In
works of art there is often a lack of characters with disabilities. When
present, such characters tend to be marginalized and portrayed as helpless. In
society – especially Western societies – having a disability of any kind is met
with stigmatizing attitudes. Many examples in societal institutions prevail.
For example, the practice of secluding or restraining misbehaving children in
public schools disproportionately impacts students with disabilities. In
particular, students with autism or are labeled emotionally disturbed are
secluded when they became upset.[1] I ride an electric scooter and – similar to
the experiences of most people who make use of such mobility devices – face
many forced detours due to inaccessible stairs and other structures. Another example is the portrayal of people
with schizophrenia as violent and needing isolation. These messages about
disability are internalized, resulting in self-stigma. Art reflects society,
resulting in stigmatizing messages that sustain an oppressive society.
Understanding disability as portrayed in art
can be paralleled with actual portrayals of disability in society. What is
disability, though? Many definitions and models of disability exist in a myriad
of variations. Disability is understood as a major impediment – a condition or
change of some kind that impacts major life activities. To this end disability
is a form of oppression. The bird cage model, put forth by feminist writer
Marilyn Frye, is simple enough to thoroughly explain oppression. When viewed microscopically, one notes that
any individual bar in a cage can be bypassed, either above or below. Viewing
the cage as a whole, one clearly sees that each bar is systematically placed as
to restrict or block movement.[2]
That’s the point of a cage. Frye writes,
“It is perfectly obvious that the bird is surrounded by a network of
systematically related barriers, no one of which would be the least hindrance
to its flight, but which, by their relations to each other, are as confining as
the solid walls of a dungeon.“ Individual barriers do not oppress an
individual; these barriers, however, interact with each other, ensnaring the
person.
Now
that oppression can be more easily understood, disability can be more precisely
defined. The United Nations defines disability as “[having] long-term physical,
mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various
barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an
equal basis with others.”[3]
This definition emphasizes the social exclusion that accompanies disability.
The coalescing of barriers, which leads to oppression, is thus a key element of
disability, not just the medical condition itself. A similar definition of disability comes from
the World Health Organization: “ Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering
impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An
impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation
is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action;
while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in
involvement in life situations.”[4]
This definition again emphasizes that though a disability can be viewed
medically, it truly becomes a “disability” due to exclusion from societal
institutions.
While both definitions mentioned
above are adequate, I believe that terminal illness should be included with disability
because it also results in entrapment. The mother of one of my close friends
passed away this spring, after having been bedridden due to illness for the
past few years. Though she was not “disabled” in the traditional sense, she
clearly was limited in a manner that impacted her life. One
possible definition of disability is a debilitating long-term condition that
significantly changes one's life. This definition can be deconstructed further:
"a debilitating condition" can be defined as a condition that through
its negative effects worsens your quality of life and "significantly
changes one's life" can be defined as requiring changes relative to a
normal life in response to the condition and cannot be easily fixed, resulting
in increased difficulty in managing one's health. A disability can be
congenital or occur later in life. It is permanent or otherwise long-term. A
disability is also an important part of one's identity, though it itself does
not define a person.
Disability
can be physical, mental, intellectual or sensory. My experiences mainly deal
with physical and mental disabilities, though concepts of stigma and
discrimination are still pertinent to all persons with disabilities.
In
a social psychology study, experimenters discovered that physical disabilities
were “perceived as onset-uncontrollable, and elicited pity, no anger, and
judgments to help” while mental disabilities were considered
“onset-controllable, and elicited little pity, much anger, and judgments to
neglect.”[5] Though
both groups are stigmatized, mental disabilities are often viewed as
controllable, thus allegedly reflecting the person’s irresponsibility. One
prime example is people with depression often being told to simply get over it.
Another study discussed the impact of stigma on people with mental disabilities.
Stigmatizing attitudes are believed about mental disability and then
perpetuated in the media. Three highly prevalent ones include: 1. Persons with
severe mental illnesses[6]
should be feared and kept out of most communities. 2. Persons with severe mental
illnesses are irresponsible, so their life decisions should be made by others.
