The Danger Of A Single Story By Nancy Mairs

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

As human beings, we tend to not understand that what we see or hear about social media, television, books, etc. can guide us towards this one piece of the puzzle. Not knowing the rest of the puzzle creates the assumption of a single story. In her TED talk, Chimamanda Adichie has spoken about the dangers of only knowing a story which leads to stereotyping. By this being said, to what extent do we as a society form a single story about others? To answer this question, there is a great extent when people create their single stories about others because we make these single stories without even realizing it. Chimamanda is a mere example, a representative of how our society thinks and is treated  when making a single

“Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity” (5). This quote from Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk in “The Danger of a Single Story” portrays the damage and the power a single story can have on one’s judgement and perception of others. In other words, only knowing one story leads to stereotyping the unknown stories that fall behind. Adichie executes a helpful job at illustrating the encounters that she as a minority had to go through, and explains the thoughts and stereotypes that she had on others as well.

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

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

If you saw a person in the mall in a wheelchair, would you judge them? Or would you look at them like they are a normal human-being? People who have a disability whether they are physically disabled, mentally disabled, or learning disabled, are still themselves. Nancy Mairs was forty-three year old woman with multiple sclerosis. She wrote an essay, “Disability”, that explained her views of her physical disability.

In the world we live in today, many of us criticize or judge others while not noticing it. For instance, when one sees a person with a disability they seem to aid them in any actions they’re taking. Many believe they are committing a good deed, although we are actually thinking of them as an incapable and/or weakened human being therefore we assume its our duty to assist them. In addition, the people’s lack of awareness about the history of people with disabilities are the reason why many of us slack the credentials to realize how we characterize them. Last but not least, the extra effort we make when we see a person with a disability has to be viewed from all perspectives not just one.

The author claims that rather than treating someone different, it should be considered “as just another manifestation of human diversity.” Instead of allowing outside sources, such as the media, influence the judgmental mindset that causes us to look at people with disabilities differently, society should view people with disabled bodies and bodies with mere differences with body acceptance as part of a “manifestation of human

It is estimated that 15% of the world’s population experience some form of disability, with the prevalence being much higher in developing countries . As such, it has been the case that this group repeatedly becomes the subject of [the media]. The depiction of the disabled in the media plays a key role in society’s perception of what it means to be disabled and is a reflection of the shifting discourses assigned to this group throughout

What comes into one’s mind when they are asked to consider physical disabilities? Pity and embarrassment, or hope and encouragement? Perhaps a mix between the two contrasting emotions? The average, able-bodied person must have a different perspective than a handicapped person, on the quality of life of a physically disabled person. Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson are three authors who shared their experiences as physically handicapped adults. Although the three authors wrote different pieces, all three essays demonstrate the frustrations, struggles, contemplations, and triumphs from a disabled person’s point of view and are aimed at a reader with no physical disability.

Mass Media plays a complex and dual role in both perpetuating and altering public perceptions of disability. Avenues in which we see public portrayals of intellectual, emotional, linguistic, age and physical impairments include television, radio, film, literature and various social media platforms. The utilization of media can either reinforce or challenge stereotypes that are widely accepted in western society. The layers of social strata within disability can be intersectional with gender, race, age and social class issues. This paper will examine attitudes about disability as a whole within the framework of North American society and media, as well as the meanings attached to the experience of being disabled.

In “The danger of a single story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explains that stereotypes or single stories are unrepresentative of an entire culture. In other words, all individuals within a culture should not be clumped together. She describes that these stereotypes may be a part of the culture; however, they do not represent every individual or family. There are differences among individuals and families. Adichie also describes that individuals feel sorry for other cultures separate from their own due to their focus on a single, negative story of a culture. It is significant to recognize that stereotypes or single stories often fail to recognize all of the similarities between cultures and instead, focus on all of the differences.

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story”.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s "Danger of a Single Story" explores how individuals misinterpret information based on one side of a story, such as stereotyping and judging others. She discusses the lives of Americans and Nigerians in depth, by explaining what society thinks of each nationality.

Many disabled writers often visit the topic of their own disabilities, as well as the role of disability in their lives and in American society. This is exemplified in the works of Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson, who not only reflect on their own disabilities, but on how the subject is treated by our culture. They all seem to share the idea that disability is either misrepresented or incorrectly perceived in popular culture, and in Mair’s case, perhaps not significantly represented at all. However their focus differs, as Mairs emphasizes the representation of the disabled in media, while Dubus and particularly Johnson look at it on a more personal level. The latter two focus much more on how the handicapped are perceived on a day to day level, in contrast to Mairs’s assault on how the media represents them. However, Dubus seemingly falls in the middle, as he touches upon both the representation and perception of disability. Also noticeably different is that their outlooks on their own disabilities vary; Dubus believes it has taken a major toll on his life, while Johnson finds it merely to be a superficial adjustment to life, and Mairs then falls somewhere between the two. Despite these differences, their writings overlap in multiple ways.