Maria
The question I'd beg is to whom are we trying to get our message across to?
German Marxist, Walter Benjamin, wrote about the manner is which bourgeois
dominant culture is extremely expert in assorbing radical ideas and transforming
them into their own messages to protect the existing status quo.
Chrisopher Reeve, irrespective of what he did, said or believed, became an
icon for those within Western societies who want to reclaim some of the
territory they have had to surrender to the Disabled People's Movement - however, I
equally believe the discourse goes far beyond the treatment of Disabled People.
The medical model, I would argue, isn't merely an articulation of a crude
ideology of "cure or kill" - within it remains of older ideologies which have
roots within religious beliefs.
In Britain, for example, the Industrial Revolution not only announced the
arrival of Capitalism, it also gave shape to contours around which 'normality'
were drawn. These contours managed issues such as social roles, sexuality and
the classification of who might be considered 'expected and accepted'.
What existed prior to this? What were the issues around Life and Death? The
transition from religous ideologies to medical ideologies in relation to
illness, disease, impairment and even death, I feel are often too readily ignored
within Disablity Research. Disability related history has not been adequately
addressed as being 'historically specific'. (See the work of Stuart Hall)
The purchase of being 'cured', especially within Western societies has a
wealth of material crying out to be explored. The positioning of Christ in terms
of healing the sick, the role of charity, not to mention the relationship
within the human condition between the outward shell and the spiritual inner self.
Isn't it a sin not to want to be 'cured'? Did not Christ die for us to take
away out sins? Why does the imagery of 'disability as evil' remain so powerful
in dominant culture?
I hate to say this, but often I feel this heap of oppressive honk isn't so
much about us - people who are impaired/disabled - I think it has more to do
with the NORMAL PEOPLE and THEIR GOD.
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