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Stereotypes against those with disabilities
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Women with disabilities are seldom represented in popular culture. Movies, television shows ,and novels that attempt to represent people within the disability community fall short because people that are not disabled are writing the stories. Susan Nussbaum has a disability. She advocates for people with disabilities and writes stories about characters with disabilities . She works to debunk some of the stereotypes about women with disabilities in popular culture. Women with disabilities are stereotyped as being sexually undesirable individuals , that are not capable of living normal lives, that can only be burdens to mainstream society, and often sacrifice themselves.Through examining different female characters with disabilities, Nussbaum 's novel Good Kings Bad Kings illustrates how the stereotypes in popular culture about women with disabilities are not true. Popular culture does not showcase the intimate lives of people with disabilities because society does not acknowledge that people with disabilities can participate in sexual activities. Nussbaum explores this common misconception in her novel, through the characters of Yessenia Lopez.and Joanne Madsen.Yessenia seems more comfortable with her sexauality than most teenagers with disabilities.She …show more content…
In” Disabling Imagery in the media “Barnes asserts,“Disabled people are rarely shown as integral and productive members of the community; as students, as teachers, as part of the work-force or as parents. “(11). Popular culture excludes women with disabilities because they are different. Through Joanne’s character, Nussbaum demonstrates how women with disabilities operate in their daily lives.Nussbaum description of Joanne’s daily routine shows that women with Nussbaum 's character Joanne also demonstrates how women with disabilities are not burdens on
Eli Clare in Reading Against the Grain mentioned that the mainstream culture has a tendency to stereotype people into eroticizes culture such as thinking all African Americans males and Latino women are hyper-sexual, perceiving Asians as passive beings, and assuming that disabled individuals have no sexual desires. Somehow people regurgitate these stereotypes as if they’re empirical facts. Objectification usually reinforces or maintains the institutionalized power differences, which can deprive some groups such as the disabled from self-determination. The section of Pride and Exile brings to light how some members of the disabled community feels that they are denied of their personal autonomy. In Clares case, she explains how the MDA fundraisers
A second way Nusbaum supports her argument is by the way that she characterizes and personalizes many of the character’s narratives. Through the narratives of these characters she gives them normalized characteristics that show that the are not that different from “normal” people. “Normal” can be described as a socially constructed vision of what the average person should be like and include many things like a person being able to act on their own accord or a sense of autonomous thoughts. These constructed norms also include the way that people act within relationships and how able they are to interact with other people. These “normal” characteristics are given to many characters such as the relationship between, Teddy and Mia. Teddy and Mia both have physical disabilities but Teddy also has a minor mental disability. Despite these facts, they are able to conduct in a healthy loving relationship where they reciprocate feelings for each other that are sometimes not thought of coming from people with disabilities such as sexual desires to be with one another. Another person that shows many normal characteristics throughout the book is Yessenia Lopez, a girl who is physically disabled and must use a wheelchair. Her actions break many stereotypes and involve her getting into fist fights, starting a protest, and becoming sexually involved with a boy. These actions show a large sense of autonomy and show that she is capable of taking care of herself just as many other people with disabilities are. The way that Nusbaum distinctively gives each character “normal” traits speaks to show that people with disabilities are just that, “normal” people who happen to have
All these and more evidences used in the book support Peterson’s thesis and purpose—all of them discuss how having a disability made Peterson and others in her situation a part of the “other”. Her personal experience on media and
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.
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
As human beings, we like to make sure never to offend or judge anyone. We even have sayings like “never judge a book by its cover”. A metaphor that is often said whenever trying not to judge someone based on their outward appearance; however, it is not often that people practice what they preach. We judge people based on external factors within seconds. Even though we know what people see on the outside is not a defining factor or who we are as people. Nancy Mairs, author of On Being a Cripple, has to live through this every day. She knows this truth very well, and lives proudly with the fact that as she is disabled. Mairs is admirable for choosing to call herself a “cripple” and not be ashamed of it. Though the word is derogatory and a word that is avoided by society, Mairs identifies herself as a cripple because that is what she is. In explaining her disability, she says, “I haven’t always been crippled, ... to be whole of limb is ... infinitely more pleasant and useful. and if that knowledge leaves me open to bitterness … the physical soundness I once enjoyed is well worth the occasional stab of regret” (Mairs 186). What really
In 1987, Nancy Mairs argued that physical disabilities are not represented correctly in the media and television. And recently, Rosie Anaya disagrees by explaining that mental disability is suffering worse representation than physical disability. People with mental disabilities are not realistically portrayed on television. Thus, this unrealistic portrayal results in a negative stigma on mental disability and can further isolate those with disabilities.
In the face of played down labels and censored judgment, Nancy Mairs calls herself a cripple. By doing so Mairs exudes power, resilience, and truth. A protruding message is conveyed through Mairs’s writing, it is that society crams many into a delicate cage to mask the imperfect reality.
Throughout history, there have been many images of bravery and strength. However, there is none more admirable than the bravery and strength of people like Georgina Kleege. They continue to fight, even when their triumphs go unnoticed by most. As a result, their actions have had a larger impact on society than any famous hero. With their patience and perseverance, they have helped change and mold society's negative view of the disabled into a positive one. Without people with perseverance like Kleege, members of today's society would never try to open their eyes and learn to accept and respect those
This paper explores the differences and similarities between two different movies created about children living with disabilities and the trials they face. In each movie, however, vary in the type of disability. In the movie Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), Lorenzo Odone, is faced with a disease that did not have a cure at the time but many scientists were running research studies and tried to help the Odones. On the other hand, in the movie, The Other Sister (1999), Carla Tate, a young woman living with a mental disability, has ambition to become independent and seeks love. This paper examines Lorenzo’s Oil (1992) and The Other Sister (1999) and the way each movie portrays the story of having a child in the house suffering from a disability.
Her struggle to conceal her disability from herself and others was heavily influenced by her mother’s determination to make her appear “normal” as possible during her childhood. From hiding Harilyn’s perpetually moving right hand from the eyes of company to encouraging her to normalize her gait by walking in front of a mirror, Eve Rousso’s inability to accept the distinguishing features of daughter’s disability inadvertently provided the message that having cerebral palsy was something to be ashamed of. Though performed with the admirable intention of lessening stigmatization and instilling independence, Eve’s avoidance of the subject increased its amount of discomfort and confusion while simultaneously hindering Harilyn’s ability to accept herself as a person with a disability. Rather than identifying as a person with a disability, Harilyn often hid her diagnoses from friends and classmates and avoided contact with others who bore the label. Recognizing the differences between herself and others was an incredibly difficult aspect of her childhood, however, Harilyn’s feelings of inferiority coupled with a lack of understanding concerning her own disorder made this complicated time period incredibly challenging and set the stage for an even more difficult
Tanya Titchkosky’s perspective on blindness and disability has made me question how I should act around those that I consider “disabled.” Would I be helping them or would I be intruding their space and doubting their capabilities because I am considered as “normal?” It really is all about the ambiguity, the in between that Titchkosky states that really gets
Judith Butler’s essay “Performative Acts and Gender Construction: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” explains and explores the performativity of gender, and problematizes Simone de Beauvoir’s understanding of “What is a Woman?” Riva Leher, artist and author, reflects on the intersections between sex and disability in a personal essay, “Golem Girl Gets Lucky.” Both texts aid us in exploring how we must examine disability as a feminist issue, since oppressive forces faced by women are part of the same social construction as the forces which oppressed disabled people.
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...
In Spencer Williams’ article, “Are Disability Fetishists Exploiting People with Disabilities?” (2016), he discusses his feelings regarding disability fetishism (also known as Devoteeism), as a man with cerebral palsy. He concludes that although there is some benefit of being wanted sexually in a society that considers disability as an inherent weakness, fetishizing disabled people as objects of desire has the potential to be grossly problematic. This fetishism produces discourse surrounding what is acceptable when discussing disabled identity in tandem with kink communities. For the purposes of this essay, I will explore how the formulation of the normative has led to both the pathologization of physical disability and to kink more broadly