On Being A Cripple By Nancy Mair

In Nancy Mairs’ article for The New York Times, “Disability”, published in 1987, she expresses her distaste with the media's representation of handicapped people. Mairs, who struggled with multiple sclerosis herself, clearly and sharply conveys this disgust by stating, “I’m not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of a chronic incurable degenerative disease.” (Mairs 13), and that she is actually, “the advertisers’ dream: Ms. Great American Consumer. And yet the advertisers, who determine nowadays who will get represented publicly and who will not, deny the existence of me and my kind absolutely”(Mairs 14). Mairs is greatly upset that disabled people are defined by their disabilities and, therefore, are underrepresented in public media. This might lead to one asking themselves, but why are they? And the answer, according to Mairs, is quite simple, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life”(Mairs 14). Mairs concludes by pointing out how this effacement could have dangerous consequences for both disabled people and, as she called everyone else, TAPs (Temporarily Abled Persons) alike. Treating disabilities as an abnormal characteristic (as opposed to viewing them “as a normal characteristic, one that complicates but does not ruin human existence” (Mairs 15)) can cause one of these repercussions, as it makes the

In her essay “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs presents her audience with an honest inside view of her life and perspective as a cripple, a word she openly uses to define herself. She brings her world to us by discussing a wide variety of things including language, family, and humor, and how these all relate to her life. Through various stories and insights, she allows her readers to gain an understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities. She examines the public’s view of the disabled, as well as the views they have of themselves, and compares them to her own. She makes it clear that she is not to be defined solely by her disability. In discussing honestly her views, as well as

In “ I Am a Cripple” Nancy Mairs uses allusions to share her thoughts on her condition. Mairs begins her essay by articulating how she strongly dislikes the word disabled to describe her. She explains how her word cripple is favorable to her be cause “ It has an honorable history, having made its first appearance in the Lindisfarne Gospel” (Mairs). This word appears around 700 C.E in the Lindisfarne Gospel written to honor God, in the faith Christianity (Appositive Phrase). She gravitates towards this word

In “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs, an American poet and essayist, describes her personal battle with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the central nervous system with no known cure. She begins with a personal account of falling into a toilet because she loses control over several motions. Mairs prefers to be called a cripple rather than a disabled or handicapped person, although she acknowledges that this is not the same as others’ preference. She explains her journey from being a young, active child, to losing control of her body and developing a blurred spot in one eye in her late twenties. As her body continues to break down, Mairs tries to stay involved by participating in activities like bridge and

Someone who is crippled often receives pity and sympathy from others, but do cripples always want this? In this passage entitled “On Being a Cripple,” Nancy Mairs uses interesting word choice, repetition, and a sarcastic tone to touch upon a subject that most mature non-crippled Americans are not entirely comfortable with; using the so widely feared word “cripple” instead of the common “handicapped” or “disabled” to be polite or politically correct. Elaborating to a society, so infatuated with being politically correct, that using a word considered derogatory to most may be necessary according to exact definition is Mairs’s purpose in writing this passage.

Author of disability Nancy Mairs who’s a feminist and a cripple, has accomplished a lot in writing and teaching. Her remarkable personality shows in many of her essays especially in Disability which was first published in 1987 in the New York Times. In this essay, Nancy Mairs shows how disabled people are constantly excluded, especially from the media. By giving out facts and including her personal experiences, Mairs aims for making some changes regarding the relationship between the media and people with disabilities. Mairs thesis is shown implicitly in the first

In Nancy Mairs ' "On Being a Cripple," she deliberates the relationship between the English Language, American Society, and her struggle with multiple sclerosis (MS). Mairs criticizes people for wincing at the word "cripple," and using terms like “differently abled,” because they lack reality and accuracy. She equivalents society’s inability to accept crippledness with death, war, sex, sweat, and wrinkles. Through the usage of ethos, pathos, logos and other rhetorical devices, she effectively tells her story and proves that there is power in words, from which she could come to terms with a new fact of her identity, and to accept the incurability of her disease.

In “On Being a Cripple,”  Nancy Mairs describes her life as a “cripple,” being treated different for her multiple sclerosis. She describes how society views her as handicapped or disabled both which are terms that the author dislikes.  Her viewpoint makes readers question their own beliefs on how the terms handicapped, disabled, or cripple influences a person to think differently about each term and its meaning. One of the reasons I chose this essay was because the author shows how different terms could affect the way society thinks about a person. Mairs believes that society often judge others based on their physical appearance and use the terms handicapped, disabled, or cripple to label. She argues that the outcome of this is creates an idea where being a cripple, or being disabled is considered a taboo where you're expected to be treated differently. Mairs claims that society i

B). The main character in “On Being a Cripple” is Nancy. Nancy wants to prove that being a cripple is still can do lot of things like normal people do. She wants to changes society opinion how they think of disability people like her. She wants other treat her as if she was not cripple. For example, “The terror that people are kind to me only because I am a cripple”.

Author of disability Nancy Mairs who’s a feminist and a cripple, has accomplished a lot in writing and teaching. Her remarkable personality shows in many of her essays especially in Disability which was first published in 1987 in the New York Times. In this essay, Nancy Mairs shows how disabled people are constantly excluded, especially from the media. By giving out facts and including her personal experiences, Mairs aims for making some changes regarding the relationship between the media and people with disabilities. Mairs thesis is shown implicitly in the first and last

Reading and learning from other author’s conversations has been very intriguing and I am excited to join the conversation. In this essay, I will be digging deeper into three texts and using them to formulate a claim about language. Language is interesting to study because it is so important to everyone in the world. Language separates people and brings people together. It can cause mass destruction and solve world problems. On a social side, language can be a barrier for some and a way to take advantage of others. Without a solid control of language, people may struggle in society. My argument is that control over language is unfair to certain individuals because it leads to discrimination, lack of power, and negative social identity.

Through the readings this week it has been reinforced to me that language is an important aspect of life which is used in many different ways in our day-to-day life. Gee and Hayes (2011), view “language as something physically present in the world” and “is present in the form of speech, audio recordings, and writings believing language is a material object”, (p.6).

I have learned that and important aspect of language is that it reflects who we are, in other words, our identity. Language is a process of questions and answers through which we make our identity, believes and ideals known to the people we come into contact with in our own and other societies. I think that our ability to show people who we are as a person gives us the opportunity to spread the kindness which is part of the philosophy, Ubuntu.

Just as Language is a creation of the natural world, it is the architect of sustaining meaning for a culture. Therefore in its use, language is also a system of power that allows the meanings imparted by cultural hegemony to endure and endure themselves (Focault: 22). Although this cultural lineage now dominates the world’s sense of progress, not all people believe in this once sense of reality. On the margins of modernity, some people’s resilient existence stands as testimony

Language is a method of human communication, one of the most important things all humans have in common. In Dillon’s Grammar Repair textbook, she mentions that language is power and those who can exercise its power “possess a greater share of life’s privileges across the board” (1). Language greatly defines the person and how they are deceived by others. In the essays “Mother Tongue,” “The Meanings of a Word,” and “But What Do You Mean?” language is depicted as a controller of our lives in the workplace and our community. The individual’s communication methods dominated their impressions on society.