Advantages And Disadvantages Of Ableism

Decent Essays
Ableism can be defined by Campbell (2008) who argues ableism is connected with the production of ableness which refers to the perfect body by default (p.153). Campbell (2008) also argues that “the creation of a neologism that suggests a falling away from ableness that is disability (p.153). Ableism causes social marginalization and exclusion to those who do not conform to societies ablest norms (Dhamoon, 2009, p.113). The concept of ableism can be shown in the two readings the first one is “Regulating Difference: Accounts of Deaf and Transsexual Difference” from Identity/Difference Politics written by Rita Dhamoon. The second article is written by Judith Butler called “Doing Justice to Someone: Sex Reassignments and Allegories of Transsexuality. …show more content…
This case was given enormous attention because it challenged mainstream ideas of disability, but also around homosexual parenting. As Dhamoon (2009) argues deafness can be seen as a disability produced through the medical system or be seen as a cultural identity. Ken Connor, president of the US Family Research Council quotes “to intentionally give a child a disability, in additional to all the disadvantages that come as a result of being raised in a homosexual household, is incredibly selfish (Dhamoon, 2009, p.104). In most cases, disabilities will be looked at negatively rather than positively. It shows how society favours able bodies while, excluding those that fall into the disabled category. Even though many people do not see deafness as a disability. The second example is given of a male to female trans-sexual Kimberly Nixon who was denied the opportunity to volunteer at a feminist relief clinic (Dhamoon, 2009, p.114). Dominant thinking about sexuality in western culture was challenged because heteronormativity is viewed as normal and natural. As Dhamoon (2009) argues trans-sexuality is seen as deviant and abnormal because the person is not conforming to a true sex (p.107). Trans-sexuals fall into the disability notion because it is linked to an illness or gender disorder. This shows how trans-sexuals are …show more content…
A few months later was determined to be a girl, and then later in the teenage years decided to be a man (p.622). John/Joan went under Money and his teams control who believed they could reassign a new gender and live a normal life (Butler, 2001, p.623). It is important to understand how important ableism plays a role which often excludes members from society. To conform to the norm one must fit into the male female binary according to scientific models. “Medical practitioners often say to parents the child will not look normal if not operated on” (Butler, 2001, p.626). Science is used to create difference and discriminate others while reinforcing the norm. Science is also used to create cures for the people who step out of the norm which enables an ablest society. Ableism is intersected with gender within this reading to show that in order for gender to work the body must appear a certain way and that a body must feel a certain way (Butler, 2001, p.632). It shows how society favours able bodies and excludes and marginalizes those who fall out of the norm. Heteronormativity and ableism play a role in understanding who a person is, the way they behave and whether or not they fit into society’s norms. Gender is clearly part of an individual identity, but it is also used as a basis for differentiation. Meanings of difference are therefore socially constituted both by state and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Gender is constructed by the society. Although individuals are born sexed, they are not born gendered. Learning is required for individuals to become masculine or feminine. Children learn to talk, walk and gesture according to their social group’s beliefs of how boys and girls should act (Lorber, 1991). Gender is a human production which relies on everyone continual “doing gender” (West & Zimmerman, 1987).…

    • 1922 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Have you, or someone you know, ever been a victim of ableism? Ableism is the discrimination in favor of able-bodied people. Paul Fisher suffers through ableism. Paul along with his brother, Erik, mother and father moves to Tangerine, Florida. It this little town many odd occurrences happened, some of them unbelievable.…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From childhood into adulthood, a person is bombarded with societal pressure to personify the roles assigned to their gender– gender meaning how the individual identifies (male, female, transgender, gender fluid, etc.) not their biological sex. Traits or behaviors typical to one gender are deemed socially unacceptable. Aaron H. Devor–previously Holly Devor, before his gender reassignment in 2002– professor of sociology and former Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, illustrates this in his essay, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender.” In his essay, Devor explains how characteristics such as behavior or physical appearance (apart from one’s reproductive system) define individuals…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In her May 21, 2007, article, “(Rethinking) Gender” from Newsweek, Debra Rosenberg informs, and subtly persuades that the definition of gender, specifically stereotypical categories should be reevaluated. In the beginning of the article Rosenberg tells the story of the NASCAR driver, J. T. Hayes, who suffered a race car accident then decided to change his name and become Terri O’Connell. She said that she changed her ways that she had always felt like a woman and that this has been an ongoing struggle. From her accident she feared that her life was not at its fullest potential and that is her reasoning for becoming a female.…

    • 1268 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ‘“Night to His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender,” Judith Lorber’s article written in the mid 90s, describes western societies as having two genders: men and women. Lorber explains that, while they not wholly separate genders, transvestities and transexuals are “crossover genders” (2007: 43) floating in between society’s two genders. Society’s framework for gender affects everything a person does from the moment that person is born, without them even knowing it. The clothes a person wears, the friends a person makes, the job that person ultimately does or does not get: all affected by gender.…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rosemarie Garland-Thomson was a key figure in feminist disability studies. Within the critical framework of feminist disability studies, disability becomes a representational system rather than a medical problem; meaning that whoever has a disability or was seen as different did not represent what was considered beautiful throughout our society. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson wrote an article titled “Misfits: A Feminist Materialist Disability Concept”, which has many strengths and weaknesses. Her essay makes three arguments: “the concept of misfit emphasizes the particularity of varying lived embodiments and avoids a theoretical generic disabled body; the concept of misfit clarifies the current feminist critical conversation about universal vulnerability…

