to describe people who refuse to think, who follow without question, who ignore what’s wrong. That’s not what being blind means. So, when someone says “it’s just a metaphor,” that’s where I draw the line.
In that essay, Howie quoted Aleeia saying:
“Before people react or feel hurt, they should first look at where the word comes from, what it really means, and what the speaker’s intent was. Words don’t always have the same meaning depending on the situation.”
And honestly, this is exactly the problem. That kind of statement blames the people who speak up, as if we’re too emotional, too sensitive, or too quick to be offended. It puts the focus on intent instead of impact. But intent doesn’t erase harm. You don’t get to say, “I didn’t mean it that way,” and expect that to fix the hurt. Because the truth is, when you use “blind” to describe people who don’t think or who lack awareness, you’re still reinforcing the same old idea that blindness equals ignorance. And that’s not something you can explain away with “context.”
Then she said:
“For me, hearing the word ‘blind’ in this context isn’t offensive at all. Just because a word is used doesn’t automatically mean it’s discrimination or an insult. Some people get offended right away when they hear ‘blind,’ but I think that reaction often comes from misunderstanding the context. In my case, I don’t feel insulted when someone calls me blind, because it’s simply the truth. I am blind. It’s a fact, not a negative label. And I don’t treat my blindness as a problem I need to get rid of or a weakness I have to fix.”
See, this is where it completely contradicts itself. If you say you’re proud of being blind, good, so am I. but how can you defend people using our word to describe ignorance or lack of awareness? That’s not pride; that’s permission. That’s letting others twist something we live and breathe into an insult.
True pride means defending the dignity of your identity. It means saying, “Yes, I am blind, but don’t use that word to describe what’s wrong with the world.”
Howie also wrote that he “won’t promise to stop using those expressions,” but will “try to be more thoughtful.” If you truly believe in inclusivity, you don’t try, you do better. You listen, you learn, and you stop using words that reinforce discrimination, even unintentionally.
Let’s be clear: Howie didn’t frame this as a nuanced discussion. Instead, he used Aleeia’s comfort with the word ‘blind’ to counter my advocacy, which shifted the focus from a systemic critique to a personal debate. My lived experience and call for dignity became the “issue to be balanced,” rather than the perspective that needed attention.
This is not nuance, this is a shortcut in reporting that overlooked the full context. One blind person’s personal reaction does not invalidate a systemic critique about language and representation. Using a single perspective to soften another’s lived reality does not advance understanding, it obscures it.
True journalistic responsibility would mean engaging with the advocacy at its core, not reframing it as a matter of opinion to be “balanced.” My feedback, the voice of someone directly confronting discrimination, deserves recognition, not sidelining.
And this, this is what’s wrong with how media in the Philippines has shaped public thinking for so long. We’ve been portrayed as pitiful, helpless, or inspirational objects, never as equals.
Kaya ngayon, kapag may bulag na nagsalita tungkol sa respeto at dignidad, ang dali nating sabihan ng “Uy, ang liit lang naman na issue,” or “bakit sobra kang galit?”
But no, this is not a small issue. This is exactly how discrimination survives through words, habits, and the excuses we keep making for them.
If you truly advocate for inclusivity, then you won’t defend a language that treats blindness like a defect or an insult. You’ll listen. You’ll rethink. You’ll open your eyes, ironically, that’s what real awareness means.
This isn’t about being sensitive. This is about being seen and respected, not as metaphors, but as people.
And to you, Aleeia, who is blind and supposedly understands the weight of our struggles, shame on you for defending those who use our identity as their shortcut to insult or ignorance. You, of all people, should know how it feels to live every day in a world that already misrepresents us, and yet here you are, siding with the very thinking that keeps us there. That’s not understanding. That’s betrayal. You didn’t just miss the point, you helped prove why this advocacy is needed in the first place. Because if even one of us, a blind person, can justify this kind of language, then the problem runs deeper than ignorance, it’s internalized shame. And that’s something we need to unlearn, not defend.
So yes, I’ll keep standing by what I said.
I’M BLIND, AND I’M PROUD OF IT.
But I’ll never stay silent when people, even those who share our blindness, allow the world to keep treating our word as something shameful.
— Aaron John Dizon
#Blind #ProudlyBlind #LanguageMatters #MediaResponsibility #Ableism #InclusiveLanguage #InclusionMatters #Bulag #SayTheWord #DisabilityPH #Philippines
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Aaron John Dizon