We all do it

We all do it. We don’t mean to, but we do.

The audience and judges sneered when contestant Susan Boyle walked on stage on Britain's Got Talent. When she started to sing, the sneering quickly turned to awe. In the days that followed, discussions took place about how superficial we all were to laugh at her, since it turned out she possessed exceptional talent. The consensus seemed to be that, as Ms. Boyle was an extraordinary singer, it was wrong to snicker at her perceived lack of social graces and unglamorous appearance.

Hmmm…so, it’s OK to laugh at someone who looks different and who doesn’t possess exceptional talent?

A mother with a happy, smiling baby with Down Syndrome overhears other mothers talking in the park, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

A family with a child with Down Syndrome is less graced by God? Really?

On The Tonight Show, President Obama discussed his bowling score of 129 with some self-deprecating humor, "It was like Special Olympics or something."

I wonder….would this thoughtful leader have put himself down in jest by saying "Man, I bowl like a girl!" I doubt it; he knows in his heart one doesn’t put down another or even oneself, by calling someone “a girl.” And, if he slipped, Americans across the country would let him know that girls are not inferior beings.

An article in the May 2009 Diabetes Forecast focuses on the discrimination in employment against people with diabetes. It is an informative discussion about the necessity of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act and its protection of workers’ rights However, the author, almost in hushed tones, seems to need to make the point that people with diabetes aren’t really disabled. They just need the law to have a fair workplace.

What’s so terrible about having a disability, about being in that group? What’s so terrible about needing an accommodation to level the playing field, to do the essential functions of one’s job? The unemployment rate among people who are blind is 70%. Provide accommodation for insulin, snacks, and low blood sugar, but not provide text-to-read programs or Braille accommodations?

Why do we not want to be seen to be like others who are different? Can we not look a little harder to see that we share a common humanity?

Violence against children and adults with noticeable differences is much higher than against those without noticeable differences; it is prevalent in our neighborhoods, our schools, our homes. One Texas institution even ran a coordinated “fight club,” treating their clients like dog-fighting entertainment.

We, of course, don’t condone this violence, we may not even see its enormity. But we need to be aware of it. When people are beaten because of race, religion, or sexual orientation, it’s classified as a hate crime. Can we not demand that beating of people with disabilities be treated similarly?

Legislative opportunities to support our citizens with disabilities abound. The Community Choice Act would allow people the option to receive support services in the home. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes the essential human rights of all people. The convention has been open for signatures for more than two years, and 139 countries have signed, but not the United States.

Where are our priorities?


On this Blogging Against Disablism Day, I ask myself – where is my ableism? How do I reflect the deeply ingrained prejudices of my culture? Where am I an ableist in my individual actions? In my community actions?

I give you the same challenge. Ask the tough questions.



This post is part of a worldwide blogging phenomenon, Blogging Against Disablism Day. Be sure to head over to Diary of a Goldfish to read more perspectives on ableism/disablism. Thanks, Goldfish for your extraordinary efforts again this year.

Links: my BADD 2007 post and BADD 2008 post

Thunderous Dehumanization

The R rated movie Tropic Thunder directed by Ben Stiller comes to theaters tomorrow. The film coins the phrase “full retard” to describe one of its characters.

Journalist Patricia Bauer prescreened the movie and shares some of her observations:

“Stiller’s character, Tugg Speedman, is presented as a fading action hero who earlier failed in his bid for Oscar glory while portraying Simple Jack, a character with an intellectual disability. Speedman’s portrayal of Simple Jack is featured as a movie within the movie.”

Bauer describes the stereotypical protrayal of a person with a cognitive disability,

“In character, Stiller speaks in a stilted, stuttering, adenoidal fashion, and wears overalls, bad false teeth and a classic institutional bowl haircut.”

Bauer tallies the number of times slurs are used in the movie and finds (approximately):

“Number of repetitions of the word “retard” or its variations: At least 16 in the “full retard” scene alone, not counting the uses of words like “idiot,” “moron,” “moronical,” “imbecile,” “stupid,” “dumb” and “the dumbest M*****F***** that ever lived.” All are used to describe the character of Simple Jack, who is described in an introductory segment as a “mentally impaired farm hand who can talk to animals.”

Number of repetitions of the word “nigger”: Once, said by a black character criticizing a character pretending to be black.

Number of uses of other racial/ethnic/sexual epithets: None observed.”

