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Discrimination against persons with disabilities essay
The issue of discrimination against disabled people in our society
Discrimination against disabled people
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When you hear the word “cripple,” do you instantly develop a negative image of a person in a wheelchair, who is unable to care for himself or herself in any way? Or do you think of someone with just a minor disability, maybe a physical one, but who still has the brainpower of an average person, such as Stephen Hawking? Both definitely do exist, but it’s a matter of personal perception that affects how you think of inconvenienced individuals. To most people, the life of a cripple seems abstract and unthinkable, but when one writes an essay about her life, it gives new perspective to those who cannot understand it first person. In her essay, “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs maintains a prideful tone, develops a sympathetic mood within the reader, …show more content…
After she elaborates on the different terms used to describe challenged people, she explains exactly what disorder she has and what it does to her and other people with it: “Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic degenerative disease[...]the easiest to lose and the hardest to live without.” Mairs includes this portion to explain to the audience what she has to live with, which helps to explain some of the struggles she has to live with. This also develops a base for the rest of the essay, as it gives grounds to go deeper into what exactly the disease does to her and causes for of a sympathetic response from the audience. Mairs also compares the lives of cripples and “normal” people throughout the essay, explaining the differences in lifestyle options and how “normal” people are almost privileged in society, due to cripples constantly being looked down upon or inferiorized. She strongly develops this thought by bringing up a point about models and their lack of the presence of visibly crippled models: “Physical imperfection, even freed of moral disapprobation, still defies and violates the the ideal, especially for women[...]But she is never a cripple.” This section illustrates her almost loathing for the world’s ideal views and that because of her disorder, she will never be able to fall into this category. This portion of text does a very good job of developing sympathy within the reader, as it causes them to feel bad for her, and almost develops some guilt within them. This contrast between the life of a cripple and of a normal person clarifies how her life is a struggle and how she has to face many irregular discriminations due to her
Mairs recognizes herself as a “cripple” although many people would not want to be called a cripple since they would find it offensive, but Mairs believes it fit her perfectly. Mairs does not like the term “handicapped” or “disabled” because they are not flattering which is why she prefers the word “cripple”. Although she has a serious condition she does not take consideration of other individuals statements, “whatever you call me, I remain cripple. But i don’t care what you call me” (Mairs). This passage demonstrates how brave and strong she is; Mairs is also optimism because she learned to accept herself the way she is, she eventually became confident enough to joke about her serious condition.
Her essay is arranged in such a way that her audience can understand her life - the positives and the negatives. She allows her audience to see both sides of her life, both the harsh realities that she must suffer as well as her average day-to-day life. According to Nancy, multiple sclerosis “...has opened and enriched my life enormously. This sense that my fragility and need must be mirrored in others, that in search for and shaping a stable core in a life wrenched by change and loss, change and loss, I must recognize the same process, under individual conditions, in the lives around me. I do not deprecate such knowledge” (Mairs, 37). Mairs big claim is that she has accepted herself and her condition for what is it, yet she refuses to allow her condition to define her. Through her particular diction, tone, satire, and rhetorical elements, Mairs paints a picture of her life and shows how being a cripple has not prevent her from living her life. She is not embarrassed nor ashamed of what she is, and accepts her condition by making the most of it and wearing the title with
Throughout this passage Nancy Mairs uses the word cripple to describe who she is and the beliefs of her condition. She does this by describing her condition in a few different ways; the opinion of others and the opinion of herself. As anyone should she decides what her title as a person should be and she doesn’t listen or care for anyone’s opinion outside of her own. Her tone is very straightforward throughout the passage. Mairs describes her condition and how it relates to the actions and response of other people in any situation.
This thesis, in short, is her statement: “Despite looking decidedly ‘normal’, I am, in fact, a de facto member of the ‘other’” (9). She then spends the rest of the essay describing the many ways she is discriminated against. All of her evidence seems to support this thesis and her purpose of the essay. She speaks about social media and its influence in portraying disabled people, of the unemployment and victim rates in disabled women, and provides some examples of how many villains in day-to-day movies and shows are mostly disabled.
