Comedian Rosie Jones on social media: ‘Every single day I get some form of ableism online’

From her ‘cheeky’ comedic style to her heartwarming children’s books, comedian Rosie Jones’ work has left a beloved mark across multiple genres of storytelling platforms.

As Jones gets ready for her first solo stand-up tour, she’s been having to navigate internalized ableism exacerbated by the hate and trolling prevalent in mainstream social media platforms.

"Being a woman and being gay means that every time I'm on TV I'll get a comment about what I sound like, my disability, my weight, my teeth, my hair. So every single level is a way to abuse me. Because of that I'm in therapy. I'm really dealing with a lot of internalised ableism and things that I probably painted over with a joke,” Jones told BBC.

Internalized ableism is understood as a projection of negative feelings onto oneself, when society’s stereotypes, misconceptions and discrimination make one feel like their disability makes them inferior.

Jones' labor to educate people about her disability and her participation on talk shows has been met by a flurry of ableist abuse on social media apps.

"Every single day I get some form of ableism online or in real life and I think in order to eradicate that, in order to face the abusers I've got to come here and go 'you know what, it's not Ok'”, Jones told BBC.

With the current gaps in addressing hate speech in mainstream platforms, any effort to speak about one’s disability is met with the risk of targeted harassment.

Jones’ solution: "I'd probably shut my Twitter down for a few weeks."