Example Of Intersectionality In Blindness

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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

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