living with this does not mean I need to be treated as any less a person
This is the crux of it for me, because the simple fact is that our society sees people with a disability as lesser, and this bleeds into any portrayal we see in the media. I don't think the writers of these characters are even aware they're doing it for the most part, because the attitude is so ingrained. I have yet to see anything with a disabled character where it's not implied that they need to be fixed in some way. And of course you get the stereotypes: the poor, brave disabled person who overcomes such terrible obstacles and yet can still manage to smile, such a sweet girl (excuse me while I vomit), and the bitter and twisted disabled person who hates the world and everyone in it. My other issue is one of emphasis, although this can vary depending on a person's situation, since I acknowledge the fact that a person who becomes disabled later in life will be in a different mental position than someone who is born with a disability; generally, I feel that there is too much emphasis placed on the disability, with whatever it is consuming the person's whole life and their every waking thought, which of course it doesn't. But I think that an able-bodied person just can't imagine that it wouldn't consume your every waking moment, and so these are the pictures with which we get presented. It's very annoying.
But yes. In sum: my issues, let me show you them. :)
As for how we do it without offending people, first of all I think you have to accept that there will always be someone who doesn't like what you've done, and you need to be prepared to listen to that person if they tell you why they don't like it. Apart from that I think to write about these topics takes a huge amount of sensitivity, awareness (of self as well as in general), tact and openness.
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Date: Sat, Apr. 9th, 2011 09:46 am (UTC)This is the crux of it for me, because the simple fact is that our society sees people with a disability as lesser, and this bleeds into any portrayal we see in the media. I don't think the writers of these characters are even aware they're doing it for the most part, because the attitude is so ingrained. I have yet to see anything with a disabled character where it's not implied that they need to be fixed in some way. And of course you get the stereotypes: the poor, brave disabled person who overcomes such terrible obstacles and yet can still manage to smile, such a sweet girl (excuse me while I vomit), and the bitter and twisted disabled person who hates the world and everyone in it. My other issue is one of emphasis, although this can vary depending on a person's situation, since I acknowledge the fact that a person who becomes disabled later in life will be in a different mental position than someone who is born with a disability; generally, I feel that there is too much emphasis placed on the disability, with whatever it is consuming the person's whole life and their every waking thought, which of course it doesn't. But I think that an able-bodied person just can't imagine that it wouldn't consume your every waking moment, and so these are the pictures with which we get presented. It's very annoying.
But yes. In sum: my issues, let me show you them. :)
As for how we do it without offending people, first of all I think you have to accept that there will always be someone who doesn't like what you've done, and you need to be prepared to listen to that person if they tell you why they don't like it. Apart from that I think to write about these topics takes a huge amount of sensitivity, awareness (of self as well as in general), tact and openness.