Example Of Intersectionality In Blindness

1133 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: About intersectionality

The subject of intersectionality basically refers to the fact that all aspects of discrimination are intertwined. One can’t go without the other. This includes discrimination on the basis of gender, race, sexuality, ability, class, … The fight for one of these rights is connected to the fight for other rights. In this essay the starting point is an incredibly inspiring article about a blind woman, Gabriella Orpinel and another article about a blind man, Brad Snyder. Our world isn’t set up for people that can’t see, or people that have any other disabilities. As said in the beginning, Gabriella and Brad’s fight for their rights is tied up to the fight for gay rights, the fight for women’s rights, the fight for civil rights and so forth. Blindness …show more content…

For Gabriella, this incredible achievement was to prove that it’s not because someone is disabled that they can’t do whatever they want if they set their mind to it. The goal was to raise awareness and recognition for their situation, and to motivate others to try and reach their goals, no matter what restrains they might encounter. Brad Snyder on the other hand travels the world to give speeches and to tell his story, also to raise recognition. Recognition opens up a conversation and enlightens people that being blind is not something that should be ignored. In Brad Snyder’s article he reflects on an encounter with a woman that ended up being a wonderful occurrence for the both of them. Brad shared his story of being blind and the woman shared her story of losing her husband and gaining weight during the grieving process (Snyder: 2018). They found common ground in both feeling like an outsider and this conversation benefited both of them in being more comfortable with their insecurities. Fighting tolerance requires education amongst other things (Agius and Ambrosewicz-Jacobs: 2003, p. 55) and if a conversation as small as this one can make such a difference already, imagine what breaking the taboo could eventually …show more content…

Human kind has been put into boxes based on their characteristics and identity since the beginning of time. Boxes that people try to break out of, but they get beaten down along the way. Many attempts have been done to stop this cycle, like in the law there’s ADA (the American’s Disability Act) for example (Stefan: 2001); books have been written like ‘Pride against prejudice: Transforming attitudes to disability’ by Jenna Morris (Morris: 2014); disability protests like ‘The Deaf President Now Protest’ (Barnartt and Snotch: 2001). The list goes on and on, but clearly none of these attempts has reached the ultimate goal: equality. Not only for the disabled, but for everyone. A march for women’s rights is a march for black people, a march for the disabled, a march for

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Marika Kovac-Houlihan's Deaf Ideology

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marika Kovac-Houlihan’s TED Talk hurt me. Hearing her stories first hand truly reveals the discrimination Deaf people face. It’s an easy to listen and understand the definition of discrimination but to experience it or witness is different. Kovac-Houlihan’s intention was for the audience to be stunned by her experiences, I imagine most of those people feel the same way I currently do. Her understanding was that most hearing people see Deaf people as disable or inferior, not every hearing person thinks that way, but most do. Kovac-Houlihan believes hearing people’s assumption is “that a deaf person may be isolated, uneducated or without language” (2:29 Kovac-Houlihan). I slightly disagree with her, but there are exceptions to every rule, one individual does not always impact the thoughts of the mob. I choose this video because of my reaction to Kovac-Houlihan’s primary discussion topics: the phonocentric ideology, loss of identity, and the divide between hearing and Deaf

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Book Deaf Again

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning of the book, the author talks about deafness. He believe that deafness is not something that should be looked down upon. His beliefs people reduce their thoughts about people with disabilities. He talks about other beliefs on deafness and hard of hearing. Mark experience difficulties within his work place as well as school, early life, and relationships. In the workplace, Mark felt insecure and like he could not obtain a job in any other field

    Read More

  • The Moving Beyond Pity and Inspiration: Disability as a social Justice Issue by Eli Clare

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Moving Beyond Pity & Inspiration: Disability as a social Justice Issue by Eli Clare took place on April 16, 2014. Thinking about disability before this lecture I feel like I had a general idea of the things Eli spoke about. I attended a school were more than half of the students had a disability. The terms and stereotypes he mentioned I ha heard since sixth grade.

    Read More

  • Connie Panzarino: The Gendered Experience Of Disability

    355 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gender has been broadly used within the humanities and social sciences as both a means to categories dissimilarities, and as a logical concept to give details differences. In both the humanities and social sciences. Disability studies has appeared partly as a result of challenges to give details gendered experience of disability and partly as a challenge to contemporary feminist theory on gender which fails to take description of disability. Disabled people have frequently been standing for as without gender, as asexual creatures, as freaks of nature, hideous, the ‘Other’ to the social norm. In this way it may be taking for granted that for disabled people gender has little bearing. However, the image of disability may be make physically powerful by gender - for women a sense of intensified passivity and helplessness, for men a dishonesties masculinity make by put into effected dependence. Moreover these images have real consequences in terms of

    Read More

  • Cure for Blindness - Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the novel there are several instances where characters, including the narrator, are physically blind or experience the loss of their sight. Such cases of physical blindness represent the unwillingness or incapability to see past the prejudices and falsities of an American society based on the superiority of Whites. An important example of this in the text is the boxing scene in which the narrator is fooled into fighting other fellow African Americans for the enjoyment of notable white folks in the community. The narrator is searching for truth behind the horror of this arranged fight, but his eyes are blindfolded by oppressive Caucasian hands:

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'The Disability And The Theory Of Complex Embodiment'

