dis/lit fall 2021

Emily Malone’s Major Project

Transcript from art piece:

My heart was absolutely pounding behind those double doors into the chapel. What am I saying, it’s still pounding even now, but that anticipation before I took those steps down the aisle, unforgettable. I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, ever since I met him. Well, even when I was a kid I used to dream of my wedding day, the way most little girls do. The fancy dress, the bridal chorus, all that attention from your closest friends and relatives. It always seemed like a dream.

The approach of my wedding did lead to some odd comments. Mainly about my appearance, which in what world is that appropriate? I’m sure people don’t even realize how rude they are being when they ask things like that. Most of the questions were along the lines of, aren’t I disappointed that I’ll need to carry my walker, do I think it will take away from the beautiful dress, didn’t I wish I had gotten those surgeries so I could stand up straight up on the altar¹? They act like it’s a tragedy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sure, maybe I don’t walk the way everyone else does. I’m slow, and some people may say I wobble, but it’s my way of walking. My movements are simply my own². My walker doesn’t take away from my beauty, it adds to it. And I get to hear the wedding song play a little longer which is obviously a plus.

I look around at all the people looking at me. Every face I know so well, watching me make these important steps. I can barely look up at my soon to be husband. I know he’s crying, which I know will make me cry. We are both so emotional when it comes to this stuff, which is just one of the reasons why I love him. This is his first time seeing me in this dress. I picked it out with my mother months ago after visiting every shop in every town nearby. It’s perfect. It took longer than I would have liked for them to finish the alterations to ensure the perfect fit to my body, but in the end it was worth it. When I reach him, finally, and am standing across from him in front of the most important people in my life, I can’t help feeling lucky. In this moment, in this spot, in this dress, I feel entirely me. I feel at home, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

_______

1. Reference to Sheila Blacks poem “What You Mourn”

2. Final line from Jennifer Bartlett’s poem “Five Poems from AUTOBIOGRAPHY”

Write Up (613 words):

Sheila Black’s poem “What You Mourn” discusses the feelings of a disabled woman whose body was surgically altered when she was young to straighten her body. The speaker mentions how a doctor told her “now you will walk/ straight on your wedding day”(Black, 3/4). This really stood out to me, and inspired my idea for my project. In response to this poem, I created a painting of a disabled woman on her wedding day accompanied by a short point of view writing of how she feels on this day using language from the poems we read in class, including “What You Mourn” and “Five Poems from AUTOBIOGRAPHY” by Jennifer Bartlett.

For my painting, I chose to paint a bride using a walker on an abstract background. I did this because I wanted the focus to be on the woman and her thoughts, and to show that she is deep in thought in this moment. When I first started this project, I spent a lot of time determining how I wanted to draw her. I wanted it to be clear she had a disability, but I wasn’t exactly sure how I should do that. I remembered what Kenny Fries said when I saw him speak. He told a story about how he modeled for a drawing, but was told that the final project didn’t make it clear he had a disability despite him thinking it looked exactly like him. The person judging the art piece had an idea of what a disabled body should look like, so the person wasn’t able to see the image for what it was. I looked up photos of disabled women who used walkers on their wedding day, and used these images for inspiration. Many of them looked like any other bride, just with a walker in front of them, which was usually decorated and had the bouquet attached. The final image I created was of a woman using a walker as she walked down the aisle to go along with the moment she is thinking about in the written portion.

For the point of view writing, I had a few more decisions to make. As someone who doesn’t have a physical disability, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t putting words into the mouth of my character. Instead, I tried to pull language and themes from some of our poets from this semester that described their movements and the way they felt about their body and disability. The poems I mainly pulled from were Sheila Black’s poem “What You Mourn” and “Five Poems from AUTOBIOGRAPHY” by Jennifer Bartlett. I also didn’t want to focus entirely on her disability because a criticism of the poems seemed to be on others’ focus on aesthetics despite the speaker’s personal feelings. I also didn’t think her disability would be the only thing she would be thinking about on her wedding day. I wanted the focus to be on the happiness she felt in the moment and how good she felt in her body, in contrast to how the speaker in “What You Mourn” described how she felt in her body. I also wanted to make a reference to the comment the doctor made in this poem to point out the way people seemed to care more about her appearance than the way the speaker felt.

