Category: Uncategorized

Rachel Grace’s Class Summary for 10/14/2021

To begin class, Dr. Foss started with his favorite surprise for his students: a quiz. Our professor then announced the exciting news that the person who wrote the poem present on each computer screen in our small room in Combs was going to deliver an address specifically to Mary Washington students. We then moved into the content. This class period focused on the dangers of our unrecognized standard biases and how unrecognizable normalized ableism can be, whether in how we read out loud, how we designate sexualized bodies, how we tokenize blindness, or how we interact with our physical college campus.

Following the miniature quiz, the discussion progressed to poetry, specifically Petra Kuppers’ “Lilacs” (pronounced “Lie-lacks”). The class observed the text in two different contexts. First, a student read it out loud, and then Dr. Foss showed an artistic video interpretation of the text that featured a disabled body reading the poem and audio descriptions of pictures of naked disabled/inter-abled couples that appear on the screen during the video. The two formats created a discussion around how the format of a poem can change the meaning of the content. The conclusion is that the artistic interpretation of the poem revealed standard biases present in our expectations of standard speech and how our implicant expectations affect the way we consume art and poetry. Dr. Foss noted that the poem while exposing our standard biases, is ultimately deconstructing the natural and unnatural binary that exists in disability and the human experience, which then leads to textual examples such as “aching gears”.

The discussion shifts into Kenny Fries’ “Excavation”, which we concluded serves less as real and more as a utopic version of the imagination. With images suggesting illusionary escapism, our discussion focuses more so on what it is the speaker wants to excavate about himself and how the violent images suggest their desire to uncover what they are looking for. We end the discussion on a question from Dr. Foss, who wonders if this poem comes at the feet of an ableist world or if it is reassigning meaning. We come to no unanimous conclusion but instead are left to ponder the ideas.

Carver’s “Cathedral” sparks a conversation in a small group about whether Carver is asking us to critique the piece or if they are simply rehabilitating the narrator. In the end, we see the piece as a way to critique how society treats disability because it is only once the husband gets to know Robert that he can change his perspective on disability, specifically blindness. The husband thinks of Robert’s wife as leading “a pitiful life” because she could never “see herself in the eyes of her loved one” (213), which is unbearable for the husband to imagine. Our group also spoke greatly about the ending serving as a sort of tokenization of the disabled character. It is up to the man who is blind to show people a new perspective and he has to have a great and exciting attitude when doing it. The overall consensus draws upon the story serving as a critique.

The conclusion the small group comes to concerning Dolmage’s theory piece is that Mary Washington is no exception to ableism plaguing campuses of higher education in the United States. Jacob uses the examples of eugenics and the histories of profiting off the testing of disabled subjects, as written in the text, to illustrate our conclusion. We discuss exclusion based on accommodations, which serve to offload the responsibility of the institution. In the end, we agree that the piece describes perfectly well how we put able bodies ahead of disabled bodies every day and in every context. 

Terrencia Johnson’s Class Summary for October 7th,2021

On October 7th, 2021, some in the class came to the realization that hot cakes are the equivalent to pancakes. On top of that excitement, everyone was ready to start their fall break. Thankfully Dr. Foss allowed for an early release if the conversations were active and had good content. The main topic that stood out during our class was the identity of how disabled people look and how they can be cured.

To begin the discussion, Dr. Foss wanted to get the classes opinions of whether Arthur is viewed as a protector, or if we saw him solely as a murderer. Everyone agreed that yes Arthur was a murderer, but he indeed was also a protector; some would say a hero. The conversation then moved on to question whether Arthur had a disability. During our reading Arthur is only present once and has very limited dialogue. To give a firm answer on whether Arthur had a disability was hard to figure out. Megan commented that Arthur could have been shy but still believed there was something there, it was just not specific as to what. Jamie highlighted Arthur’s appearance. Arthur did have pale skin and sickly white hands, but nothing about his appearance would appear that he had a physical disability. With these points, Jamie believed that Arthur had more of a neurological issue rather than psychological or physical.  Hannah went over the section in the book where Arthur is stated to have a voice of a child and to have timid body language. It was clear to conclude that there was something going on with Arthur, but we did not have enough information to specify exactly it was. While we did not have a clear answer to the question of whether Arthur had a disability, we began considering if giving special treatment because of a disability was okay. Heck in the book wanted to protect Arthur at all cost, was this protection justified? As we pondered on where exactly the line crossed when considering which actions should get punishments, Irene made a good point. She told the class that typically people with disabilities do not do violent acts but rather are the victims to violent actions caused by others. Her statement wrapped up the conversation about To Kill A Mockingbird.