3. Persons with severe mental illnesses are helpless and need to be cared for.[7] Another attitude that I’ve seen
personally is that people with mental disabilities are responsible for taking
medication to live a normal life. In particular, people who suffer from
depression are expected to seek counseling or take antidepressants. The former
option I did not find particularly helpful. I have never taken antidepressants
because I want to limit the amount of drugs I must rely on - taking a
corticosteroid is enough for me. Furthermore, our understanding of the
neuroscience underlying depression is shaky and at least some part of the
effect of antidepressants could be the placebo effect. Anti-depressants alone
produce a small effect on depression, except in cases of severe depression.[8]
Living in a society that widely endorses stigmatizing ideas leads to their
internalization, resulting in self-stigma. Thus a person with a mental
disability lives with both public stigma and stigma emanating from within,
resulting in devaluation of the person.
Persons with physical disabilities
face a separate set of stigmas from mental disabilities. Having a physical
disability places an individual beyond that which is considered normal,
complicating interactions with able-bodied persons. Growing up I was thought to
have conditions such as ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome due to my struggles with
interacting with other people. My mom told my doctors that I had difficulty
socially due to my having Beckers Muscular Dystrophy but the doctors decided
that I likely had another condition. I believe that I had trouble interacting
with my peers because of my condition. In my experience growing up with a
disability makes it much harder to interact with able-bodied people. Individuals with physical disabilities
“frequently experience various forms of devaluation and discrimination.” A
disabled body is assumed to lack individual autonomy and be helpless, passive,
and dependent. Furthermore the everyday skills of competencies of persons with
physical disabilities are doubted frequently. Internalization of these
assumptions impairs social interactions, leading to self-doubt and suffering of
self-esteem.[9]
Riding a scooter I feel that I am treated differently, which makes me uneasy.
All of these stigmas come into play but instead of being angry I feel insecure
about my surroundings.
Though mental and physical
disability are medically quite different, both lead to internalization of
bigoted attitudes. The sense of self is maimed. This discussion about systems
and institutions is quite abstract. At the same time, these views are
translated into works of art, resulting in most characters being able-bodied. Stigmatizing
attitudes put into art are then able to influence the consumers of the art,
creating a cycle of institutional cruelty. Ending oppression of the disabled
requires more than simply showing more characters with disabilities. Rather,
characters with disabilities need to be portrayed in a strong, positive light –
which is not simply the opposite of oppression - to break the cycle. Nagisa Furukawa, one of
my all-time favorite characters, is someone who, despite being physically
frail, tenaciously follows her dreams. Similarly, characters with disabilities
should run parallel to persons with disabilities: they can rise above the
systematic barriers restricting them, reflecting human strength of will.
[1] “National Data Confirms Cases of
Restraint and Seclusion In Public Schools.” 19 Jun 2014. Web. 28 Aug 2014 NPR.
[2] . “Oppression” by Marilyn Frye.
1983.
[3] Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities. United Nations. 2006. Web. 28 Aug 2014.
[4] “Disabilities.” World Health
Organization. 2014. Web. 28 Aug 2014.
[5]
Weiner, B., Perry, R. P., & Magnusson, J. (1988). An attributional analysis
of reactions to stigmas. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55(5),
738-748. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.55.5.738
[6] Though the term mental illness
is used, I prefer the term mental disability because it is less antagonistic.
[7]
Corrigan PW, Watson AC. Understanding
the impact of stigma on people with mental illness. World Psychiatry
2002; 1: 16–20
[8]
Khan A., Faucett J., Lichtenberg P., Kirsch I.,
Brown W. A. (2012). A systematic review of
comparative efficacy of treatments and controls for depression. PLoS ONE 7:e41778 10.1371/journal.pone.0041778
[9] Taub, Diane E., Elaine M.
Blinde, and Kimberly R. Greer. "Stigma Management through Participation in
Sport and Physical Activity: Experiences of Male College Students with Physical
Disabilities." Human Relations 52.11 (1999): 1469-84.
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