MS Advocacy and Accessible Fashion with Roxy Murray | S5E4

01-02-2023 • 37 mins

Welcome to Living Well with MS, the Overcoming MS podcast where we explore all topics relating to living well with multiple sclerosis (MS). In this episode, Geoff meets MS and disability activist, Roxy Murray.

Keep reading for the key episode takeaways and bio. You can also watch this episode on our YouTube channel here.

Make sure you sign up to our newsletter to hear our latest tips and news about living a full and happy life with MS. And if you’re new to Overcoming MS, visit our introductory page to find out more about how we support people with MS.

Roxy Murray’s bio:

If you're keen on driving inclusivity, Roxy's story will be of interest to you.

Roxy Murray (@multiplesclerosisfashionista) is a London (UK) based MS and disability, sex and body positivity and Queer activist. She is also a podcaster, voiceover artist, fashion stylist and the designer of sick and sickening (@sickandsickening) clothing, a brand created to celebrate disabled and invisible illness warriors.

She focuses her attention on creating better representation, consideration and inclusion within the MS narrative for people of colour and the LGBTQIA Community.

Roxy’s Social Media

Through her social media, Roxy combines her love of fashion and art to empower others on their journey, whilst they navigate through life with a disability or invisible illness. She creates videos and Instagram content that celebrates and brings visibility to the beauty of the community with her hashtag #WeAreNotInvisible.

She also focuses her attention on helping others take steps to release grief and openly talk about her own mental health battles.

Roxy’s podcast

She highlights real unfiltered stories and talks about taboo subjects like disabled joy, sexual empowerment and much more on her podcast (@sickandsickening_podcast).

Selected Key Takeaways

Accessible fashion is adaptable, so that it suits every body, every shape, and every person’s needs

Sometimes that might be an adaptable sleeve, it might be magnetic fastening. Jewellery is a big one for me, I find it really hard to clip in the little clips around the neck. You can get ones [fastenings] that are just magnetic so it's easier to pull on and push off for someone that wants to be chic and fashionable and look good, but they want to be able to dress themselves.

Then Barbara Met Allen is a new TV show chronicling the UK’s disability rights movement

It's more inclusive it's more accessible and people that are disabled are being allowed to tell [their] own stories, which is really special. So, you have a story of when Barbara met Allen and together, after the disability rights generation movement in America, it came over here. They were looking for their own accessibility revolution.

There’s no need to desexualize disabled bodies

I'm a 34-year-old, unapologetic Aries. I'm going to stand up, be proud and look fabulous. I've literally walked a runway show with a mobility aid, and was like, “I'm going to wear underwear and be fabulous and show people we can be disabled and be sexual and be good and curious and gorgeous”.

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