Court Jester Or Village Idiot: An Analysis

1454 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Stereotypes of people with disabilities

Stupid, retarded, crazy, insane; throughout time, these words are used to explain the behaviors of the mentally ill. These are just words, right? Actually, these words can have hurtful connotations. Since the first individual with a mental illness walked this earth until now, hurtful labels have been assigned to them. But society does not stop with just words, there are also unfavorable mannerisms used to explain visually, stupid, retarded, crazy, or insane. These descriptive words and mannerisms used in jest amongst friends can cause distress to anyone who bears witnesses to include an individual who is intellectually disabled or mentally fragile. If we look at it from the perspective of the intellectually disabled, they have been …show more content…

But if you were different, suffering from a mental disability, you would have been given the job title of Court Jester or Village Idiot. Society mocked intellectually disabled individuals because they were different from the norm, but that is not the worst of it. Carter and VanAndel (2011) leading professionals in the field of Therapeutic Recreation explain the appalling treatment of the mentally disabled during the Middle Ages. These individuals were locked away in dank, dark cells within the walls of the dungeon, hidden from society, (p. 29) all the while tethered to the wall like a wild animal. Even though the times were primitive, little regard or medical attention was awarded to the mentally disabled. French Physician, Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) did not like the treatment the mentally ill received so he decided to advocate on their behalf. He felt all individuals had the right to live as productive members of society. Carter and VanAndel highlight how Pinel ventured out to change the living conditions for the intellectually disabled. (p. 30) Unfortunately, during the Victorian Era society felt demon possession caused the mental illness. In some instances, individuals were killed in the process of exorcism. Many years later intellectually disabled individuals were housed in prisons with murderers and thieves. They were treated like common criminals just because they were different. In later years, they were segregated from society and institutionalized. (Carter & VanAndel, 2011, p. 31) Throughout the years, the treatment of the mentally disabled individuals changed. Today, in some areas the mentally disabled are still segregated; however, the stigma is still present. They attend schools that are specifically designed to support their needs and teachers trained to instruct individuals with disabilities. The living conditions have also

Show More
Related

  • Andre Dubus 'Why The Able-Bodied Still Don' T Get It

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    The human race is rather ignorant. We give a label to people that we think are challenged because they are not like the majority. The people that do label, are the ones who are truly blind or deaf. They see nothing, they hear nothing except what they want to hear or what they think they want to hear or see. For you see the "handicapped" can do things that non-handicapped can not. If one really thinks about it, they are not handicapped. If any one is handicapped it is the

    Read More

  • Stereotyping the Mentally Disabled in the World Wrestling Federation

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    The ongoing misperception of the mentally ill/disabled, has led me to research the topic in further depth. Since many people don't come in contact with the mentally ill/disabled, where do they get their beliefs or understandings? The bulk of perceiving the mentally ill/disabled comes through stereotyping, and all the outside influences that generate ones beliefs. Besides the fact that some people are a little slower or have a disability, they live their lives as ordinary people.

    Read More

  • Mental Illnesses In The 1800's

    269 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the 1800’s people with mental illnesses were frowned upon and weren't treated like human beings. Mental illnesses were claimed to be “demonic possessions” people with mental illnesses were thrown into jail cells, chained to their beds,used for entertainment and even killed. Some were even slaves, they were starved and forced to work in cold or extremely hot weather with chains on their feet.

    Read More

  • The Treatment and Lives of the Mentally Handicapped During the Great Depression

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the Great Depression the mentally disabled were treated harshly and were almost constantly being harassed by society. The mentally ill were treated in this cruel manner because they were seen as the cause of some of society’s problems of that day in age. Also, society viewed them as less capable of human being. A physician of that time by the name of Alexis Carrel stated, “The mentally ill should be humanely and economically disposed of in small euthanistic institutions supplied with the proper gases” (Freeman; “Treatment of the…”). Not only did Alexis Carrel feel this way, but so did many other people of the United States way

    Read More

  • A Word And My Family's Battle Rhetorical Argument

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Retard,’ we heard her say, and Margaret wilted” (118). This shows that she has been in situations where the word “retard” affected a person with mental disabilities, in this case her own daughter. To the reader this goes straight to their heart, making them feel bad for everything they have ever used the word “retard”. Later in the argument she show the word not only affects her daughter, but also anyone that cares about her daughter. She says, “For my daughter and my family, it’s more like a grenade, and we’re the collateral damage”. This explains that whenever the word “retard” is used, it’s not only hurts people with mental disabilities but also anyone that cares about people with mental disabilities. Then she goes into how she understands that people, usually aren’t trying to be rude or hurtful, that they are “just joking” or “didn’t mean it like that” but regardless of how it’s meant, it’s still hurtful to the people who are affected by mental disabilities on a daily basis. Falling back on to pathos again, she names of a handful of ways she’s heard “retard” in her day to day life. She says, “A clerk in a store apologizes for being ‘such a retard’... Ouch. Kids at the mall call one another ‘you big retard.’ Ouch. A friend tells a … story…about her recent fender bender, with a punchline about ‘some

    Read More

  • Abolishing The R Word Essay

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    The r-word is one of the most repulsive words in the English language; it humiliates people and is used colloquially without second thought. The word “retard” causes nothing but anguish. The r-word was first used in a medical discipline (e.g. “mental retardation”). The pejorative forms of the word “retard” and “retarded,” however, are used in society to deride people with intellectual disabilities. I find this social injustice unacceptable, especially because the r-word is often used to call people without intellectual disabilities “stupid.” When the r-word is used incorrectly, it reinforces the painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities as being less-valued members of society.