Our next discussion moved on to our readings for the day. To start we discussed The Case For Conserving Disability. A big topic we touched on was eliminating disabilities. If society were to eliminate disabilities, it would not just loose those individuals, it would lose a widespread of diversity. People without a disability often say they cannot imagine living with a disability, that is no one’s issue but their own. No one ask someone without a disability to try to live as though they have one, but rather asking them to understand that people with disabilities have their own normal and handle their day to day according to their abilities.

At the end of discussing The Case For Conserving Disability, we only had a little time left to discuss The Treatment of Bibi Haldar. The standout topic was that disabilities can be cured easily by doing one thing. Bibi had been an experiment her entire life, and people tired so many things to cure her but failed every time. As her life went on and people disrespected and used her, her condition stayed the same. Then poof her seizures were “cured” because she had baby. Many disabilities do not have cures and often society pants a picture as if there is. Disabilities are different for everyone, and everyone has their own normal.

Brie’s Class Summary For October 5th, 2021

Word Count: 1, 150 words

Today’s class started with Professor Foss reviewing our agenda for the day and the usual humor we begin with each class period. It is often the mention of another section that we enjoy hearing about the most because we get to listen to the overall class experience of other students’ day. Professor Foss also made important announcements for our class regarding October being disability awareness month and listed extra credit opportunities for this class. Afterwards, we did a reading quiz with questions from the Poem “Symptoms,” the short story “Beasts of Burden” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.” There were various important ideas and concepts discussed in this class session, but the one idea that I found myself most drawn to was the discussion of whether side shows include experiences that have exploitative or opportunistic consequences and/or significance for its participants.

The primary text or reading material we use to reflect on whether side show participants were exploited or involved the creation of a capitalistic environment is “Beasts of Burden” piece. In small groups we were asked to analyze chapters nine and ten and focus on the stories of monumental figures in the article. After analyzing the previous points, my small group discussed the stories behind each person discussed in the article. In my small group, (Zeb, Tabitha, and Mason), we focused on the stories of Julia Pastrana, Otis Jordan, Percilla Bejano and Emmet Bejano.

 The main point that is worth noting for the analysis of exploitation was the case of Julia Pastrana. Julia Pastrana was an immigrant from Mexico who was coined “Ape Woman” due to her darker complexion and hair on her body (“Beasts of Burden,” pgs.104-105). She died after giving birth at age 25 and tragically her son met the same fate. What is even more difficult to comprehend from a human rights standpoint was, her body and her son’s were objectified and used for scientific and entertainment purposes. Her husband did tours around the country showcasing his wife and son’s dead bodies due to them being deemed out of the ordinary. We mentioned in our small group how sickening it was to hear about the experience that Julia Pastrana had being outcasted and put on display in life and in death. In the case of Julia Pastrana, we concluded that she was exploited because she never truly had choice in anything that pertained to her experience in these side shows. When we were younger, as kids, we never really thought about what goes on behind the scenes of circuses like Barnum’s and Bailey’s. As children, we viewed the world with an innocence that we gradually lose. This view of the world changes as we learn about the reality of the world becoming present often makes us realize how dark society can truly become if we let it run rampant.

