The Layers Of Social Strata Within Disability

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

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

Humans are social creatures. We identify ourselves through our community, loved ones, and those who genuinely appreciate our presence. Our identity defines our personality traits, highlight social roles. Those with disabilities are often confused about their identity because they are misunderstood and stigmatized. Through the use of literature, one can empathize better with other people especially those who are misunderstood by society. Disabled people are more likely to be neglected and subjected to prejudice or discrimination. In “Delusion of Grandeur”, Terry Ann Thaxton, talks about the struggle between Adam and his mother because of his disability. Adam struggles to cope with his environment and finds himself isolated and misunderstood. Families ultimately suffer but through their experience, they can learn some amazing lessons.

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

The mainstream press today when discussing a disabled celebrity disregards many of the persons accomplishments throughout their life, but instead focuses and finds themselves becoming more and more susceptible to drawing attention to their disability alone. Charles A. Riley II enlightens the able-bodied community on many issue’s throughout his book, “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change.” He argues that the media is inaccurately depicting the disabled community throughout the use of advertisements, but may also be unintentionally disrespecting the community as well in face-to-face contact. Riley is a professor of journalism at Baruch College, and throughout his career, has received multiple awards for his writing’s on issues relating to disability. In Charles A. Riley II excerpt from “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change”, Riley argues for a change from the media’s perception of disabled people, as a whole, due to how they are portraying celebrities within today’s media throughout the use of ethos, logos, and pathos.

Further, she demonstrates how she is treated because her disability marks her as “different” from the norm. She suggests, “Society is no readier to accept crippledness than to accept death, war, sex, sweat, or winkles” (Mairs p.4). In other words, Mairs emphasizes although disability’s mind is the same as healthy people, the society treats “disability” differently,

In the essay “Disability,” the author Nancy Mairs argues that the media portrays disabled people in an unjust manner. Mairs supports her claim by first appealing to the reader’s emotions, second by proving her credibility as a disabled person, and lastly by appealing to the reader’s sense of logic. Mair’s purpose is to prove that disabled people are just as normal as anyone else in order to persuade advertisers to represent the disabled on television, newspapers, commercials, advertisements, etc. Based on Mair’s informal tone and diction, she is writing for the common, intellectual audience who has the ability to make a difference in changing the views of the media and non-disabled people towards the disabled. Nancy Mairs introduces her essay

Displayed in the media to this day are people shown with disabilities. These people are wrongly perceived by society as heroes or sensations. Instead of focusing on that, we should focus on how they are able to overcome the disability during their daily lives. A very trusted author and professor of journalism, Charles A Riley, wrote a book called “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change”. After carefully analyzing this text from Everything’s an Argument, it is clear that Riley wants to adjust the way society views people with disabilities. He is against the fact that people with disabilities are not known for who they really are. I agree with Riley’s stance and can feel what he is expressing throughout his text.

Writer, Nancy Mairs, in her essay, “Disability, “she portrays that there is no representation for people with disabilities in media, “especially television” (par 1). She supports this claim by exemplifying that the one time she saw a women with multiple sclerosis it was on a “medical drama” (par 2) that had romanticized the disability, and how that is not the type of representation that people with disabilities deserve since the doctor from the television drama “uses his medical power to strip” the woman from her independence. Mairs’ purpose is to announce to the public that people with disabilities are still people and they do normal people stuff like “talk on the telephone” or “order pizza” (par 4) in order to claim that people with disabilities

In this weeks reading, I read the narrative essay “Disability: There is more than meets the I” by Katie Cooper. Prior to the reading the essay, I expected being paired with similar essays that might have expressed mental disabilities and the struggle with them. Similarly to my expectations, Cooper delves into her experience at nine years old of learning she was dyslexic. Cooper goes into detail about how unsettling it was learning she had a disability and discovering the definition of disability had made her doubt herself. It is important to critically assess Cooper’s narrative in order to understand the role of narratives and how it helps with the acceptance of the identity of being disabled.

Disability has appeared frequently in recent films (Byrd & Elliot, 1988), a reflection of society’s interest in the subject. These films often misrepresent disability using stereotypes. These stereotypes reinforce negative and incorrect social perceptions of, and attitudes towards,

How are people with disabilities viewed through the media? Are they viewed positively or negatively? Are they shown having real, meaningful, reciprocal relationships? For this assignment, I have chosen three very different examples to examine using these questions.

Representations of disability are vitally important to the public’s view on disability. Stigmas and stereotypes facing disability are often perpetuated through film, and in popular culture. (Boyd 1322). In the genre of horror films, there is a broad range of representations of disability, from blatantly negative like in films such as Nightmare on Elm Street, and with more positive views in films in the sub-genre of zombie films. While zombies are not literally disabled, they are an insightful metaphorical representation of disability.

“When properly constructed, media representations of characters with disabilities may be able to provide new, more humanizing representations of people with disabilities for the public and to counter act negative models and stereotypes.” This statement, from the reading by EnglandKennedy, is proved by Glee’s portrayal of the character Artie Abrams. I chose to analyze this particular representation of a high schooler with a disability because of Glee’s large audience. The show attracts all ages, but younger viewers are mainly the targeted audience. The way in which Artie is portrayed could have a major impact on how the next generation views people with disabilities.

This week’s discussion dealt with Individuals and Disabilities. Over the years, people who have a “disability" have been subjected to prejudice and more. And the first way to diminish someone is through language, by using words or labels to identify a person as "less-than," as "the others—not like us," and so forth. Once a person has been identified this way, it makes