Dr. Katya Vrtis
@purplezebrav.bsky.social
Queer/crip scholar of freaks and monsters in pop culture and politics, here to talk about history, literary theory, and cats.
They/them or xe/xen/xens pronouns.
They/them or xe/xen/xens pronouns.
The DTaP CFP for ATHE 2026 in Baltimore (July 22-26) is now live. Come and join us in considering the work of disabled people in theatre and the performing arts practice, education, and scholarship!
cdn.ymaws.com/www.athe.org...
cdn.ymaws.com/www.athe.org...
cdn.ymaws.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:17 PM
The DTaP CFP for ATHE 2026 in Baltimore (July 22-26) is now live. Come and join us in considering the work of disabled people in theatre and the performing arts practice, education, and scholarship!
cdn.ymaws.com/www.athe.org...
cdn.ymaws.com/www.athe.org...
Reminder to anyone who hasn’t considered it yet:
Intentional use of starvation as a weapon to control a population is a *War Crime*.
And positive election results are not the same and end to American fascism. Now is the time to fight harder.
Intentional use of starvation as a weapon to control a population is a *War Crime*.
And positive election results are not the same and end to American fascism. Now is the time to fight harder.
November 5, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reminder to anyone who hasn’t considered it yet:
Intentional use of starvation as a weapon to control a population is a *War Crime*.
And positive election results are not the same and end to American fascism. Now is the time to fight harder.
Intentional use of starvation as a weapon to control a population is a *War Crime*.
And positive election results are not the same and end to American fascism. Now is the time to fight harder.
My neurospicy academic heart feels this so hard.
TIL there was a botanist hired by Louis XVI who spent seven years collecting plants for his garden in Paris and got so obsessed with rare exotics he missed how his client got kinda sorta beheaded.
Relatable.
Relatable.
September 17, 2025 at 5:53 PM
My neurospicy academic heart feels this so hard.
Obscene.
Putting aside the visceral profane responses that questions 1-7 elicit from me (🤬, 🤬, 🤬, 🤬, 🤬, 🤬and 🤬); the fact that, as @andysabl.bsky.social points out, PragerU is proud of this work 🤯🤯🤯
Here’s part of the test for Oklahoma teachers that Praeger U wrote.
This test—for *public school teachers*—combines middle school civics with religious Right (esp. anti-trans) ideology. And Praeger U is so proud of it that it took out a full-page NYT ad.
This test—for *public school teachers*—combines middle school civics with religious Right (esp. anti-trans) ideology. And Praeger U is so proud of it that it took out a full-page NYT ad.
August 31, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Obscene.
Reposted by Dr. Katya Vrtis
As good of a takedown as I have ever seen.
August 31, 2025 at 9:43 PM
As good of a takedown as I have ever seen.
Reposted by Dr. Katya Vrtis
Disabled people: RFK Jr. is a dangerous eugenicist who wants people to die.
Nondisabled people:
DP: Here are examples of his eugenicist policy.
NP:...
DP: He actually wrote all this out in a book years ago.
NP: Hey why can't I get a Covid shot??
Nondisabled people:
DP: Here are examples of his eugenicist policy.
NP:...
DP: He actually wrote all this out in a book years ago.
NP: Hey why can't I get a Covid shot??
August 30, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Disabled people: RFK Jr. is a dangerous eugenicist who wants people to die.
Nondisabled people:
DP: Here are examples of his eugenicist policy.
NP:...
DP: He actually wrote all this out in a book years ago.
NP: Hey why can't I get a Covid shot??
Nondisabled people:
DP: Here are examples of his eugenicist policy.
NP:...
DP: He actually wrote all this out in a book years ago.
NP: Hey why can't I get a Covid shot??
Delighted to have found an excuse to use the term “Monster Fucker” in an academic chapter intended for publication.
I am hoping my editor agrees its use is actually reasonable.
I am hoping my editor agrees its use is actually reasonable.
August 30, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Delighted to have found an excuse to use the term “Monster Fucker” in an academic chapter intended for publication.
I am hoping my editor agrees its use is actually reasonable.
I am hoping my editor agrees its use is actually reasonable.
Important history.
Ancient Rome was a rigidly hierarchical society where the ruling elite stigmatized everyone who had to work with their hands.
Yet Roman workers still found ways to resist exploitation through strikes and other forms of collective action.
Yet Roman workers still found ways to resist exploitation through strikes and other forms of collective action.
The Hidden History of Class Struggle in the Roman Empire
Ancient Rome was a rigidly hierarchical society where the ruling elite stigmatized everyone who had to work with their hands. Yet Roman workers still found ways to resist exploitation through strikes ...
jacobin.com
July 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Important history.
I’ve become troubled by the strong impulse *against* democracy by many young progressives. The attitude that everyone else is too stupid to make good decisions, so they should not have choices in their lives, seems to be becoming ever more common. This is a bad impulse. Human bad choices are…
July 3, 2025 at 10:40 PM
I’ve become troubled by the strong impulse *against* democracy by many young progressives. The attitude that everyone else is too stupid to make good decisions, so they should not have choices in their lives, seems to be becoming ever more common. This is a bad impulse. Human bad choices are…
Disability interacts with every single element of history, and intersectional understanding of oppression is necessary to learn that history accurately.