These euphemisms for her condition cause people to view her as something she isn't. Mairs believes that these words describe no one because "Society is no readier to accept crippledness than to accept death, war, sweat, or wrinkles." She continues her story of multiple sclerosis and the hardships she endured. Mairs goes into detail about how her life has changed since her diagnosis and how she has coped with the disease. She includes her need for help by the people around her but also delves into the fact that she can still teach and perform arduous tasks. She talks about her dependence on her family and how good her family treated her. She says she is scared. “...that people are kind to me only because I'm a cripple."(Mairs,8) Mairs hates that our society is obsessed with physical appearance and normality. She states that, "anyone who deviates from the norm better find some way to compensate." (Maris)This shows that she believes that American society has lofty expectations. She ends the essay by stating how she is getting used to having MS and how she isn't sorry anymore that she is a cripple. Mairs is thankful for what she has and the people who help her in her life. Overall, she is proud of herself and has recognized that life is what one makes it to be. Now from what you learned what do you
She told her readers that she has a muscle-wasting disease and she could only move three fingers on her right hand. She wrote that the reactions she got from most people were “Decidedly negative” (Johnson p.98) She wrote that she would hear thing such as “I admire you for being out; most people would give up.” And “You don’t let the pain hold you back do you?” (Johnson p.98) There is often talk about how popular culture teaches people to both see and not see the people with disabilities. Comments such as these are an example of such blindness. When a child sees a disabled person a parent’s first reaction would be to tell them not to stare. We teach children that it is impolite to be curious about people who live life differently than others. We carry the “its-not-polite-to-stare” idea into adult hood therefore when we come across a disabled we try not to make eye contact not as if we are being rude but because we are taught that it would offend them. All curiosity and attempts to understand are shut down at a young age for fear of offending someone. Therefore, any attempt to encourage is met with a deep misunderstanding of how the life of someone with disabilities truly works. Just because a person has a disability does not mean they are incapable of enjoying
...ive most of their life as a perfectly able-bodied person until a tragic accident one day could rob you of the function of your legs, and you have to learn how to cope with being disabled. Mairs illustrates that being disabled is more common than the media portrays, and it’s hard to deal with feeling alienated for your disabilities. These three authors have evoked a sense of sympathy from the reader, but they also imply that they don’t want non-handicapped people to pity them. The goal these authors have is to reach out to the able-bodied person, and help them understand how to treat a disabled person. The disabled people don’t want to be pitied, but they still need our help sometimes, just like if you saw someone with an arm full of grocery bags having difficulty opening their car door. They want us to accept them not as a different species, but as functional people.
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.
“I felt I could do good for other persons with disabilities precisely because I had authority from that medical degree.” This line makes the reader stop for a moment and really evaluate what has been said, due to the contrary effect that was intimated from the beginning. The switch from negativity to positivity demonstrates the change from the author’s feeling has changed and how society has changed.This revelation brings us to the end, how she said she hopes the next generation will see things differently, “Disability right thus aren’t something we seek only for others. We must also seem them for the ones we love and for ourselves.” The author stating this at the very end reflects people who have the disability need to help themselves and have disability right, not just looking for help from others.
Mairs’s inferiority complex which made her question other people’s attitude towards her. In “On Being a Cripple,” Nancy Mairs. She kept believe the way how
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
Disability is a ‘complex issue’ (Alperstein, M., Atkins, S., Bately, K., Coetzee, D., Duncan, M., Ferguson, G., Geiger, M. Hewett, G., et al.., 2009: 239) which affects a large percentage of the world’s population. Due to it being complex, one can say that disability depends on one’s perspective (Alperstein et al., 2009: 239). In this essay, I will draw on Dylan Alcott’s disability and use his story to further explain the four models of disability being The Traditional Model, The Medical Model, The Social Model and The Integrated Model of Disability. Through this, I will reflect on my thoughts and feelings in response to Dylan’s story as well as to draw on this task and my new found knowledge of disability in aiding me to become
Due to this disease the body is slowly broken down by affecting the central nervous system of a person’s body. The children depicted in the essay are probably an example how fellow human beings should be around a disabled person. They just view the disabled person as another human being and respect them the same way. The children are proud to associate themselves with Mairs and do not shy away from introducing her to the general public. This is what a disabled person requires: that all those around him or her should respect them for what they are and give them unconditional regard
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.
In the essay “Disability,” Nancy Mairs discusses the lack of media attention for the disabled, writing: “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anyone’s life.” An ordinary person has very little exposure to the disabled, and therefore can only draw conclusions from what is seen in the media. As soon as people can picture the disabled as regular people with a debilitating condition, they can begin to respect them and see to their needs without it seeming like an afterthought or a burden. As Mairs wrote: “The fact is that ours is the only minority you can join involuntarily, without warning, at any time.” Looking at the issue from this angle, it is easy to see that many disabled people were ordinary people prior to some sort of accident. Mairs develops this po...