According to the New York Times a Dreamworks spokesperson says that the movie is a satire of the excesses of Hollywood. I’ve always been annoyed by the portrayal of persons with disabilities by temporarily able-bodied people in pursuit of Oscar or Emmy nominations, and I would truly love to see a film that satirizes the Hollywood portrayal of PWDs. However, I’m finding it hard to believe that Ben Stiller is really making a sophisticated societal satire in the vein of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Mr. Stiller’s past films, seem to have the common theme of going for crass and crude humor, although the joke is on the zipper mishap or fart or whatever, not on an entire group of people. And, it’s not like Dreamworks is advertising this movie as a societal satire. According to Bauer,

“Early promotion of the film described Simple Jack as a “retard” and an elaborate DreamWorks marketing website that was taken down this week in response to complaints carried the tagline ‘Once upon a time … There was a retard.’”

The Dreamwork website is not advertising Tropic Thunder as a societal satire, but rather quotes critics who call the movie a “knockout of a comedy” and “the funniest movie of the summer.” So, I forgive me, Mr. Stiller and Dreamworks. I’m not buying it. Your movie is not a critical satire of Hollywood’s portrayal of the full diversity of humankind. It is another movie that slurs and hurts a large segment of our population for the sake of a joke or two.

I know some people, like one of Bauer’s commenters, would say, “Get a sense of humor!” At the root of this point is the belief that cognitive diversity is not a part of humankind, and making fun of this “other” group is no big deal. And since when does one group get to tell another group that they cannot be offended by slurs, epithets, and derogatory stereotypes? Do whites get to tell blacks to not be offended by slurs? Do whites get to tell native peoples to not be offended by dancing Indian mascots? Do men get to tell women to not be offended by curse words or sexual innuendos?

I’ve written before about the pain the word “retard” causes. Like all outrageous and socially unacceptable racial and sexual slurs, this word inflicts deep pain. Dave Hingsburger over at Chewing the Fat writes a powerful letter to Mr. Stiller explaining how much it hurts to see and hear the R word.

“You hurt me a second time today, Mr. Stiller. I am writing to tell you, to hold you responsible. I arrived home and saw on a website that it is now possible to buy tee shirts with the phrase 'full retard' on it. You are responsible for this Mr. Stiller, you wrote those words, you chose those words, you went public with those words. It is you, and only you, who must bear the consequences for your actions.”

“Full retard” t shirts?! More satire, right?

Autistic advocacy.org has an on-point video about the power of words.

Many groups are advocating a boycott of Tropic Thunder. You can learn more at the United Cerebral People blog. As Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics says in the Washington Post,

"So, enough. Stop the hurtful jokes. Talk to your children about language that is bullying and mean. Ask your friends, your educators, your religious leaders to help us to end the stubborn myth that people with intellectual disabilities are hopeless. Ask Hollywood to get on the right side of dignity.

I hope others will join me in shutting this movie out of our lives and our pocketbooks. We don't live in times when labeling and humiliating others is funny."

Let's make our voices heard.

Addendum: Thanks to Ruth for this link to a statement of solidarity "recognizing the dignity of individuals with intellectual disabilities" and signed by many organizations including The Special Olympics, National Down Syndrome Society, and more. Check it out.

A 2nd Addendum: Checkout 2 stories on NPR. "If one group laughs at the expense of another, we don't call that humor, we call it humiliation," explains Leonard J. Davis, Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Illinois. And Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics explains why the r-word is hate speech.

Picture credit: Human Policy Press

Carnival Day!

Stacey from Crip-power has put together a wonderful collection of posts. She states that this carnival “focuses on the celebration of disability culture, struggle, people, history and identity." There are many thought-provoking posts that examine identity and culture through different angles. I hope you’ll check it out!

Disability as Culture

Check out Cross-Cultural Communiques from Andrea’s Buzzing About. When I was writing an essay about my educational experiences for my English class, I noted the tremendous difficulty that able-bodied people had in understanding my experiences when they were so different than their own. Andrea broadens the discussion to look at cross-cultural relationships. She shares a list by an unknown author designed to address "…the assumptions we mentally trip over when working with people from other national, religious or ethnic cultures." Andrea notes, "I rather doubt that the author(s) considered how broad the cultural spectrum can be."

The first one on the list is "What seems to be logical, sensible, important, and reasonable to a person in one culture may seem stupid, irrational, and unimportant to an outsider." All twelve make you think.