In our small group, Zeb posed the question of, “Is it exploitation if you are doing it to yourself? This was after reflecting on the stories of Otis Jordan and Percilla and Emmet Bejano.  Otis Jordan’s coined show name was “the Frog Boy” and in his case he created the name for himself (“Beasts of Burden p.112-113) Jordan capitalizes on his situation and pursues opportunities for himself by becoming a showman and creating shows that he participates in. Percilla Bejano was adopted into the circus as a young girl, and she eventually met Emmet Bejano who also was in these sideshows. They both put on shows as well coining themselves as the “World’s Strangest Couple.” (“Beasts of Burden p.111).  All three of these figures reassigned meaning to their names and took advantage of potential opportunities for themselves. We brought this idea back to large group discussion with a focus on agency vs exploitation in the context of not only “Beasts of Burden,” but also “Of Mice and Men.” Choice was the main idea of our large discussion, but more specifically who makes the choices of people with disabilities. In the cases included in the “Beasts of Burden” piece our professor described “how those who choose these sideshows may not consider themselves as exploited if it is a means of making a living and are doing it for entertainment purposes rather than a last resort.” Lisa brought up how some of the figures, particularly Otis Jordan “took control of his life and put all his effort into the shows that he created for himself.” We then discussed the idea of who makes the decisions for those with disabilities. Otis Jordan, Percilla and Emmet Bejano took advantage of opportunities to showcase themselves while Julia Pastrana did not seem to have a choice and did not have a choice in being paraded around after her death. We then moved on who can justifiably make choices for people with disabilities? In addressing this question, we must focus on the role of outsider. There is the possibility that someone who does not truly grasp the “lived experience,” of the person with a disability presents the outsider perspective.  It is important to mention that there are situations where the outsider does need to help a loved one with a disability make choices, but it should always be done in the best interest of the person. In “Of Mice and Men,” a student brought up the question of whether it was justified for George to make the choice to kill Lennie? When answering this question, we must think about the friendship between George and Lennie and decide for ourselves if it was mercy or something more sinister. What it all comes back to is choice and if people with disabilities can make choices for themselves, there should be guidance from caregivers, but ultimately each person should decide for themselves what is best. In our analysis of “Beast of Burden,” we can see the independence and success of Percilla Bejano, Emmet, Bejano, and Otis Jordan, but for Julia Pastrana she was never given the opportunity.

 In concluding this summary, the main idea was to focus on the idea of exploitation and agency. The overall takeaway that can be realized is exploitation occurs when people profit, take advantage of, and do not think about the best interest of a person with a disability. People with disabilities are exploited when they are showcased and cannot make decisions for themselves. As mentioned earlier, we must address that for people with disabilities who cannot make decisions for themselves and rely on their families and caregivers are in most instances not being exploited. In this summary, we are primarily speaking about exploitation surrounding the circus and its participants. When participants get to make the choices for themselves and capitalize on certain opportunities then, we can consider this agency. We finished our class with a discussion on “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and the events that occurred around Tom Robinson’s death and the multiple contrasts within the poem “Symptoms” focusing on word choice.

“ I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work.”-Brie

Jamie’s Class Summary for October Fifth

Word count: 1437 words

On October fifth, the class started off with a quiz. The class joked lightly about each question being repeated. There were two questions on “To kill a mockingbird” chapters twenty two through twenty seven, two on the “Beasts of Burden” and the final question was on the “Symptoms” poem. After the quiz, Professor Foss went into several extra credit opportunities that were coming up. Some of these events have already passed but one event that is happening in a few days is on October thirteenth. It is a coco movie night that starts at 6:30 p.m. in the channeler ballroom.