    Read More

  • History and Overview of Insane Asylums

    1763 Words  | 4 Pages

    For many decades the mentally ill or insane have been hated, shunned, and discriminated against by the world. They have been thrown into cruel facilities, said to help cure their mental illnesses, where they were tortured, treated unfairly, and given belittling names such as retards, insane, demons, and psychos. However, reformers such as Dorothea Dix thought differently of these people and sought to help them instead. She saw the inhumanity in these facilities known as insane asylums or mental institutions, and showed the world the evil that wandered inside these asylums. Although movements have been made to improve conditions in insane asylums, and were said to help and treat the mentally ill, these brutally abusive places were full of disease and disorder, and were more like concentration camps similar to those in Europe during WWII than hospitals.

    Read More

  • Dehumanization of the Mentally Ill

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social justice has influence change in policies for the mentally ill. Opening the doors for political reform. Throughout history, the treatment of the mentally ill has taken many shapes. Influence by the time periods core values and ideas of social justice. Before the colonization, society did not see the mentally ill as human beings. This ideology was Influence by religion that considered them to be evil or demons. Especially during the Black Death when people were only looking for escape goats. Day, & Schiele, (2013) This would only make things worse for mentally disabled. Rendering them defenseless and at the will of society. Their disabling conditions would prevent them from self-advocacy. They would have to depend on family members to advocate; and demand social justice for them. The overwhelming societal norms influence by religion and fueled by fear punishment appeared to be the only solution.

    Read More

  • Mental: A History Of The Madhouse Analysis

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    The BBC documentary, Mental: A History of the Madhouse, delves into Britain’s mental asylums and explores not only the life of the patients in these asylums, but also explains some of the treatments used on such patients (from the early 1950s to the late 1990s). The attitudes held against mental illness and those afflicted by it during the time were those of good intentions, although the vast majority of treatments and aid being carried out against the patients were anything but “good”. In 1948, mental health began to be included in the NHS (National Health Service) as an actual medical condition, this helped to bring mental disabilities under the umbrella of equality with all other medical conditions; however, asylums not only housed people

    Read More

  • Mental Illness In The Metamorphosis

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although society’s view of people with disabilities has evolved over time, becoming more accepting, there is still many barriers that exist for people with disabilities, especially those with mental illness. The book “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka tells a story about a traveling salesman turned vermin overnight, depicting his thoughts and state of his new life. The book is a brilliant look inside the mind of someone struggling with a mental illness. It exploits their general loss of enjoyment, resistance to seek help, and isolation from others. In particular, one group of people, struggling with mental illness, is rarely spoken about, and those people being physicians. The very people meant to keep society healthy cannot even find help

    Read More

  • The History of Treating Mental Illness

    1895 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 1600s, Europeans began to isolate the mentally ill, where they were kept with the handicapped and delinquents ("Timeline: Treatments for," ). The mentally ill who were seen as insane were treated cruelly, they were often chained to walls and kept away in dungeons ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In the late 1700s, After the French Revolution, French physician Phillippe Pinel took over the Bicêtre insane asylum and changed the rules ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). He forbid the use of shackles, took patients out of the dungeons, gave them sunny rooms, and let them roam the ground for exercise ("Timeline: Treatments for," ). Although Pinel changed the rules of Bicêtre, mistreatment still persisted in other places in Europe ("Timeline: Treatments for,”).

    Read More

  • Medical and Social Models of Disability

    1847 Words  | 4 Pages

    It could be said that in modern industrial society, Disability is still widely regarded as tragic individual failing, in which its “victims” require care, sympathy and medical diagnosis. Whilst medical science has served to improve and enhance the quality of life for many it could be argued that it has also led to further segregation and separation of many individuals. This could be caused by its insistence on labelling one as “sick”, “abnormal” or “mental”. Consequently, what this act of labelling and diagnosing has done, is enforce the societal view that a disability is an abnormality that requires treatment and that any of its “victims” should do what is required to be able to function in society as an able bodied individual.

    Read More

  • Spread The Word Retard

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    The term “retard” is usually used as common slang and plenty of folks simply do not perceive or understand the hurtfulness that comes with it for several individuals. Respectful and comprehensive language is crucial to the movement for the dignity and humanity of individuals with intellectual disabilities. However, a lot of of society doesn't acknowledge the hurtful, dehumanizing and exclusive effects of the R-word. Use of the R-word, “retard” or “retarded,” is hurtful and painful and whether or not your intentions wasn’t to hurt anybody, the use of the word is a style of bullying. Most of the people don’t consider this word as hate speech, however that’s precisely what it sounds like to countless folks with intellectual and organic process disabilities, as well as their families and friends.

    Read More

  • Meaning Of The Word Retard

    1461 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”; one of the most inaccurate saying of all times. Words can have a huge emotional impact on people and often negatively affect their self-esteem. Since the word retard is becoming more and more common in our society’s everyday language, many people do not realize how offensive the word actually is. Throughout the years retard has had multiple definition changes. The word retard came about from the medical term mental retardation, defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, as a “sub average intellectual ability...manifested especially by delayed or abnormal development, by learning difficulties, and by problems in social adjustment”.Nine times out of ten, this term

    Read More

  • Mental Health And Euthanasia

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the past, societies worldwide have talked about the ethical values in the caring of people with special needs. Before the year 1800, people believe that if someone had a mental illness then they were possessed by Satan or evil spirits. During the 1900s-early 2000s, people starting changing their religious beliefs to more scientific beliefs, like genetics and DNA. Persons deemed genetically unfit were now housed in asylums; as this population grew due to mass immigration and the belief that those inflicted with mental illness were considered incurable, they were thrown into large, impersonal, custodial oriented human warehouses (Morrissey, Goldman, and Kierman, 1980, p.2). After that, there world wars that happened. Then, Germans social

    Read More

More about Court Jester Or Village Idiot: An Analysis

Open Document