1 / 16

The Critique of Ableism

The Critique of Ableism. Question. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a person with a disability?. Myths about People With Disabilities. They are not intelligent and/or not able to reason They can not contribute productively to society

eavan
Télécharger la présentation

The Critique of Ableism

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Critique of Ableism

  2. Question • What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a person with a disability?

  3. Myths about People With Disabilities • They are not intelligent and/or not able to reason • They can not contribute productively to society • They are asexual--they can not or should not reproduce • They are not desirable and/or do not desire

  4. Refuting the Disability/Ability Binary Being disabled is a fact of human life • Infancy, young adulthood, old age • People often experience “disability” while functioning in society. • Examples?

  5. Compulsory Ableness • Maintenance of a non-disabled identity is considered normative (ideal). • Equality is achieved by trying to make the case that all human are ultimately the “same.” • Denies any value in human diversity. • Disability remains a pathology (negative)

  6. The Ideology of Ableism • The ideology (set of beliefs) that the able body is the ideal body. • The able body is the only body that is able to produce value in society. • Disability is something that has to be: • Transformed • Hidden • Contained • Managed

  7. Internalized Ableism • Is it possible to embrace disability as an intrinsic level of one’s being-ness? • What are the inherent social costs of ableism? • How are the similar/un-similiar to heterosexism, racism, homophobia? • What happens if we can envisioned the world through the lens of disablement?

  8. Does impairment cause harm? • Or do the actions, beliefs, and practices of ablelism cause harm? • Messages that a disability is negative or less than • Inability to recognize the whole person, not just the disability • Ableism is “business as usual,” disability is something that has to be tolerated or accommodated. • History is recounted through the lens of ablebodied, heterosexuality • Being socialized into disavowing disability—internalized shame and self-loathing

  9. History of Disability • A set of assumptions and practices that promote differential or unequal treatment of people because of actual or presumed disability. • The disabled person emerges as the “other” • Disability emerges a “problem” that society must attend to by: • Assimilation • Accommodation • Safety Net

  10. History of disability in the U.S. • Disability has been used to justify discrimination, as well as mark people as inferior, monstrous, or subhuman (Baynton 2001). • Disability has been tied up with racist discourses, including eugenics and slavery. • Down’s syndrome used to be called, “Mongolism” because doctor’s believed that Caucasions were reverting back to “Mongolian” racial types. • Dr. Samuel Cartwright identified the disease of “Drapetonia” to describe the conditions that made slaves run away. • Citizenship: Only “able-bodied” immigrants were permitted to enter the U.S. People considered “defective,” “frail,” “dwarf,” “lack of physical development” were not considered fit for citizenship—used to stigmatize dark skinned Europeans

  11. DISABLITY IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT • Difference is transformed into a disability by inaccessible environments, discrimination, and deprivation of equal rights (Wilson 2011). • Disability can be thought of as the limitations imposed on people by the attitudes of others and the barriers constructed by society (Wilson 2011).

  12. Disability as socially constructed • Between 7 to 10 percent of the world’s population (about 650 million) • Disability increases as a result of poverty • HIV/AIDS • Poor prenatal care, poor maternal health (Fistula) • Unsanitary living conditions (Tuberculosis) • Lack of access to safe and accessible drinking water (Scoliosis) • Environmental toxins, poisons and pesticides (Cancer, learning disabilities)

  13. Disability and War • Landmines • Bombings • Amputations of political opponents in ethnic and religious conflicts • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder from war, forced migration, and dislocations man-made or “unnatural” disasters. • PTSD from torture, unlawful detainment, and stigmatization/demonization of racial-ethnic and/or religious groups

  14. Disability as gendered: “Deadly and Deadening” (Wilson 2011) • According to the World Health Organization: • 80% of girls with disabilities are born into poverty • Excluded from civic events and community gatherings • Less likely to be married, • Higher risk for physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

  15. Crip theory • Able-bodiedness and heterosexuality masquerade as an “non-identity,” or “the natural order of things” (McRuer 2006). • Both reify structures and ideologies of race, gender, and gender oppression. • Compulsory able-bodiedness produces “disability,” the same way that compulsory heterosexuality produces “queerness.”

  16. Is possible to imagine disability outside of the context of tragedy or catastrophe?

More Related