ABLED

This blog is about reconciling the two worlds of disability understanding. On one side are the strong voices of activists in the disability community. On the other is the well meaning but naïve/ ignorant able bodied population who see disability as something pitiable. As an able bodied person who has realized the very compelling and interesting arguments about society and life coming from the disability community, I am compelled to referee the exchanges between the two sides. Often times it seems that everyone is speaking so loudly and with such great conviction that the other doesn't even listen. Since I am not personally motivated by either side, I can weigh both sides of the arguments and hopefully facilitate an open and accepting space for both sides to express themselves and learn about each other. Please join the discussion!

Monday, November 5, 2007

So Courageous! Disability in the Media: Act 4 The Fly and the Spider

The ‘So Courageous’ Phenomenon (SCP), in which peoples with disabilities are praised and appreciated for their accomplishments more than their able bodied peers, is a complex issue. The phenomenon is present in daily interactions between peoples with disabilities and the able bodied. It is also a common way of portraying disability in the media. Many SCP events provide fodder for the harangues of disability bloggers, yet the able bodied population who sponsors the SCP seem undeterred to their critiques. I wanted to explore the issue more thoughtfully and present the reasonable ideas that result in declaring some people with disabilities “Inspirations to us all…” etc. as well as the reasonable ideas for why that is a harmful sentiment.
To begin our discussion, let’s take the perspective of the common able bodied person (The Fly in our example) on portraying peoples with disability in the media. Then we will see-saw back to the activist perspective (The Spider) and so forth. Please add your own comments to continue the discussion!

‘It is admirable that with a greater number of challenges in life, peoples with disabilities have been able to achieve great things. When we give them positive attention for these accomplishments, it is to recognize their extraordinary effort and remarkable determination. They should be honored for these accomplishments. Media coverage of these moments also helps support a more positive social outlook on disabilities instead of focusing on negative results of limitations.’ Said the Fly to the Spider.

‘I disagree. Most media portrayals of peoples with disabilities are distasteful because their appreciative angle is usually rooted in a hidden foundation of pity. Society has had low expectations of peoples with disabilities because they pity their condition and find it inherently “deficient”. The only reason the media finds it worthy to celebrate these people is because everyone is surprised that someone with such “disadvantages” has been able to achieve what normal people can. Because this “positive” sentiment stems from a very pitiful perception of the disabled, I find it unappealing. People should be educated to get beyond this simplistic and harmful view.’ Said the Spider to the Fly.

‘I don’t think I pity the disabled? I find them truly inspirational. I find the stories I read in the media compelling because of the hopeful tales of success. Take for instance this story of a kid who became a black belt in Karate even though he doesn’t have any legs. That is acceptably inspirational. It is an amazing story about a kid who did remarkable things even though he had remarkable impediments to success. There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by the true stories of others.’ Said the Fly to the Spider.

‘Ah, that’s just because of how the media packages the stories of the disabled…’ Said the Spider to the Fly.

See next week’s post for Spider’s thoughts on the media and the conclusion of this discussion.

7 comments:

Frederick Grier said...

Well, Mr. Spider, then Hows Your News?

http://www.howsyournews.com/

seeing stories from the perspective of the disabled can be enlightening, but I wonder if these folks could ever hold a major news corp position?

and if so, how would it change the abled/disabled debate?

Blog [with]tv said...

Hmmmm. Quite the comment above:

"...but I wonder if 'these folks' could ever hold a major news corp position?"

Ouch. This comment may get some attention in the next Disability Blog Carnival scheduled for Jan. 10, '08. Frogger, you and I have been in touch about your posts before. It so happens that Blog [with]tv has chosen the topic "Disability in the Media" as the theme for the next carnival and your posts, starting with this one, are just what we need. I'll be pleased to link to them in the Carnival. See you there!
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_546.html

Anonymous said...

So I'm curious, blog[with]tv....do you think that the reporters in Hows Your News could anchor for a major news corporation like CNN or NBC? sometimes our country surprises me in its acceptance, so I won't rule it out.

I apologize if I'm coming off strongly against those journalists in an attempt to highlight the difficulty that they face. Reading it again, I can see how you may have read it the wrong way. I believe that their story is compelling, but it is a much different story than I find when I watch mainstream news....and maybe a more poignant one at that?

they are doing great work, and I recognize that, but at the same time I feel that our country has a long way to go before Hows Your News is prime time.

Frogger said...

I think what Fred is missing here, and what Connie is reacting to, is that we shouldn't make the comparison between the How's Your News crew and our evening news. A better question would be, what could How's Your News bring to an evening news program?

I think this is a common problem with how the able bodied see peoples with disabilities. They try to map one to one how a disabled person could accomplish what an able bodied person does. Rather, we should see that everyone has something to offer, and How's Your News could quite viably create good news coverage from a unique perspective that viewers would value.

The one to one comparison that Fred made is also unbalanced where he assumes that the evening news folks are the norm, and the How's Your news folks should match them. Why not consider it the other way around? The assumption that the able bodied are what everyone has to live up to, exposes the discrimination that is present in so many discussions of the disabled.

Blog [with]tv said...

Hi Fred,

In response to your question:

"do you think that the reporters in Hows Your News could anchor for a major news corporation like CNN or NBC?"

I will agree with frogger's thoughtful response. And I appreciate your follow-up as well. Your comment "Reading it again, I can see how you may have read it the wrong way" addresses the issue that sometimes things can be misconstrued, particularly in print media where one does not have the benefit of knowing the writer and/or observing tone or body language, etc.

Having said that, here's my take on why I responded the way I did.

1.) The use of the term "these folks"...while I think (or I'd like to think) you were innocently referring to the cast of How's Your News simply in the plural, one could misinterpret it to mean "these disabled folks" (as opposed to "the rest of us"), especially when used in the same sentence with the term "the disabled"...

2.) I don't know if the reporters in Hows Your News could anchor a major news corporation or not. But I would not use disability as the basis of my decision. There are some who say Katie Couric can't host the evening news but it has nothing with whether or not she has a disability.

The question has more to do with talent. Could I host such a program? Not a chance. I don't have the talent. I have talent for other things, but not for major network TV! Could my husband? With the appropriate accommodations he probably could. He's talented, articulate, very well read...he also happens to be blind.

The bigger question, I think, is would the "general public" accept or approve of a qualified person with a disability providing commentary on a major news program.

There's that discrimination issue that frogger brought up...

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

I wish not approve on it. I assume polite post. Specially the designation attracted me to be familiar with the intact story.

 
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