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Disability Must Be Defined Before Debated
The wrenching death of Terri Schiavo has made the
issue of disability a matter of debate throughout
our culture. Discussions range from living wills to
analyzing the quality of a disabled person’s
life. Two questions should lay the foundation for
any deliberation: what does it mean to be disabled?
And how should ‘normal’ people react to
those with disabilities?
What it means to be disabled is the focus of a
controversy in the MidWest that spilled over to
national coverage in www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40632-2023Apr9.html
Sunday’s Washington Post.
In early March, Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin was
www.mswheelchairmn.org/summary.htm
stripped of her title because of a newspaper photo
that showed her standing. Janeal Lee, who has
muscular dystrophy (MS), uses a scooter for
mobility but teaches part of her high school math
class on her feet. Before entering the pageant, she
explained to the State Coordinator that she was
able to stand for 10 or 15 minutes “on a good
day”. Now the de-crowned Lee states, "I've
been made to feel as if I can't represent the
disabled citizens of Wisconsin because I'm not
disabled enough."
In protest, the first runner-up has www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_20489262.shtml
refused to accept the title. On April 4th, -- Ms.
Wheelchair Minnesota -- Lee’s sister who also
has MS -- relinquished her own crown. www.mswheelchairmn.org
Jen Onsum, who is Ms. Wheelchair Minnesota 2003 and
the pageant’s coordinator in that state, has
stepped down.
Judy Hoit, treasurer of www.mswheelchairamerica.org
the national Ms. Wheelchair America, 209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1375332/posts
explains
the decision, "you've got women who are in their
wheelchairs all the time and they get offended if
they see someone standing up. We can't have title
holders out there walking when they're seen in the
public."
Onsum responds, “what about offending those
who are in wheelchairs who can walk? I guess that
does not matter. I'm actually offended by her
comment and I've never been able to walk.”
The controversy might be dismissed as an
unsavory and transitory flap were it not for two
factors. First, Schiavo’s death has cast a
shadow of life-and-death importance on all
discussion of the disabled. Second, the definition
of “disability” is an on-going debate
within the disabled community and among its
advocates.
Boston Globe columnist Cathy Young has
commented on one extreme of the debate. She
www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/04/04/activism_and_the_disabled/
writes, “They don't simply seek dignity and
access but define themselves as an oppressed
minority, turning disability into a cultural and
political identity.” Thus, the now-deceased
Christopher Reeve was severely criticized by some
disabled advocates because he actively sought to
www.paralysis.org/
“cure” his paralysis rather than accept
his disability.
I’ve had reason in my life to answer the
questions “what is a disability” and
“how should I react”?
Because my grandmother contracted measles during
her pregnancy, my mother was born with a malformed
arm that ended in a claw-like appendage where most
people have an elbow.
At first, I didn’t know my mother was
handicapped. She was just my mother: an attractive,
smart woman who ultimately supported two young
children after being widowed. People’s
attitudes made me aware of her disability. Not that
people expressed hostility or disgust; they were
usually awkward, too helpful or furtive in their
glances.
I came to define “disability” in what
I believe is a neutral and common sense manner.
Since the term has meaning only with reference to
what is “normal ability”, I define it as
any deviation from the physical or psychological
norm that is significant enough to impair
function.
By my definition, disability is a sliding scale.
How people react to “the disabled” hinges
on where that person falls on the scale. An extreme
disability often makes people uncomfortable perhaps
because it connects to their own fears of
infirmity. I saw this discomfort in people’s
response to my mother.
In turn, she reacted with a combination of
social paranoia and combativeness. For example, she
insisted on calling herself a ‘cripple’.
The un-PC term reflected a stubborn lack of
self-pity and a need to commandeer the word so it
wouldn’t be used by others.
Simply growing up taught me how to interact with
disabled people. Namely, treat them like the human
beings they are. Deal with them as equals, not like
children with whom you adopt a different tone of
voice or personality.
The worst approach is to treat a disabled person
as if he or she were the disability, as if a
physical characteristic defined their entirety. My
mother was not her deformed arm; she viewed those
who treated her as such with contempt and fear. She
would have spit in the eye of the Ms. Wheelchair
Wisconsin State Coordinator and, then, gone home to
hide.
My definition and experience of disability may
not hold true for everyone…or even prove
useful to them. Moreover, the political
implications of my approach to “the
disabled” may not be popular because I do not
favor special legislation or the creation of a
separate political category. I believe the disabled
are best served by an aggressive recognition that
they have the same rights to person and property as
anyone else. No more, no less.
But that explosive opinion is fodder for another
column.
The purpose of this one is merely to provide the
prerequisites of further discussion: that is,
definition of the issue and a reality check of
experience.
©2010, Wendy
McElroy
* * *
Wendy
McElroy is the editor of ifeminists.com
and a research fellow for The Independent Institute
in Oakland, Calif. She is the author and editor of
many books and articles, including her latest book,
Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the
21st Century. She lives with her husband in
Canada. E-Mail.
Also, see her daily blog at www.zetetics.com/mac
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