Sarah and all:
yes, I think, you are right about the homogenizing, but then again that is
the effect of any label. Chinese people doesn't take into account
geographic and cultural distinctions. Asian American more homogenizing in
its own way than Chinese American, and we could go on and on with this
regarding any ethnicity including Caucasian as well as sexuality and gender.
The point, as others have said, is that disabled people/person is an
identity that I claim (and here I mean me personally, as the U.S. is still
mired in the People First language more than the UK it seems) whereas
"Person with a" 1) makes me feel like disability is a suit that I wear, 2)
was a move done mostly by nondisabled people (right Claire?), in essence to
be PC and make themselves feel better. I liken it to Physically
Challenged, Handicapper, Handicapable, etc. and those other terms. Those
attempt, in part, to make disability "cute" and palatable to a nondisabled
population. Not my job. My impairment isn't cute; it just
is. Incidentally, I feel the same way about Person of Asian Descent which,
yes, is pretty nondescript, and always makes me think of someone wearing
imperial silk robes. Call me Asian American, or Chinese American, if you must.
And yeah, Disabled is still in its own way impairment derived, but it is
the most acceptable term right now. My friend and I were involved in a
similar discussion the other day. He was telling my why Chicano was a
preferred term over Hispanic and Brown (ugh) , for instance, and there was
a history there. So that's what we went with.
Johnson
At 09:16 AM 7/18/02 +0100, Sarah Supple wrote:
>I found your logic compelling. However I am concerned how we acknowledge our
>diversity , as well as our unity. The term disabled people seems to have
>been used in the past to homogenise a group of people , who although united
>in oppression have very different day to day experiences of life. How do we
>balance this? Sarah.
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