The first reading we discussed was a small portion of the ‘Beasts of Burden’. The chapters that we read were chapters nine and ten with a small portion of chapter eleven. In the story, it comments on how people with disabilities often get dehumanized. My small group discussed the fact that even though humans are technically animals, we don’t usually think of ourselves as animals. There is often a negative connotation being associated with an animal. For example, being associated with a snake or cat means you are sly and untrustworthy. I overheard one of the other small groups, while discussing this, joked that it doesn’t matter because “we are all animals anyways.” One of the first people that is brought up in chapter nine is a woman named Pastrana. She and her son died several days after she gave birth. Pastrana was only twenty six at the time. Her body was heavily covered in fur like an ‘ape’ or a ‘bear’ as the story describes it. Once she died, she was embalmed and went around on tour. The tour lasted for 112 years and no one even thought about properly putting her to rest. As my group said, it goes to show that Pastrana was seen as an object rather than a person or a human being. Another thing that we mentioned was that those that are disabled often aren’t seen as the same as those without disabilities. An additional thing I overheard was in relation to Pastrana, “taking out internal organs, the body will last a long time because there’s nothing progressing the aging process.” I don’t know if this is actually true, but it was something interesting I heard. The final thing I overheard in relation to chapter nine was that chapter nine was all about being objectified by others. Continuing on what they were saying, chapter ten is about people taking control of the names others call them for themselves. On a similar note to what I overheard about those two sentences, it is about other people’s labels versus people’s own labels or no power versus their own power. As I already started to write, chapter ten is about people embracing who they are, especially the money girl and the alligator skinned man as some others commented on. They ended up getting married. Since they actually embraced their conditions, they were able to somewhat control what other people called them. The beginning of chapter ten it was brought up that Percilla Bejano was similar to Pastane in terms of her condition, but instead of being exploited while being dead, she was exploited while being alive. Both of the Bejanos took control of their circus life which meant that they had more control of their disability rather than having a negative affect on it. Besides the Benjano couple as I just mentioned, one of the other main people that is discussed in chapter ten was Otis Jordan who had arthrogryposis. Because of his arthrogryposis Jordan was unable to find a job so he ended up going to join the circus. Our group commented on the fact that when a disabled woman who was a disability rights activist saw his show, she went to court to try and get the court banned. We were surprised that not everyone had the same view on it, especially with the difficulty of trying to get a job. Not everyone sees the good out of a bad situation based on their personal experiences. Our small group also took note in the final chapter in “Beast of Burden” that there are cases where people with disabilities don’t always get a choice when they get ‘fixed’. Sometimes they feel better because they could’ve been in a worse position then they are now, but they could also wonder what it would’ve been like if they weren’t fixed. There is also the fact they could feel like their body is no longer theirs.

When in the big group, nearly everyone had different thoughts on what was read. One of the things that the large group mentioned which was similar to the small group was that the human brain is developed differently from other animals. Many people who are not disabled consider people who are disabled as “suffering” or as animals. For example, is there a ‘natural’ body when drawing a line between animals and humanity? Where does the line get drawn? After all, what is wrong with society if the only option left for those who are disabled, is to join the circus. Oftentimes in dystopian societies and other stories, the homeless, disabled, and African Americans have comparisons to animals. It is assumed that tourists don’t want to see the homeless or disabled in the world, as shown in utopian societies. The shift in discussion happened when people started talking about how people can’t know what those with disabilities are going through. Those that have the same disability can have entirely different experiences as everyone grew up differently. There are times when people don’t want to say how they feel because they always hear that there’s someone worse off than them, such as ‘kids starving in africa’. They forget that what they feel is valid.

The next thing we discussed as a large group was the Symptoms poem. It is about a woman who is going through sclerosis. She describes it like she is wearing a corset as if she’s trapped in what she can do and she hates it. Corsets were to fit the fashion in the past, but it was a very dangerous fashion trend. Lambeth isn’t defeated by it though. She struggles with trying to find the right words to explain how it feels and the lines may be intentionally disjointed to show the struggle. As she puts it, the disability tends to remain hidden but occasionally she has to show it when her clothing ‘drops’. Even if it doesn’t seem that hopeful it offers a perspective in a way that others couldn’t imagine before.

The final thing we discussed was “To Kill a Mockingbird” chapters twenty two through chapters twenty seven. It was very weird when people were trying to make Scout a lady even though she was only eight at the time. For reference, in modern times, when a kid is eight, they are usually in second grade which most people don’t try to make kids try and act more mature. Granted, her personality might have been slightly influenced as there was no mom in Scout’s life, but most people don’t try to abruptly change it. It usually isn’t until middle school when kids start figuring themselves out and in highschool when a kid’s behavior starts setting in stone. Though, we did have a chuckle on how Scout noticed Jem was becoming more of a man. We eventually shifted to Tom Robinson and the trial. Until he was introduced, we just knew him as an African American. When it was revealed he was disabled it was a mild surprise because the disability wasn’t really talked about. The issue that the townsfolk had with him was that he was an African American rather than disabled. If he was white, we were sure that there would be more of an issue with it. People commented on the fact that just because he was disabled, he was innocent. It would be a sin to kill him, just like it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. There was also an offhand comment that there didn’t seem like there were many African Americans, or at the very least, those that played a major part in the story. There was also the fact that it seemed like mixed kids seemed to be ostracized. That was the end of most of the conversations as it pattered off. Professor Foss was kind enough to let us out of class early as it was the week before break. People were happy about that. I hope you enjoyed this rambling of the class period.

Class Summary 9/23/21

After a fine introduction by the one and only Dr. Foss, with the addition of a quiz, the class opened up the discussion to three pieces of importance. The first piece discussed was Rosemarie Garland Thomson’s “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory”, Snyder and Mitchell’s “Introduction: Cultural Locations of Disability”, and the discussion of Jillian Weise’s “Nondisabled Demands”. Due to the amount of pieces discussed in the class period many different points of the flawed system were brought up, however, the discussion of the link between feminine and disabled bodies was characteristic throughout the majority of the discussion. In addition, the discussion of locations that contain systemic ableism were also a part of the discussion as well as the inclusion of Weise’s piece to discuss the nondisabled minded negative cultural mindset about disabled bodies. 

Rosemarie Garland Thomson’s “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory” was the first piece of discussion as the class split into four groups to discuss and note down feelings of the four means of Feminist Disability Theory: Representation, Body, Identity, and Activism. The main consensus of this discussion as we transferred to a large group was the concept of women being intertwined with the disabled identity. As to have the benefits of a society one must be a white male whereas women and the disabled community were discriminated against. The concept of ugliness was brought up as this term causes women and disabled bodies to seek medical assistance with tools such as plastic surgery as they do not fit the agenda of systemic ableism and what looks “normal”. In addition, when these points were brought up in contemporary times, major corporations advocate for the promotion of these issues yet on the downside they profit off the issues anyways. 

As the discussion moved away from Garland’s piece we then turned to a large group discussion of Snyder and Mitchell’s “Introduction: Cultural Locations of Disability”. Foss opens up the discussion with the intersectionality and layering of postcolonial theory. Then we can see the ways in which we can analyze this theory to provide sites of resistance for disabled bodies. Afterwards we discuss the issue of the emphasis of modernisms in the late 19th and 20th centuries like perfection or how to be like an abled body and how dangerous this is for disabled bodies. Whilst discussing these locations (places such as asylums) the class found in the text that the cultural model is the best model for group identity as we take disabled bodies case by case recognizing each body’s identity as its own. “The formulation of the cultural model allows us to theorize a political act of renaming that designates disability as a site of resistance”(10). 

Following the discussion of Snyder and Mitchell’s piece the class ended on the note of Jillian Weise’s poem “Nondisabled Demands”. The poem begins with the critiquing of disabled demands by a nondisabled speaker. The class begins to recognize the repetition of the word “take” in the poem to show how nondisabled individuals demand disabled bodies to take their help or their assistance. In addition, the discussion of inspiration porn comes up in the class as in the poem states, “If you refuse to answer then we call your doctor. Then we get to say you’re an inspiration”. This poem shows how ableism uses the disabled community for profit and even brainwash them to succumb to the able bodied mindset. 

“I Pledge” – Mason Godek

Thinking Through CripStudies 2.0: Art and Disability

In the webinar presented by Karen Nakamura and Sunaura Taylor, the section that stood out the most was the portion about art and disability. Various pieces were shown; however, the one that I found most intriguing was the one with the water and the trees. This piece represented an aquifer and a tree in the literal sense. In the disability aspect, it represented disabled people with crippled arms. It was described as the arms and the aquifer representing the same thing that they both have a purpose and are necessary, and I viewed the tree as a symbol of growth with its vast roots. In this, people with crippled arms have an absence of their arms fully serving their purpose, almost as if grasping for progress, but it is out of reach. This portrayal was very personal and intimate, as the darkness of the colors and the way the water and hands were drawn leave a residual sadness in anyone looking at the piece.

Mary Ainsley Fox Summary for September 21

On September 21, 2021 class began with a large group discussion for Sula. We then dove into the topic of Eva’s character and talked about the representation of her disability. Eva’s disability could have been seen either as a weakness or a mystery of power, however the group decided that in the beginning Eva was proud of her disability, but later it was not correctly taken care of as she was experiencing signs of Dementia. Those around Eva were in awe of her as she became older and she interacted with the younger generation. Although she was able to interact with them, we were then asked if this interaction was due to the younger generation being afraid of her.  We also discussed Eva’s disability and her leg, as it was not seen so much in a negative way, but in a prideful way or as a “battlescar.” Another disability she suffers from connecting with others in a social aspect. Lastly in the book, they really focused on Eva’s mental state and/or disability rather than her physical state. 

Discussion then shifted to Plum’s death and how even though Eva has a disability, she is a caregiver to Plum and his post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from war. Although Eva is a main character, her flaws, fights, and decisions turn her role into one of antagonism. Our class learned very well from this piece that love is a sacrifice and people do crazy, irrational things in love. Going along with this, we also talked about how Hannah once asked Eva if she loved them. Although Eva had much love for Plum, she shoots him and explains that it was an action of love. This is an example of how love is a sacrifice and how Eva’s actions are done out of love, but end up hurting everyone around her. She then sets Plum on fire as a sense of a “baptism,” however setting someone on fire is not mercy killing. Even though Plum acknowledges he is suffering from PTSD and substance abuse, Eva makes a rash decision to kill him. After setting Plum on fire, Hannah accidentally sets herself on fire and this causes a panic in Eva. We discussed whether or not this was purely out of fear, love, or a sense of guilt. We found it interesting that Hannah was grown and Eva threw herself out of the window to save her, and the class thought of it as guilt eating her alive. The group then discussed Eva’s very strange relationships and how her brain is wired differently than everyone else’s and her need to feel control. 

We then integrated the discussion of Shadrack’s character and how he is not integrated in society and he was Sula’s character all alone. The class talked about how he was very similar to Boo Radley in the sense of the verbiage describing the two. For example, the two are both referred to as shadows and they are not seen as a full person. 

Lastly, we had time for small group discussion and we broke out into four small groups and discussed the piece by John Lee Clark, “Hypoesthesia,” “Until,” and “The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window.” We then got back into a large group discussion and talked about each of our initial poems.
“I Pledge”- Mary Ainsley Fox

Word Count: 553

9/21/21 Group Activity Notes

9-21-21-Group-Activity-Notes-1

I tried to make these more accessible/searchable, but it wasn’t reading the handwriting well at all. I apologize for that. Please let me know if the link doesn’t work for you and I will upload it as JPEG’s or PNG’s!

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Embracing their Reality

On September 23, 2021, I listened to former Mary Washington alumni, Rachael Wonderlin’s lecture titled, Everything You Need to Know About Dementia Caregiving Communication. The main concern she brought up was that when people have dementia, they have caregivers and families that wanted to choose what was true for their reality, when in fact, it is the opposite. She mentioned the methods they first teach you when you interact with people with dementia. It’s usually, reorientation, redirection, distraction, and validation. At first glance, these may seem like the only method, since we’re not “lying”, but they’re really not the most effective way to go about it. This is when she opened my eyes to the idea of “embracing their reality” and how it changes the way we interact with them. Honestly, I was not too familiar with dementia and the other diseases that fall under that term. After listening to her explain it, I realized that a majority of the time it’s more of a reality shift for them and when they forget a loved one. It is more so that they don’t know where to place them on a timeline that makes sense.

I thought it was fascinating when the idea of having them lead their reality and you follow. Brutally telling them that they have dementia and constantly reminding them of it is not only demoralizing but ineffective in many ways. The example she mentions was about an older gentleman wanting to go to college and take classes, but the caregivers ignored him and brushed it off as nothing. When she explained what she did by making a fake college sheet with classes, it not only helped the morale of the man but also solved an emotional problem that can’t be physically solved. I thought it great when she pushed the idea of how we understand what is real for them and respond in a way that makes sense to their reality. Of course, caregivers and family members want them to get better and hope that they can regain some memory back, but they are the ones who need our help and the best way we can do that is by embracing their reality.