Black American Sign is a beautiful and vital language that should be better known. Learn about it for Disability History Month. 😈
Black American Sign is a beautiful and vital language that should be better known. Learn about it for Disability History Month. 😈
Black American Sign Language is distinct from American Sign Language—and it developed because Black Deaf students were segregated in their own Black schools for the Deaf.
"Sinners" is bringing Black American sign language to the mainstream
The film will be available on HBO Max later this month.
www.motherjones.com
July 3, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Disability interacts with every single element of history, and intersectional understanding of oppression is necessary to learn that history accurately.
Black American Sign is a beautiful and vital language that should be better known. Learn about it for Disability History Month. 😈
Black American Sign is a beautiful and vital language that should be better known. Learn about it for Disability History Month. 😈
Queercrips on July 1:
It’s still Pride, let’s keep up the party. And also the protests.
Disability Pride Month just started in the US. Now is the time to fight fascist eugenic policies promoted by Trump, RFK Jr., and all their evil friends. Everyone can fight!
It’s still Pride, let’s keep up the party. And also the protests.
Disability Pride Month just started in the US. Now is the time to fight fascist eugenic policies promoted by Trump, RFK Jr., and all their evil friends. Everyone can fight!
July 2, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Queercrips on July 1:
It’s still Pride, let’s keep up the party. And also the protests.
Disability Pride Month just started in the US. Now is the time to fight fascist eugenic policies promoted by Trump, RFK Jr., and all their evil friends. Everyone can fight!
It’s still Pride, let’s keep up the party. And also the protests.
Disability Pride Month just started in the US. Now is the time to fight fascist eugenic policies promoted by Trump, RFK Jr., and all their evil friends. Everyone can fight!
If you were to suggest one work of theory to read, what would it be? A single writer is also okay, but one work would be preferable.
Bonus points if it’s on monsters, the gothic, horror, disability/crip, or queer.
My suggestion: everyone should read “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” by J. J. Cohen.
Bonus points if it’s on monsters, the gothic, horror, disability/crip, or queer.
My suggestion: everyone should read “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” by J. J. Cohen.
June 11, 2025 at 7:51 PM
If you were to suggest one work of theory to read, what would it be? A single writer is also okay, but one work would be preferable.
Bonus points if it’s on monsters, the gothic, horror, disability/crip, or queer.
My suggestion: everyone should read “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” by J. J. Cohen.
Bonus points if it’s on monsters, the gothic, horror, disability/crip, or queer.
My suggestion: everyone should read “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” by J. J. Cohen.
Check it out!
My latest research article 'Monstrous Megaliths: Ancient Stones in Folk Horror Film and Television – Showing, Telling and Making On-Screen Folklore' proposes my own methodology to describe the showing, telling and making of folklore on-screen.VERY proud of this! www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/...
Monstrous Megaliths: Ancient Stones in Folk Horror Film and Television – Showing, Telling and Making On-Screen Folklore | Journal of British Cinema and Television
Ancient stones and their surrounding landscape provide a source of enduring fascination for audiences, writers and directors. Piers Haggard, a director who has worked on folk horror, remarked, ‘stone ...
www.euppublishing.com
June 9, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Check it out!
This is a remarkably terrible plan. Even in the “bad pedagogical fads” category, this is an extraordinarily bad idea.
“‘Through AI Fluency, Ohio State students will be ‘bilingual’ — fluent in both their major field of study and the application of AI in that area,’ Ravi V. Bellamkonda, executive vice president and provost, said.” 😵
Ohio State announces every student will use AI in class
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Starting this fall, every Ohio State student will be asked to use artificial intelligence. “Through AI Fluency, Ohio State students will be ‘bilingual’ — fluent …
www.nbc4i.com
June 9, 2025 at 5:43 PM
This is a remarkably terrible plan. Even in the “bad pedagogical fads” category, this is an extraordinarily bad idea.
Obscene.
"Kidnapped in Int'l Waters": Israel Intercepts Gaza-Bound Aid Ship, Detains Greta Thunberg & Others
“Kidnapped”: Israel Intercepts Gaza-Bound Aid Ship, Detains Greta Thunberg & Others in Int’l Waters
Eleven peace activists and one journalist on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship, the Madleen, were detained by Israeli soldiers as their ship carrying vital humanitarian aid for starving Palestinians...
www.democracynow.org
June 9, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Obscene.
I had a wonderful time at the 2nd International Conference on Folklore and the Gothic, Wednesday and Thursday at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD.
Thank you to the Department of World Languages and International Studies for hosting us!
Thank you to the Department of World Languages and International Studies for hosting us!
June 9, 2025 at 5:38 PM
I had a wonderful time at the 2nd International Conference on Folklore and the Gothic, Wednesday and Thursday at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD.
Thank you to the Department of World Languages and International Studies for hosting us!
