According to Lennard J. Davis, we live in a world of norms. However, these norms have roots that stem from historical and societal perspectives we do not acknowledge in our studies. There is a psychological source that creates the normality in every culture and destroys the outliers in them as well. In Chapter 1 titled “Introduction: Normality, Power, and Culture,” we see a combination of concepts that have established a way of living and perceiving, especially for those with disabilities. In this essay, Davis discusses the powerful impact normality has over the way we process the relationship between body and mind. For those who battle disabilities, normality has created a condescending and dangerous society, disconnecting and distancing troubled …show more content…
In order for the norm to progress into an ideal, which implies that “the human body as visualized in art or imagination must be composed from the ideal parts of living models,” (p. 2) there is an urge to diminish those deviants or alter the slightly deviated. What we fail to realize is that there is an even larger intention that follows the discovery of the statistically based norm: eugenics. “Statistics is bound up with eugenics because the central insight of statistics is the idea that a population can be normed” (p. 3). If a population is capable of being normed and has the potential to progress to an “ideal,” the possibility of incorporating an artificial shift becomes higher than if there were no “norm” or “average” for a human being. The aim of eugenics is to attempt to norm the nonstandard subpopulation, however, statistically, this is an unattainable feat since “the inviolable rule of statistics is that all phenomena will always conform to a bell curve” (p. 3). If this is so, then how is the urge to shift the nonstandard population possible? If eugenics does not reach the ethical standards of diminishing the deviants, society turns to psychological attempts of isolating the nonstandard from the
The two essays “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs and “A Plague of Tics” by David Sedaris are excellent pieces of work that share many similarities. This paper would reflect on these similarities particularly in terms of the author, message and the targeted audience. On an everyday basis, people view those with disabilities in a different light and make them conscious at every step. This may be done without a conscious realisation but then it is probably human nature to observe and notice things that deviate from the normal in a society. In a way people are conditioned to look negatively at those individuals who are different in the conventional
Galton, David J., and Clare J. Galton. "Francis Galton: And Eugenics Today." Journal of Medical Ethics, 24.2 (1998): 99-101. JSTOR. Web. 8 Mar. 2010.
Eugenics has been an increasingly popular concept in recent films and texts. The presence of eugenics in these films and texts has caused people to believe that eugenics could be helpful in society. The idea that the perfect person can be created or modified is simply irrational. Each individual person’s qualities are created by their surroundings as they grow up. In Always With Us, Howard Horwitz wishes that the eugenics movement in the United States never had gathered steam. The negative aspects of eugenics that Horowitz discusses are noticeable in works such as Gattaca, A Brave New World, and The Blade Runner. The notion that eugenics is a positive for society limits individuals’ potential by predetermining what they can achieve. By predetermining
The memoir My Body Politic is an inspirational first person framework by Simi Linton. Her powerful stories give the reader a strong understanding on disability studies as well as the challenges Simi endured as she lived through a difficult time period for someone having a disability. When she became disabled in the 70’s, Simi’s life drastically changed. After spending months in the hospital and rehabilitation centers, Simi decided to take the opportunity to move to New York and attend college there. While living in Berkeley, she discovered that her neighborhood was more accommodating for people with wheelchairs, making it a welcoming space to live in. It was there where she discovered the political disability movement which inspired her to go back to university to get her bachelor’s degree in psychology.
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
Once you are born, you become a part of a larger group. You will grow up starting at a point in your parent's life and then over time they or even you will change the direction of your families subculture in whatever country you all live in. In America, People strive for the best. Not all get it, but somehow or someone will push that family into a situation where they can move up in the world. Over the years America has came to a point where most jobs pay well and mostly anyone can be considered a middle class resident. In America this is considered normal to the general public. Being normal and striving to be normal is the focus most people try to reach within their lifetimes. Normality is a subculture in itself.
For example, being normal people is necessary to be accepted by a society, so how people who have the privilege define what “normal people” are will highly impact other people. People who have the privilege do not worry about it because they already have it, so they dominate this situation. People who are left-handed face many situations, which make them uncomfortable. For example, most of the scissors’ shapes, the location of cameras’ shutter button, some instruments, tools for sports, some desks, and the location to insert coins in vending machines are all for right-handed people. These situations always make people who are left-handed feel uncomfortable. However, since the number of right-handed people is much higher than left-handed people, they dominate society. Therefore, right-handed people have the privilege for left-handed people. The authors also focused on how people with disabilities struggle with the society. Since they are not normal, they need more help than others in many situations, such as in schools. For example, each teacher usually has to have about 40
To start our discussion, we must define what eugenics is exactly so we can have a better understanding of all facts discussed. Francis Galton, the founder of eugenics, defined it as “the science of improving inherited stock, not only by judicious matings, but by all the influences which give more suitable strains a better chance” . In other words, Galton believed that only families with what were deemed “suitable” should be able to reproduce. This idea was to “better” the human race as a whole.
When comparing myself to the standards of the rest of America I consider myself normal. As an American teen in today's society I believe normal is undefined because there are too many different cultures and beliefs. Since people have become more segregated by race, religion and beliefs, normality can only be based on their own cultures standards depending on what the individual has been accustomed to. In the new millennium, it would not be unheard of for a family to be raised by a grandparent, or even two homosexual parents. I would not call that "normal" or "regular" behavior, but because it is accepted more now than before you know that the definition of weird or exotic has changed. I define normal as what the majority of the American population does. Maybe this is a poor choice of definition, seeing as how we try to stray away from doing what others do or say. I feel that independence is one thing, but if you are not doing what the "in-crowd" is doing then face it, you are an outcast. No one should feel this way, but it is a fact that some do. Since when did not being normal become terrible? In Borders as Barriers: Otherness and Difference by Randall Bass, they present "national geographic nudity". When I read this article, I thought that they were trying to say that it is okay for the natives to be nude because that is what they were accustomed to. On the other hand, people in America just think it is weird because we wear clothes. I somewhat agree with that idea. My only objection is why would it be a shock to see an American in that setting nude also? Bass also talked about exotic by our meaning could be related to "foreign" or "unusual". Even though those words may seem harsh to describe someone, it ...
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.
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
The Web. 27 May 2014. The "Eugenics" - "The. Dictionary.com. The World of the. Dictionary.com, n.d. -. Web.
It could be said that in modern industrial society, disability is still widely regarded as a 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. The social model of disability argues against this and instead holds the view that it is society, not the individual, that needs to change and do what is required, so that everyone can function in society.
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...
The belief of eugenics was well-known in the 20th century and the set of its ideals were adopted by many societies across the nation. Eugenics is a study of improving human species by keeping all of the desirable races or breeds. It developed a controversial science regarding to human heredity and personal traits such as positive and negative eugenics. For example, it stated that in order to improve the genetic quality of human race, the society should encourage individuals with superior genes to produce more offspring and discourage reproduction who are considered as socially unfit. These biased eugenics ideas were inspired by Darwin’s theory of natural selection and as well as Galton’s theory of hard heredity. Even in today’s society, people