tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31220410.post7313979506470048713..comments2024-02-27T12:03:02.477-05:00Comments on Ruth Harrigan Artist: "Clearly, Frankly , Unabashedly Disabled " - Just read the quotes!Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00170658770134559035noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31220410.post-1718958548083554462007-05-14T14:13:00.000-04:002007-05-14T14:13:00.000-04:00I bet we're going to see more and more on amputees...I bet we're going to see more and more on amputees, due to the war in Iraq. Battle-front medicine is so much better that lots more people survive their initial injuries - but often with pretty severe permanent physical changes. <BR/> <BR/>It will be interesting to see how we construct our discourse about these disabilities in the face of changing attitudes about the war. In the first year or so, there were some rah-rah stories about the great new prosthetics and how "normal" a life people could lead with them. The NYTimes story begins to ask the question - how "normal" will the rest of society let them be about their injury?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31220410.post-3739453006445104782007-05-14T10:10:00.000-04:002007-05-14T10:10:00.000-04:00Thanks for your comment - it raises very interesti...Thanks for your comment - it raises very interesting points. I've been considering the differences between visible and invisible disabilities (as well as in the examples you raise ) and the concept of "covering" in the book by Yoshino. The "covering" behavior (when it's possible, such as an amputee who can wear long pants over a prosthetic leg which is different than a wheelchair user) seems to lift over time as minority groups go through phases of visibility as a group. Yoshino's book is fascinating - and I couldn't help but notice that this article focused quite a bit on amputees.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00170658770134559035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31220410.post-74545052576389542892007-05-13T22:59:00.000-04:002007-05-13T22:59:00.000-04:00I love that phrase "people who happen to have a di...I love that phrase "people who happen to have a disability, rather than as people defined by disability" because it lends itself so well to substituting just that one word. <BR/> <BR/>The obvious: what if it referred to characteristics that enjoy some legal and social protection, such as "gender" or "race" or "sexual orientation" or "religion."<BR/> <BR/>What about other physical appearances? Feminists have fought for decades to be able to dress as they please and just be "people with breasts instead of people defined by having breasts."<BR/><BR/>We do better at "People having certification as a nurse / teacher / lawyer / etc instead of people defined by certification."<BR/> <BR/>Lamborghini? $30K in debt? A kid at Harvard? Two divorces? It makes for an interesting game.<BR/> <BR/>And points up how slow we are to get it about disability. Me included.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com