My goals for this project was to respond the Sheila Black’s poem “What You Mourn” and portray a happy disabled woman on her wedding day. Because the poem talks about people focusing on her appearance while disregarding how she felt, I wanted to both include a visual photo and a written portion of how my character was feeling.

Citations:

Black, Sheila. “What You Mourn.” dis/lit fall 2021, http://dislitfall21.chris-foss.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sheila-black.pdf. Accessed 2021..

Bartlett, Jennifer. “Five Poems from AUTOBIOGRAPHY.” dis/lit fall 2021, http://dislitfall21.chris-foss.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Bartlett.pdf. Accessed 2021.

I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work. – Emily Malone

The Curious Incident Reflection

I went to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time last Friday night, and I found it to be a thought provoking, well done production that connects to what we have discussed in this course on many levels. Very early on in the play, Christopher talks about the other children at his special school and shockingly assigns more value to the tragically murdered dog, Wellington, than to one of these boys who cannot even feed himself. Christopher’s genius in math and his repetition of the prime numbers as a calming mechanism for himself reminded me of several case reports in Dr. Oliver Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, one of which follows twin brothers with intellectual disabilities who can do complex math in their heads instantaneously without actually understanding how to do the math. There is a scene in the first act where Christopher’s dad argues with the principal of his school to allow him to take his math A levels that I found particularly relevant to our class discussion. The principal’s reason for not allowing Christopher to take the test is that she cannot allow him to be treated like he is special, all the while he is at a special school for children with disabilities. She comes across as simply very unwilling to ensure equity of access for her students but must eventually have a change of heart as she allows him to take the test even after his mother calls to cancel it. Another small connection I saw to our class was when Christopher names the models of cars he saw driving by in London as a tool for self-regulation. This reminds me of the poem “Normal” by Jim Ferris where the children watch cars drive by out the window of their institution and name them.

To me, the most impactful part of the play was Christopher’s relationship with his mother. The scene at the close of the first act where he discovers she is not dead and that she left him because she did not know how to connect with him and was ashamed by her faults in raising him and her lack of patience was very raw and emotional. His mother seeks to reconnect with him in the end, but, as an audience member, I still was not sure whether I forgive her character. In a way, she adopts the cure or kill mentality and “cures” her son in her mind by running away and idealizing what his life must be like with his father who can better understand him. I was also left to wonder whether the mother had some form of mental illness herself because the first thing Christopher asks when his father lies and says she is in the hospital is whether she is in a psychiatric hospital. Overall, I thought the play gave a rich look at the different implications of living with autism or being intimately connected to someone who does, both the highs, lows, and confusing times in between.

Reflections on Murray and Walker

When we met in class today, we briefly discussed Walker’s article on the definition of neuroqueer. We found it interesting how much of the definition was based on the verb form first. She compares this process to that of the transformation of the word queer from the verb to adjective form. Usually, when I think of the word queer, I think of it as an adjective, but it gives a lot of insight to know that the verb for came first. Walker says, “One can neuroqueer and one can be neuroqueer”, and she defines neuroqueering as actively subverting and defying neuronormative and heteronormative standards. It is a reminder that, not only is this a label one can give themself, but it is also a way of existing and shaping one’s own life.

In skimming Murray’s book, I found the author’s approach to the medical versus social model of autism interesting. Some of the medical evidence, such as differently shaped brains, denser brain matter in certain regions, and functional differences seen on MRI point to the tangible differences that account for behaviors seen in autism. I also liked how Murray made it clear autism is not an epidemic as some people have been recently implying. Yes, the number of occurrences is increasing, but this is due in large part to the broadening of the definition of autism spectrum disorders and increasing awareness of the condition. However, referring back to the medical model, if a biological marker or gene connected to autism could be discovered, their diagnoses would not need to rely on the somewhat subjective questions asked by psychologists that are currently used as criteria for diagnosis. This would take the subconscious opinions of others out of the diagnosis. Moreover, the use of the word epidemic gives a strong negative, frightening connotation that should not be connected to autism. Finding a particular cause would also help lead to a cure, but Murray asserts a cure is not really necessary because autism does not come from a lack of function but an excess of it; it is the most true representation of humanness.

Major Project, [Jamie Keller, and Secret Garden]

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

Word Count (Not including above): 522

I had two main goals for this project. The first goal, though not entirely designed for this class, but more to make this project entertaining to watch, was to record it for my youtube channel. The second step of that goal was to make it multi-purpose, so that those who didn’t care about the Secret Garden story could still enjoy it. The second goal, and the one for this class was to help make something that could help visualize the secret garden while also talking about the meaning behind it. I talked a little about my process through the videos, but I will explain the basic thought behind the overall process. I had to find a place where I could build the garden and terraform it so I could properly build the garden. The next thing I did was build a working “gate” or “fence” around the garden with vines to represent the overgrown nature. I knew I had to have an iron door with a lever to represent the locked door. Over the remaining things was to do the flavor designing, such as the trees or the roses or the robin. I feel like showing the overgrown nature of the garden can relate to the mindset of those with a mental illness as it goes against the “social norm” of someone with a healthy mindset. Those with a normal mindset try their best to “clean up” or “correct” those who have a different mindset. Even as the Secret Garden joked, good thoughts, vibes, and working hard to try and correct that mindset should work, but in actuality, it doesn’t always work.

Originally, I was planning to clean up the garden as well to talk about rebirth as well to talk about how some people can feel “reborn” if they get the proper treatment that they need. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I am choosing not to do that and re-aligning my focus. Being able to show that it is okay to have a broken world and being able to make the most of it, shows that those who seem “broken” can still have an amazing life. They can still like who they are and not be thinking about fixing themselves. Even if someone isn’t viewed as mentally or physically able, someone could view themselves as healthy as they can be. That does break the social “norm” of being okay with something that makes someone appear as weaker.

The reason why I tailored these videos for my channel was because I was inspired by a handful of minecraft youtubers and I wouldn’t be where I am right now because of those youtubers. I wanted to try and inspire those who would watch this in the future and not in relation to some project for a class. Hence why there was a vagity of what I was talking about in each of the videos. If I pressed further about the class, I would be concerned that some people would try and find more about me. At the end of the day, that isn’t a thing to worry about or the intention of it.

Hannah Harris’ Major Project- Shadrack in Sula

Unintentional Leader: An Examination of Shadrack in Toni Morrison’s Sula

In disability studies, it seems there is no way to just leave people be. Disabled individuals are either ignored entirely or idolized for living with their condition, not that they really have much of a choice. By evaluating Shadrack in Toni Morrison’s Sula, I found evidence of both. Through most of the novel, Shadrack is isolated in his cottage and, while the residents of the Bottom know of him, they are perfectly content to misunderstand him and exclude him from their lives 364 days of the year: “Once the people understood the boundaries and nature of his madness, they could fit him, so to speak, into the scheme of things” (Morrison 15). However, in the final pages, Shadrack is made to be an unintentional leader and the object of “inspiration porn” to his fellow community members. I view this as Morrison’s critique of the way society is inept in its handling of disability either by under or overcompensating.

The first thing I noticed was Morrison’s choice of name for this disabled figure, and it gave me inspiration for the metaphor of my dance. His name alludes to the biblical narrative of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo in the book of Daniel. Here, these three men refuse to worship the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar and are punished to die in a fiery furnace (New International Version). Like Shadrack, they refuse to conform to society and would rather face death, just like the celerartion of National Suicide Day, than bow down. This also begs the question of what represents the king in Morrison’s novel. Perhaps, as in Good Kings Bad Kings (Nussbaum), it is the system itself and the evil it perpetuates. In Sula, not only is Shadrack scrutinized under the weight of his disability, but the entire community is held down by racism. Through this biblical reading, the minute appearance of Sula at Shadrack’s cottage after she drowns Chicken Little, while traumatizing for her, is Shadrack’s equivalent of the angel appearing in the fire. This is a glimpse of the eternal where one need “not be afraid of the change —the falling away of skin, the drip and slide of blood, and the exposure of bone underneath” (Morrison 157). It lasts just long enough, and her purple ribbon is left behind, giving Shadrack some hope that he might one day be liberated from the furnace and the rule of the bad king.

Shadrack breaks free from the furnace, but it does not lead to his happiness. Those who had ignored him finally praise him for “overcoming”, and they are inspired to overcome their oppression as well. Like the questioners in “Nondisabled Demands”, they “get to say/ [he is] an inspiration” (Weise), but Shadrack never asks to be one. Interestingly, when searching for Weise’s poem on my own, every publication of it I found online omitted the last stanza, “If you refuse to answer then we call/ your doctor. Then we get to say/ You’re an inspiration” (Weise). I was unable to find answers about whether this change was truly an omission from an earlier PDF version of the poem we read for class or if the stanza was added later, although the former seems more likely. It makes me wonder why that portion was removed given it relates to one of the central discussions we often come to during class about “inspiration porn”. I am left to question whether Weise no longer stands by her assertion that society does this even as I have explored instances of this very behavior in Morrison’s fictional society with this project.

This idea of “inspiration porn”, coined by Stella Young, has recently been examined at the crossroads of disability and race. Sami Schalk adds to this discourse in her discussion of the viral “Black Panther prosthetic” video from 2018 where a tattoo artist presents a young black amputee boy with a new prosthetic leg airbrushed with images from the new Black Panther movie (Scalk 100). In examining the media coverage of this video, Schalk sees the first wave of media coverage not as inherent “inspiration porn”, but she critiques the news outlets’ hyperfixation on the boy’s race rather than his status as an amputee, making them ableist in a sense just as bad as “inspiration porn” (Scalk 108-109). However, the second wave of coverage did just the opposite, downplaying race and drawing heavily upon the idea of “inspiration porn” (Scalk 111). I propose a reading of Shadrack as the subject of “inspiration porn”, especially at the end of the novel. Ironically, this fetization of Shadrack does the most immediate harm, not to him, but to the townspeople who sacrifice themselves in the tunnel: “Old and young, women and children, lame and hearty, they killed, as best they could, the tunnel they were forbidden to build” (Morrison 161). Here, the dynamic between Shadrack and his dying neighbors is not complicated by racial difference, but the inspiration received from Shadrack’s yearly event is finally enough to motivate a rebellion of the people against racial inequality. However, I do not believe this was ever Shadrack’s intention, and it links his name and his disabled status to deaths he never could have prevented. This emphasizes the inability to exist in that middle ground for disabled people; either their existence is minimized, or it is larger than the elephant in the room. No one gets free from oppression without being unhappy or dead. An unintentional leader cannot help.

These are the ideas I aimed to capture in my spoken word poetry and dance: the ways in which Shadrack’s character connects to his namesake, and the questions this raises about fighting the system, blind ignorance, and what happens when recognition of disabled inspiration goes too far.

I began by writing the poem which is included below. I selected the background music, “The Way” by Zack Hemsey, edited it to fit with the voiceover of the poem, and added it to the recording of my choreography.

Word Count: 993

Unintentional Leader

No one listened to me, until they did.

At first, I couldn’t even listen to myself.

Didn’t know who or where I was. Didn’t know why

Death hung in the air and crept at every corner.

Decided I wouldn’t bow down to that King

That bad King.

Like those three Isrealites

Opposed to King Nebuchadnessar.

Except they got caught.

I got liberated.

My answer: National Suicide Day.

And “the rest of the year would be safe and free”¹

Somehow

That yearly celebration barely made up for

That cottage I kept within

The other 364 days.

Lonelier than all I’d even known.

No better than Meshach and Abednigo.

That was my furnace. Stifling.

Then

One day,

A child.

Running, frightened, straight to my door.

Lord’s angel appeared in that furnace.

How long did I wish her to stay?

How long would I fight to defy the dead

And the living with their judgements?

“Always. Always”²

“Assurance of permanency”³

1941: they followed.

I suppose I led.

Didn’t really mean to.

Down they went

Into that tunnel.

Bowed down to the wrong King.

Now why

Should they have done that?⁴

Made a leader

Of a man like me.

I never wanted

Them to say I was an inspiration.⁵

Footnotes:

Morrison p. 14
Morrison p. 63
Morrison p. 157
Mimics style of the final lines of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“Nondisabled Demands” by Jillian Weise

References

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. 26 Oct. 2008,

https://web.archive.org/web/20081026180517/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/GilYell.html.

Hemsey, Zack. “The Way” The Way, Self-released, 2011.

Morrison, Toni. Sula. 1st Vintage International ed, Vintage International, 2004.

New International Version. Biblica, www.biblica.com/bible/niv/daniel/3/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.

Nussbaum, Susan. Good Kings Bad Kings. First Edition, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2013.

Schalk, Sami. “Black Disability Gone Viral: A Critical Race Approach to Inspiration Porn.” CLA

Journal, vol. 64, no. 1, College Language Association, Mar. 2021, pp. 100–120. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1353/caj.2021.0007.

Weise, Jillian. “Nondisaled Demands.” PDF on dis/lit course website. Fall 2021.

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

Hannah Harris

Major Paper; Lily Shirley

The Animalization of Disabled People:

Boo Radley, Lenny Small, Julia Pastrana, and other “Freaks of Nature”

Positive representations of disabled people are a modern notion often overlooked in the current social climate. Society, and standards of beauty, are not inclusive so accurate representations of any person who is not white, and not able bodied, are hard to come by. However, the disabled community still fights for just and positive portrayals in popular media, and works to include themselves in political protests and intersectional debates. Some protest the often offensive depictions of people with disabilities, comparing a piece of literature to the Fries test- the Bechdel test of this community. Positive portrayals in a piece of literature would include a disabled character being central to the plot, rather than just an object of pity or ridicule.

Young students read books with potentially problematic depictions of disabled people, in opposition to the wishes of those in the disabled community. Authors uses the “r” word and overcommitt to the supposed hilarity of dumb or feebleminded disablity aligned characters. With such widespread depictions, it is hard to break free of the representation so prevalent in our favorite classic books, such as To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men. While both of these works were revolutionary in their time, and have truthfully been eye-opening in many ways, it is essential to move forward and recognize the harmful connection of disabled men and women to simple or violent animals. Afterall, both previously mentioned titles quite literally have animals in the name.

To Kill a Mockingbird has acted as a mode of “wokeness” for white saviorism, and the animalization of characters like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson have reflected the true impact of the text. Of Mice and Men, often seen as a problematic work in Disability studies, goes as far to equate Lenny Small, the gargantuan and small brained man to a disabled dog who gets shot in the head- a fate similar to Lenny’s at the end of the novel. It is not uncommon to have a crazy dog shot in a book with disability aligned characters- a character in To Kill a Mockingbird also shoots a rabies-infected, crazy dog. And in fact, those dogs often act as a metaphor for those “animal” characters. Of course, popular books are not the only example of the raw animalzation and connection to the disabled body- it is extremely apparent in twentieth century freak shows and the gawking of a man who looks vaguely lobster or bear-like. It is essential to discuss the impact of such depictions, and offer a more inclusive view of the disabled body and mind. It is time to forego the offensive characterization of the disabled man to animals.

Many older white women of the baby boomer generation claim that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a literary piece essential to the newfound inclusivity of discussion. However, Atticus Finch, the father and lawyer central to the plot and central to “saving” Tom Robinson, is often seen as too powerful, and as though the black characters would flail pointlessly without his strength. Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, is compared to a harmless mockingbird, but only after his death. Earlier in the book, Atticus explains that it is a “sin to kill a mockingbird”, and later, Mr. Underwood, the town news source, states “it is a sin to kill a cripple” (Lee, 220.) The juxtaposition and relative sentence structure shows that these two phrases were meant to be compared- Lee encourages the audience to see Robinson as a bird. Robinson is a disability aligned character who injured his hand at a young age in a cotton gin accident, rendering it essentially useless. When trying to escape from this wrongful imprisonment, Robinson is shot many more times than necessary, showing the racism and ableism of that time period.

Boo Radley, is described as “frightening” and “animal-like” in his mannerisms. The Maycomb county folklore centering around Boo does little to depict him as the careful, kind, and empathetic character the readers find out he truly is. Jem, Scout’s older brother, and Atticus’ son, emphasizes the horror involved in the crime of Boo stabbing his father with a pair of scissors- then later explains that Boo “dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained” (Lee, 10).

While the differences between Tom and Boo are apparent, the two animals that they are represented by does little to reflect them in a positive light. Tom is the innocent, sweet, little, weak, bird, but only after being shot seventeen times and unfairly imprisoned based on racist falsities. Representing Tom as something that can only be helped by the able bodied white man furthers his animalization as a delicate mockingbird. Boo, depicted as a wolf-like, dog-like, and bear-like dangerous man, can not elegantly break free of the restraints Lee places on him as a violent animal and freak of nature.

John Stienbeck’s Of Mice and Men, a classic tale of “friendship” and farmhands, commits to the idea of Lenny as a poor, innocent puppy. Lenny is viewed as both harmless, as he is unintelligent, but also as harmful, as his body is towering and extremely strong. Steinbeck takes little time to compare Lenny to an animal- on page four, the first time the audience meets Lenny- he describes his walk as similar to “ the way a bear drags his paws”. This is not the only time Lenny’s movements are described as bearlike. On page hundred, Stienbeck does it again, outlining Lenny’s stride as akin to a “creeping bear moving.” Lenny is also described as a terrier, a small but mighty dog, when George Milton, his best friend, makes him set a mouse free from his grip. George is described as his master, as any loyal dog should have an able bodied master. George often infantilizes Lenny, and in the end of the book, makes a life or death decision for him, much like Candy, another farmhand, does for his old sheepdog.

Because Lenny is both strong of muscle and weak of mind, it is interesting to compare the differences in the wide array of animals Stienbeck compares him to. It is no secret between the characters of the book that Lenny could easily kill any of them- but those same characters treat him as one would treat a small, idiotic terrier. Stienbeck goes as far to equate his personality as both bear-like and tiny puppy-like. Those two animals could not be any farther apart in terms of size and capability. However, Lenny is both meek and boisterous, as are both the animals stated.

The connection of able bodied people and the racism affecting our world is also apparent in these connections. While some wish to “reclaim” their animalazaion as a disabled person, we must recognize the racist roots that animalization clearly has. It is not uncommon for black men and women to be described as ape-like, and in blackface shows, the actors would often make monkey sounds or pretend to throw their feces. Much like the reclamation of the “q” and “n” slur in LGBT and black communities, some disabled people involved in freakshows took advantage of their inherent “animalness”. Percilla Bejano, a notable example of such reclamation, was involved in many freakshows and exploited her hairy body and freak of nature appearance. She later married the “the alligator” man, and the two had a happy life together, working as two animals in love. It is possible that Bejano was insulted by her animal name, but at least maintained some autonomy.

Otis Jordan is another example, a black man billed as amphibian-like, who wished to be referred to as “frog boy”. He enjoyed his life on the road as a disabled performer. Jordan pointed out that, given his condition, there wasn’t much else work he could get, therefore, the freakshow was a positive, money-making experience for Jordan.

Animalization in freak shows can be an overly negative thing. P.T Barnum, whose name is synonymous with the circus, was at the forefront of exploiting disabled people, making them an “animal” entertainment, rather than a human. Circus shows, like the one Julia Pastrana was in, perpetuated the animalization of people with disabilities and placed them in unsafe environments in order to pursue their career. Pastrana, described as the “ugliest woman alive”, had a case of hypertrichosis, which covered the body and face in copious amounts of hair. Pastrana was billed as the “ape-women ”, because of her hair and naturally feminine figure. Because able bodied humans found her so enticing, after her death, she was embalmed with her recently deceased son, to be gawked at for years to come. Even after her death, Pastrana had no peace.

In the theory piece, Beasts of Burden, Sunaura Taylor describes hands as “human” and mouths as “animal.” Her point in detailing this is that able bodied people often view the use of one’s mouth to open things, or to move objects around, as disgusting and improper. Taylor’s ideas are revolutionary- as she does explain in further detail the essentiality of some disabled people using the animal to describe oneself. Much like some overweight people are fighting for the word “fat” to be used as a descriptor rather than an insult, Taylor admits that some of her movements are rather animal-like, and it would not necessarily be unfair to describe them as so. However, she does recognize her privilege in being a white woman comfortable in her animalization.

Essentially, the problem then lies with the able-bodied making decisions for the disabled. George places himself in the role of executioner for Lenny , and Lee and Stienbeck take on the important role of describing a person with disabilities. Pastrana had her whole life planned out by a man of more power, capability, and “normalcy”. This is simply not the job for an able bodied person. All people, including disabled people, must have a say in their depictions, be masters of their fate, especially their mortality. Taylor, Bejano, and frog-boy can do whatever they like with their bodies and physicality, but authors and able bodied characters can’t decide for them.

Animalization is popular in modern media, and even in the books that every child reads in order to pass a required class. It is ingrained in our minds to compare man and animal, and even more so when the man is overly hairy, or his appearance is otherwise aberrant,and thus, doesn’t fit into the abelist ideals of America. Aversion to normalcy is seen as wrong, offensive, and unsuitable, and this is prevalent in classic literature.

It does not matter how it makes the able bodied feel when talking about the disabled body. The disabled body should have say over their bodies and reflections in art and books.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

On Friday afternoon, I attended the UMW production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, a play that centers around a disabled character, Christopher. The beginning of the play starts out with a cruel murder of a neighbor’s dog, and the plot surrounds Christopher’s detective work to see who the killer is, which reveals truths about his own lie. The depiction of Christopher was an interesting one- the play and book is infamous for it’s relatively inclusive motifs, it has settings of over-stimulations and tries to explain how a person with autism may think. The actor who played Christopher, however, did not have autism. I found this to be an interesting choice. We have discussed in the class that an able bodied person should not act as a disabled person, and here it happens on our own turf.

Thoughts on Can You Hear My Fear?

I read this article as my extra one from the Disability Studies Quarterly. (So did my small groupmate Brie.) Brie and I both liked that the article was a personal story rather than a scholarly/theoretical piece. I think that’s important because when it comes to discussions on disability, it’s important to consider primary sources about the lived experience of disability, rather than having able-bodied people speak over disabled voices.

The article said that since the first reports of Covid in Wuhan, Asian hate has risen in the US. It’s almost ridiculous how at the same time as BLM was gaining momentum and people started debating mask mandates, Asian hate also started to rise. (Even amidst people arguing that racism and Covid are two myths.)

I personally know people who jokingly call Covid the Chinese flu or other racially charged nicknames. I have a hard time explaining my discomfort with it because they always say they’re “just joking.” I would love some input on this situation–is there anything I could say that would be helpful?

I liked the tip in the article about wearing clear face masks. My small group discussed that idea extensively. I personally don’t see why clear face masks can’t become more prevalent. They’re definitely more expensive/harder to find, but I wonder if we couldn’t change that by raising demand.

Tabitha Robinson’s final project write-up and video

Major project write-up

Revealing the Son: Disability as Narrative Prosthesis in the Gospel of John

For my major project, I chose to research disability in the Bible. After reading a great chapter by Anna Rebecca Solevag in her book Negotiating the Disabled Body, called “John and the Symbolic Significance of Disability,” I narrowed my focus down to the gospel of John. I chose John because there were only three instances of disability found in the book, but they all demonstrated the same point—that the purpose of disability is to be healed, showing Jesus’ power as God’s son. I did some research into the ancient world for context, which actually tied into another class I’m taking, Greek and Roman Religion. I applied the things I learned in that class about ancient views on disability and healing. I found that the ancient view of disability was rather complex. On one hand, babies born with some kind of disability might be seen as a bad omen; on the other hand, soldiers who were disabled in battle might be treated with glory. As I researched, I realized that the stories in John don’t strictly reflect either of those views, although there are aspects of the first. Instead, disability is something to be used by Jesus to prove his divinity.

I was originally going to write a research paper, but as I started to compile information, I thought visual aids would be helpful. I decided to create a PowerPoint and write a script for my presentation. I’ve made presentations this way in online classes and found it to be a flexible format—it feels like a traditional in-class presentation, but it’s a recording. (There’s less pressure on me as the presenter, and the audience can watch it anytime or however they want.) The PowerPoint turned out to be a good idea. When talking about the ancient world, it’s hard to visualize sometimes what is happening. I found examples of ancient art, statues, pictures of archaeological sites, and artistic renderings in my presentation. I also like using PowerPoint to emphasize important points and allow the audience to read important quotes for themselves.

I tied my project into our class material in a few different ways. First, I reached beyond the material of the class and used other works by authors we’ve read. Using Mitchell and Snyder’s Narrative Prosthesis, I defined the concept of “narrative prosthesis” and connected it to what’s happening in John. I used examples from our readings to help define narrative prosthesis, connecting it to “Cathedral” by Carver, Garland-Thompson’s writings on Freakery, and Weise’s “Nondisabled Demands.” I used Braddock and Parish’s “An Institutional History of Disability” to explain views of disability in the ancient world. That piece proved extremely helpful in my research, and I used it in my project quite a bit, expanding on their ideas to fit my topic. The topic I chose also fits into several of the larger themes we’ve explored in this class, such as the history of disability, how religious views affect disability, the representation of disabled characters in literature, and how to know if representation in a text is progressive or not.

I hereby pledge upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work. Tabitha Robinson

Word count: 511

Major Project video

Ren’s Class Summary for Tuesday October 26th

Class began with an excited “Happy Birthday” to no one in particular and a five-question quiz on the readings for today. We went back and forth between large and small groups about the Weise poem we didn’t get to the day before, the Hershey poem, the theory piece on the intersection of capitalism and disability, The Wedding of Tom to Tom, and Good Kings Bad Kings.

Our large group discussion started with a recap about the major paper/project proposal and then about the poem from last time The Old Questions by Weise. It was read aloud and the poetic speaker seems to be in another place with someone and they were potentially going to be intimate before there are many questions. Leading into our discussion today about sex and disability. How is this poem asking us to think about sex and what’s healthy? The comparison of peep shows with a sign saying “hands off our girls” and how the speaker wants to not be touched. The constant questions feel like prerequisites and barriers to making love that the speaker has gone through many times before. One student is actually having their birthday in class. “Can I touch it coming right off of hands off our girls” as the last thought on the poem.

Onto Working Together by Hershey and the two ways that people read the poem as an apathetic caretaker or two people working together and being used to their roles. Is the title indicative of the dynamic or a little bit ironic? Questions of who the caretaker is and how the two are related. The ending not being clear cut and the last stanza is ambiguous and unanswered by the poem. “Emotional support” for the caretaker from the one they’re taking care of. Loaded relationship when it comes to ‘what no one thinks of doing/except for self or child’ the speaker is saying it as something grateful. “We take ableism and autonomy for granted…so much that we don’t even consider those with mobility impairments and how much of a struggle that everyday tasks would be.” Use of the word heft rather than something gentler making it feel a little more impersonal. “Tell her that she can” and giving her permission to take care of the speaker who is vulnerable to read that line as a more intimate connection. “Across the spectrum of these relationships they can be abusive or neutral…there are people in institutions who genuinely care.” This is connected to the Banner short story and Good Kings Bad Kings.

We were sent to small groups to talk about the theory piece. Look at the anecdotes as a jumping off point and go over the intersection of sex and disability with the headings of access, histories, and spaces. “Compulsory able-bodiedness and compulsory heterosexuality” are what most people are operating. Questions of intellectual disabilities and consent on a tangent about The Wedding of Tom to Tom. In specific queer or women studies disability isn’t considered and it isn’t acknowledged and how disabled people are thought of as an enigma where they don’t think about gender or sexuality when it’s not true.

He called our attention back to large group to talk about The Wedding of Tom to Tom and the conflicting receptions of it. Is the wedding some sort of acknowledgement of their personhood or is it seen as a joke or in pitying infantilization? The potential contrast of healthy versus unhealthy relationships with Tom A and Tom B compared to Anita and Archie. The use of the R word in the story and how unprogressive that is and if the presence of that word is to view a character negatively. The conflicting view on the word and if it is important in a conversation about caretaker attitudes, but it is upsetting and potentially triggering. Surprise over the narrator being a woman with the way that she responded to things. The disturbing implications are with the wedding. Is it progressive to think about Tom A and Tom B as sexual beings are? It is also coming from Anita’s perspective and if it really is happening all the time. Is them holding hands really that big of a deal or will it really lead to something more? Raquel and Anita treating Tom and Tom as a side show and if we are invited to critique them for thinking that. “The big thing that makes her realize she loves Archie is that he just acknowledges Tom and Tom and didn’t think it was weird” space for humor in the piece. “General feeling of a lack of consent” because Tom A isn’t verbal and the parallels of relationships with one person in more power of the other. “There was just something wrong with it…not the disability or their kind of relationship” was the final remark.

Back into small groups to finish out on Good Kings Bad Kings. Quite liked the book a little worried about the Teddy and Mia. Teddy wanting his own agency and fear over what’ll happen. We dislike Michelle because she is only in it for the money while pretending she isn’t. She also chooses people who have a disability of some sort and she is presumably able-bodied who prays on young disabled people in a rough environment and judges them the entire time. Not having powered wheelchairs could be not having the funding or they don’t want them to have autonomy and independence.

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