Thank you to the Department of World Languages and International Studies for hosting us!
Delightful.
April 1, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Delightful.
The Disability, Theatre, and Performance Focus Group for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education is hosting a day of virtual readings of plays by, for, and about the disabled community, on Friday April 4, 12-8 PM ET. Price is $20.
All three readings are included, so please stay for the day!
All three readings are included, so please stay for the day!
March 29, 2025 at 5:58 AM
The Disability, Theatre, and Performance Focus Group for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education is hosting a day of virtual readings of plays by, for, and about the disabled community, on Friday April 4, 12-8 PM ET. Price is $20.
All three readings are included, so please stay for the day!
All three readings are included, so please stay for the day!
Minnesota is trying to add “Trump derangement syndrome” to “draptomania,” “sluggish schizophrenia,” & “agitated delirium” in the Most Abusive “Diagnoses” in Psychiatric History Hall of Fame.
I wonder if RFK Jr.’s “healing farms”/concentration camps will “treat” it, & if it’ll be possible to refuse.
I wonder if RFK Jr.’s “healing farms”/concentration camps will “treat” it, & if it’ll be possible to refuse.
March 17, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Minnesota is trying to add “Trump derangement syndrome” to “draptomania,” “sluggish schizophrenia,” & “agitated delirium” in the Most Abusive “Diagnoses” in Psychiatric History Hall of Fame.
I wonder if RFK Jr.’s “healing farms”/concentration camps will “treat” it, & if it’ll be possible to refuse.
I wonder if RFK Jr.’s “healing farms”/concentration camps will “treat” it, & if it’ll be possible to refuse.
I have been belatedly introduced to the existence of this workshop on disability and philosophy. Check them out!
S.P. LEEDS - DIScourse
THE DISCOURSE
A PHILOSOPHY & DISABILITY WORKSHOP
www.spleeds.com
March 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I have been belatedly introduced to the existence of this workshop on disability and philosophy. Check them out!
There are many reasons I’ve been struggling to write the past week. Burnout, exhaustion, pain, and sickness are all on the list. But more than anything, I’m realizing how much I don’t want to write this paper about the end of rights for disabled people in the United States.
March 12, 2025 at 9:53 AM
There are many reasons I’ve been struggling to write the past week. Burnout, exhaustion, pain, and sickness are all on the list. But more than anything, I’m realizing how much I don’t want to write this paper about the end of rights for disabled people in the United States.
This is their plan:
Step 1: exploit legitimate pain suffered by young people and families caused by online harm
Step 2: implement government-mandated online ID checks to "keep kids away from harmful content"
Step 3: define all LGBTQ content as "harmful to kids"
Age verification is a trojan horse
Step 1: exploit legitimate pain suffered by young people and families caused by online harm
Step 2: implement government-mandated online ID checks to "keep kids away from harmful content"
Step 3: define all LGBTQ content as "harmful to kids"
Age verification is a trojan horse
Age-Verification Laws Seek to Erase LGBTQ+ Identity from the Internet
The internet age-verification craze that’s sweeping the nation isn’t really about protecting little Dick and Jane from Pornhub—it’s about giving government and companies the power to decide what’s “ha...
msmagazine.com
February 26, 2025 at 9:58 PM
I have vivid memories of an article from grad school (so almost 20 years ago) about Batman and Catwoman, kink, furries/other erotic “animal” imagery in history, and construction of identity in gender and sexuality. It’s connected deeply to Susan Sontag in my mind. Anyone have a clue what this is?
February 26, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I have vivid memories of an article from grad school (so almost 20 years ago) about Batman and Catwoman, kink, furries/other erotic “animal” imagery in history, and construction of identity in gender and sexuality. It’s connected deeply to Susan Sontag in my mind. Anyone have a clue what this is?
How could you not want to know the bear schedule?
Want to know the names of some of the bears in Elizabethan Southwark? I've got you covered with this transcription of a 1590 "bear schedule" [TNA C 146/8581]. beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...
List of animals held in the ‘Bear Garden’ in Elizabethan Southwark
This deed reveals some of the animals kept to perform on the Tudor stage or in arenas, and how they were valued. It includes an ‘old she bear called Nan’, several bulls, a horse and an ape.
beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk
February 21, 2025 at 11:18 AM
How could you not want to know the bear schedule?
Reposted by Dr. Katya Vrtis
Tagging @purplezebrav.bsky.social to maybe take a look at this as well. They’ve been a disability activist for some time and I think it’d be something they would be interested in reading.
Variety gave me the opportunity to celebrate Sebastian Stan's Gold Globes speech while hoping more able bodied allies join the bandwagon.
variety.com/2025/voices/...
variety.com/2025/voices/...
Disabled Performers Advocate for Allies in Hollywood: ‘Inclusion Needs to Be a Movement and Not a Moment’
The disabled community in Hollywood reminds their able-bodied colleagues to help join in the fight for equality and inclusion.
variety.com
February 7, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Tagging @purplezebrav.bsky.social to maybe take a look at this as well. They’ve been a disability activist for some time and I think it’d be something they would be interested in reading.