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    When looking at the scene through the lens crafted from Leadbeater’s essay, it’s understood that Trevor is the focal point the director wants the audience to see. Trevor is seen as the focal point because when the camera breaks through the crowd for Ben to see what is going, the first person that is noticeable is Trevor sitting in his wheelchair looking up at Ben. The director wants the audience to believe that Trevor is the one in trouble, but in actuality, it is Peaches who is in trouble with having to give birth to her baby. When looking at Leadbeater’s essay, he talks about independence and how it’s valued in society when he says, “With that goes everything we value about the idea of independence and self-fulfillment” (9). When reading this statement, it’s clear to see that Trevor still cannot have that feeling of independence because of him needing to always rely on someone and someone always having to take care of him. As the filmic element of a focal point is seen throughout the scene, the lens from Siebers’ essay comes into view as it supports Leadbeater’s lens. Siebers talks about able-bodiedness and how it pertains to everyone when he says, “The ideology of ability is at its simplest the preference of able-bodiedness” (279). When relating this claim back to the scene and the use of focal points, it builds on Leadbeater’s statement of independence. When Siebers talks about able-bodied people, it shows that if Trevor wasn’t disabled, then he wouldn’t have to worry about someone taking care of him, thus having complete independence. However, Trevor does not have that luxury and must understand that even though he is disabled, it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing. Recognizing disability in society is the first step from eradicating the stereotypes of disabled people. If one recognizes that being

    Read More

  • Unspeakable: The Story Of Junius Wilson

    190 Words  | 1 Pages

    When Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” in 1989, she wanted to approach it towards “what it does or can do, not simply its definitional status as a noun” (May, 19). One example of intersectional analysis can be found in the book, Unspeakable: The Story of Junius Wilson by Hannah Joyner and Susan Burch. Joyner and Burch’s story about Junius Wilson serves as an example of showing intersectional analysis because they decided to take an analytical approach by uncovering the untold history of institutionalization of African Americans with disabilities in the Jim Crow South. Rather than focusing on the histories of institutionalization as a single issue, they address how race, gender, class, and disability all had a significant impact in

    Read More

  • Disabilities In April Henry's Girl Stolen

    237 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the non- fiction Novel," Girl, Stolen", by April Henry we learn that having something traumatic happen to you can change the whole outcome of your life. When a teen girl ends up blind from an accident that flips her whole world around she has to tend to help. Though she doesn't she see herself any different from a regular person people see her disability. Though many people see disabilities as a problem that won't put a label on someone's will to fight.

    Read More

  • Disabilities in The Short Bus by Jonathan Mooney

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.

    Read More

  • William Peace Speech

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    This tone is also used to establish an appeal to pathos which he hopes to convince the audience of the fact that handicapped people are still people and not less than anyone else. A very prominent example of Peace’s emotion is displayed when he says, “Like many disabled people, I embrace an identity that is tied to my body. I have been made to feel different, inferior, since I began using a wheelchair thirty years ago and by claiming that I am disabled and proud, I am empowered,” (para. 15). This declaration demonstrates to his audience that Peace is honored by who he is and what disabled people can do and that he is tired of being oppressed by the media. Peace also makes this claim to support his thesis in the first paragraph that states, “The negative portrayal of disabled people is not only oppressive but also confirms that nondisabled people set the terms of the debate about the meaning of disability,” (para. 1). This is Peace’s central argument for the whole article and explains his frustration with society’s generalization of handicapped people and the preconceived limitations set on them. Peace’s appeal to pathos and tone throughout are extremely effective in displaying to his audience (society) that those who have disabilities are fed up with the limits that have been placed in the

    Read More

  • Helen Keller Rhetorical Analysis

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall, Helen Keller’s speech displays an argument that blind people are just as great as normal people and that people should care about blind people too. This speech also provides our world today with an important message. Everyone should take part in helping out other people and therefore help make the world a better and delightful place for

    Read More

  • Intersectionality Essay Examples

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Intersectionality is a term used to describe a situation whereby an individual has multiple identities and as result, the person feels that he or she doesn’t belong to one community or another. Because of the many conflicts in an individual’s identities, he or she could be a victim of multiple threats of discrimination (Williams, 2017). The discrimination could be a result of race, gender, age, health and ethnicity among others. To give an example, a black transgender woman could be discriminated in the workplace because of being black and also because she is transgender. From an intersectionality perspective, the woman faces multiple threats of discrimination because of the overlapping identities of gender and race and therefore the transwoman faces a bigger struggle (Barber, 2017). Transwomen of color will most likely encounter prejudices in the form of homophobia, racism or sexism in many dimensions of their life. The perspective of intersectionality is not only applicable to women but it can also be applied to males. For example, a gay Latino man could be discriminated based on race because he is an immigrant into

    Read More

  • Raising a Child with a Disability

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Children with disabilities are more in the public eye than years ago, although they are still treated differently. Our society treats them differently from lack of education on special needs. The society labels them and make their lives more difficult than it has to be becau...

    Read More

  • Human Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    Human rights are individual inherent entitlements or basic freedoms regardless of one’s country of origin, where one lives, his/her sex, color complexion, religious affiliation, language inclination, or any other known status. All human beings are equally entitled to human rights by birth without any discrimination. These rights are inter-related, inter-dependent and cannot be divided. (Cited in United Nations). At childhood the intellectually disabled are discriminated against by people and most people are not comfortable in talking to them. This makes them feel isolated as no one seems to understand them. They do not have access to mainstream services such as schooling and those that are lucky receive education at segregated and isolated classes and or schools.( Cited in Association of Self advocacy & Association of Promoting Inclusio...

    Read More

  • blind day

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    I realize that blind people are important for us to not make fun of them or hurting their feeling that being blind is hardest for them. For me, if i have a blind person in my family or friend I got to cheer them up that being blind is not bad as being normal because some blind person can be talented and successful in their life. I tell them that I study psychology in school and there was one day that the teacher makes me being blind and I realize that being blind is not bad as they think but makes me experience how I do the normal activity is harder than when you have an eyes. It makes me understand the feeling of having no vision on everything is not the worst thing on your life.

    Read More

More about Example Of Intersectionality In Blindness

Open Document