I Got 99 Problems... Palsy Is Just One

Maysoon Zayid opens this talk by naming herself as Palestinian, Muslim, a woman, disabled, and from New Jersey, then turns those identities into the structure of a comedy set rather than a catalogue of disadvantages. She describes growing up with cerebral palsy, learning to walk through persistence and family support, entering acting and stand-up, and confronting an entertainment industry that routinely excludes disabled performers even when it tells disabled stories. Humor gives her control over timing and expectation: the audience laughs with a disabled woman who is already the author of the scene, not at a stereotype arranged by someone else.

The talk’s feminist value is intersectional. Zayid’s access to education, work, public space, and representation cannot be explained by disability alone; gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, and class shape which doors close and what kinds of prejudice remain publicly acceptable. Her discussion of working in Palestinian territories also resists a narrow American diversity narrative, connecting disability to occupation, infrastructure, and political conflict. At the same time, she refuses the demand that a disabled speaker be solemn, inspirational, or grateful. Comedy becomes both labor and a method for exposing the absurdity of ableist assumptions.

The performance is an accessible starting point rather than a full theory of disability justice. Its emphasis on confidence and persistence could be misread as individual triumph if separated from Zayid’s sharper criticism of inaccessible industries and institutions. Read carefully, however, the talk does not claim that attitude removes barriers; it shows how talent is repeatedly denied the conditions in which it can be recognized. For FemRes readers, it pairs especially well with Stella Young’s critique of inspiration porn and with writing by disabled women of color on representation, work, and political self-definition.