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    It has been numerously mentioned what social masculinity and femininity stands for. For example, “Diamond argues that these children should be assigned to the male sex since the presence of the Y is sufficient grounds for the presumption of social masculinity” (748). She also mentions that it is not “feminine” (“Interview: John Colapinto”) of “Brenda” (744) to play with guns, trucks or even to stand and urinate, because as a society we have come up with the generalization that one is a male if XY chromosomes are present in an individual’s gene, and one is a female if XX chromosomes are present. Therefore, Butler apprises us by using David Reimer’s case to define that “what is feminine and what is masculine can be altered, that these cultural terms have no fixed meaning or internal destiny, and that they are more malleable than previously thought” (746). Stating that biology does not set the limit for one’s destiny, because there are alternative routes that one might take, which could be completely different than what their biology had put forth for them.…

    • 1749 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay #2: Disability or Enhancement? In this essay, I will argue that Gauvin’s parents were not morally justified in their decision to permanently make their son born and remain deaf because by doing so the parents are treating the child as a lesser equal and are inflicting psychological harm. The role of parents is to ensure the wellbeing, safety, and support of their child in hopes that they can become stable, independent, and functional individuals in the near future. However, choosing a sperm donor with a history of deafness or any other disabilities is morally unjust because it is specifically taking a trait and implanting it upon a child causing them a life of hardships that they have to endure.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender is an important characteristic in distinguishing an individual’s identity within society; but what if gender didn’t exist? Relating back to Adam and Eve, the first man and woman to exist on planet Earth, we’ve implemented a separation among the sexes of human beings and principles that pertain to how one should live their life accordingly. We have always been taught that we are either a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, but we have never stopped to consider the possibility that evolution no longer supports this idealized approach. In ‘X: A Fabulous Child’s Story’, author Lois Gould considers what may happen when a child is raised without a gender and is undistinguishable as either a boy or a girl. Her piece challenges the issues involved…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When the course first began I wasn’t sure what SED 125 would necessarily entail. I already had some knowledge about Special Education, but it was all pretty vague, and not at all factual. I had assumed that people who have a disability were either affected physically or mentally, and that I should try my best to help. SED 125 taught me that everybody is diverse in their own ways even if not having a disability. That there are barriers that cause people who may have visual impairments or a some form of mobility impairment and many other barriers create obstacles in their lives.…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In regards to gender, the “nature versus nurture” debate refers the opposition between a biologically-based conception and one grounded in social psychology. On the “nature” side, gender is a matter of a person 's physiological makeup. There are varying accounts of what body parts specifically are indicative of gender, with gonads, chromosomes, and reproductive organs being among the contenders for criterion of gender. Regardless, on this view gender and sex are correlated, and “male” and “female” are the only existing categories. Those individuals born with the appropriate “male” physiology are men, and those with the corresponding correct “female” anatomy are women.…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Feminist Disability Study

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages

    From my previous class on disability narratives, I learned of feminist philosophers such as Susan Sontag, Rosemary Garland-Thomson, Anita Silvers, and anthologies like Feminist Disability Studies and Gendering Disability that have done a large amount of work on invisible disability, the language used when describing those who are disabled, and the relationship between gender and disability. In addition, numerous queer theorists, like Eli Clare and Alison Kafer, have expanded on disability studies to include queer disability theory, which has helped demonstrate the interconnectedness of these disciplines. I mention these various scholars to emphasize that these are not new ideas - academics have recognized the important relationship between feminist theory and disability studies. The concern is the lack of widespread…

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Ableism

    • 1865 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Introduction The controversies over ableism are an ongoing topic that our society must continually address in order to meet the needs of all people. Ableism is defined as discrimination or acts of prejudices against specific groups or individuals with disabilities (Adams, etl. 2013, pg. 297). This encompasses any person who experiences oppression due to any physical, intellectual, mental, or emotional disorder they possess (Levy, 2015).…

    • 1865 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Effects of Ableism Ableism is the societally constructed system of oppression of disabled people in favor of able ones. The effects of an ableist society, though vast, aren’t always visible to the privileged, but include physical barriers, workplace discrimination and high unemployment rates, and an elevated crime rate against the disabled. In our society, being of able body and mind is considered the “norm”, which often facilitates the dehumanization of those who don’t fit that categorization. Our world is structured to accommodate the “average” citizen, while disregarding the basic needs of the disabled.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Society perceives gender as two specific categories, male and female. Yet, each gender has a prominent body part that distinguishes the two. However, ‘Of Gens and Gender’ by Anne Fausto-Sterling and ‘The Courtship of Mr. Lyon’ by Angela Carter illustrate the relationship between gender and the body. Sterling focuses on the innate genes to determine the gender of a person; while, ‘The Courtship of Mr. Lyon’ develops the representation of the body to determine the action of the characters in the story. ‘The Courtship of Mr. Lyon’ illustrates Sterling’s theory to adapt the biological genes in order help establish the character’s difference in gender.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays