This article ties in with previous post "A Mad Fight" but goes the other route in elaborating about persons with physical handicaps. My first question is why does this article, the beginning of a book really, start off with 'Western' societies only? Do Eastern societies feel differently or are you implying that your research is based off of Western cultures only?
Next. With regards to the late 1960s movement, it mentions disabled persons forced to live in residential institutions. Isn't this like the forced hospitalizations that the Mad activists were going on about? Isn't this a just reason to combine forces? The Mad article talks about how they have that extra level of politics, but when I read this article and the idea of second-class citizens, I think physically disabled people have it worse. You can see the problem; you can often figure out if someone is physically disabled whether they want you to or not. Finding out if someone has a mental disorder is harder.
Just like there is the idea that "whiteness" is a social construction more than a race issue, the same can be said of the label disability. The article talks about how it's a social and environmental construct toward those with impairments, not that they're disabled - that is to say, not able.
One thing that did horrify me was The Making of Blind Men (Scott, 1969) showed that agencies would "fix" the personalities of people who are blind to fit a stereotype. This reminded me of the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and the notion that being curried basically means turning you into a zombie and the nurses don't care or even recognize you as a person. Utterly terrifying.
No comments:
Post a Comment