Key Points
- Hannah felt like she had completed an impossible mission when Lizzo heard her calls to change a lyric in her song.
- The Australian disability advocate was shocked to hear that Beyoncé Knowles used the term twice in a song.
Hannah Diviney felt like she had completed an impossible mission when American singer and rapper in her song.
The Australian disability advocate then said she was "shooting for an entirely different planet" when asking Beyoncé to do the same - and she did it.
Six weeks ago, Ms Diviney wrote to Lizzo, asking her to reconsider the language she chose in her then-newly released song, 'Grrls'.
Lizzo is seen as a champion of inclusivity in the global music industry. Source: AAP / AP / Charles Sykes
Ms Diviney, 22, lives with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, a condition where she feels tightness - or spasticity - in her legs that "never goes away".
After Ms Diviney asked Lizzo on Twitter to reconsider using the "ableist slur" in her music, the Grammy award-winning star released a new version of her song in the hopes she would promote change in the language used in the music industry.
It feels insane, surreal, it feels like someone's going to tap me on the shoulder and be like, 'haha, this is a dream'.Disability Advocate Hannah Diviney
But last Friday, Ms Diviney was shocked to hear that Beyoncé used the term twice in the song Heated, released in her highly anticipated Renaissance album.
Writing on Twitter a second time, Ms Diviney said: "So @Beyonce used the word 'spaz' in her new song Heated. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo.
"Guess I'll just keep telling the whole industry to 'do better' until ableist slurs disappear from music."
Following the traction received from Ms Diviney's tweet, a representative for Beyoncé has confirmed that "the word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced".
Ms Diviney woke up to the news, stunned and excited that her calls to change ableist language were heard from arguably one of the most influential artists in the world.
"I'm just amazed. I'm really, really grateful that Beyoncé has shown once again how to be an effective ally," she told SBS News.
"It feels insane, surreal, it feels like someone's going to tap me on the shoulder and be like, 'haha, this is a dream'."
She's confident that Beyoncé's move to replace the term could have the power to change the way in which ableist language is used in music forever.
"Where [Beyoncé] moves, the entire music industry tends to follow so I think it will be -hopefully - not a problem again," she said.
Ms Diviney said she now felt a sense of relief that other high-profile artists will be able to help the disability community "do some of the heavy lifting" in raising awareness about ableist language.
Some people online have raised the argument that 'spaz' is a term in the African American Vernacular Expression, which means 'go crazy', and is not offensive in cultural contexts.
Hannah Diviney is an Australian disability advocate who lives with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. Source: Supplied / Hannah Diviney
Now, after conquering change in the first of Beyoncé's mammoth three-part Renaissance album, Ms Diviney harbours hope she can connect with Queen B to include artists with a disability in her upcoming projects, either visually or musically.
"I obviously would love the opportunity to connect with her if possible, and further have this conversation ... I'm just really excited to see what happens now."
She said she feels a strong duty to educate others about what it means to live with a disability and is proud she is making noise about the language used in the music industry.
She said: "I have considered myself a disability advocate for a number of years now and I take the privilege that it is having a voice and being able to be articulate and communicate effectively and communicate well very seriously.
"I do see it as my responsibility to use those privileges, to make things better for my community, and for the generations of disabled kids that will come long after I am no longer an advocate in the public space.
