The Politics Of Staring : Visual Rhetorics Of 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

Disability has been a difficult topic of society for years. Many people find discomfort in the presence of the disabled and many feel pity for those who are disabled. Back in the 1800s, the disabled were perceived as unable to contribute to society, often forced to undergo sterilization, and forced into institutions and asylums (“A Brief History”). In fact, this treatment of the disabled and mentally ill has been persistent until somewhat recently, when the Civil Rights movement took place, and those with disabilities decided to take a stand for their rights. Although people with disabilities continue to face difficulties in finding jobs, legitimizing their opinion, having the right to vote, and choosing whether or not they receive or refuse

Stella Young’s TedTalk “I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much” discusses the various ways in which those living with a disability are often viewed differently for doing the same mundane things those living without a disability do. In her speech, Young claims that people are lied to about disability. She tells a story about how she was teaching and a student raised his hand asking when she was going to begin her inspirational speech since the only interaction with a person with a disability prior to her class revolved around a person giving an inspirational speech. Young then goes on to state that the world is deceived by “Inspiration Porn” and which leads to the idea that those living with a disability are “objects of inspiration”. She jokes that no matter how long she sat at the bottom of the stairs having positive thoughts that would not get her to the top of the stairs. Young concludes her speech by saying she wants to live in a world where disability is considered the norm and not the exception.

Society tends to have a set definition of what “normal” means as well as how people should behave. The view a population has on normality is an outcome of culture, individuals, and the environment that surrounds it. A person is raised to regard behavior in a certain way, which tends to result in them having a fixed opinion of what is acceptable. An issue of this phenomenon arises when people cannot endure others having a different standpoint on what is customary. It causes individuals to argue and leads to the inferior giving in, submitting to those whose views are much more socially accepted. When the majority pressures their opinions on

The author, Leslie Fiedler writes about the differences in what it means to be normal. She discusses this in a professional manner that opens eyes to what we have disguised and even been ashamed of. “The Tyranny of the Normal,” we learn much about what we perceive as abnormal and what society seems to portray normal as. We discover what we believe is normal and also what has changed through-out the history of this subject. Our minds are opened and exposed to the world of abnormalities and how we see them.

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.

In “Why I keep speaking up, even when people mock my accent,” Safwat Saleem, shows his passion and his courageous side when speaking in his Ted Talk, describing the main idea of there not being such a thing of normalcy, as well as arguing that individuals should be confident and accept who they are from their special qualities. Agreeing with Saleem (2016), however to also consider it has become common in today’s society to want to be normal. Therefore many people would not agree with wanting to be exactly known as quote on quote ‘normal’ but they may want to assimilate to norms because that person is or may be in a unique way socially accepted.

Stella Young has lived with a disability all of her life, but has never let that stand in her way. While speaking at a TED conference in 2014 Young wanted to address an issue that most individuals overlook. This issue is about people with disabilities and the struggle they face every day to feel equal and part of a social norm. Stella speaks from experience and tries to make her audience see a new perspective of how individuals look at others with disabilities. Stella makes it clear that most individuals see people with disabilities as an inspiration which is widely propagated. In order for her audience to understand this view she shows a series of images to appeal both to logos and pathos. Stella wanted to show that we view these images logically

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

Throughout life, in any society we develop a sense to conform and adjust to our surroundings but why? Our values in our society determines our norms and why we do the things we do. I recently sought out to break these social conformities that violated the values, and norms we hold as a society. Every society is different and, in every society there are different and similar values, norms, sanctions folkways, and mores. Breaking them up and analyzing them we began to understand why these terms and values are so important to us.

A person can live a fulfilling life by not conforming to society’s standards and opinions. Society today has expected a certain level of conformity. People tend to worry what other people think and it prevents them from revealing their true inner feelings. In the movie “Dead Poet’s Society,” many of the boys didn’t

In the media today, people with disabilities are perceived as tragic heroes or as medical miracles. They are rarely seen for their intelligence or for their accomplishments excluding their overcoming disability hardships. The textbook, Everything’s an Argument, contains an excerpt from Charles A. Riley II 's book “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change.” Riley, a journalism professor at New York’s Baruch College, uses appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade his audience that their methods of portraying disabled people are in dire need of change.

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,

When people with disabilities are included in the making of media content, they are able to “debate the societal issues related to them that rarely make the mainstream press” (Haller, 2010, p.117). This means that they can bring up problems that they have personally experienced and help educate society on how those problems can be resolved. News about disabilities should be included in the media more often in order to help able-bodied people become aware of disabilities and avoid the stereotypes that have been created. If a person with a disability helps make a story about someone with a disability, they can make sure the story explains the necessary issue and disregards any stigmas. Beth Haller describes in her book Representing Disabilities in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media that “historically, articles about people with disabilities rarely made it into the news, and, when the articles were written, that they were misrepresentative and stigmatizing” (2010, p. 119). In addition, an individual with disability can

We are conditioned at a young age to believe the only way to be normal is to be