Dr. Foss began our class by having us wish a happy birthday to someone in the other section of Disability and Literature, which must have been some sort of strange joke, because no such section exists. He then had us take out paper for a quiz, but we promptly put it away as there was no quiz scheduled for that day. We proceeded to talk about two other course offerings: Global Issues in Literature and Intro to Disability Studies, both of which are being offered in the spring, while going off on a slight tangent regarding penguin literature.
Our first activity was a small group discussion on Susan Nussbaum’s “Good Kings Bad Kings”. We talked about the realistic depiction of Mia’s abuse in the section of the reading, as well as the unique perspective of Ricky as he is growing up. However, our discussion focused largely on Joanne, whose experiences and actions mirrored what we had read in the vast majority of the theory pieces for this class. For example, Joanne muses on the term “crip” as a way to empower people with disabilities by assigning it new meaning, which is reflective of a discussion we had towards the beginning of the semester on similar terms. We also connected one passage where Joanne “cringe[s]” at the dentist to the “sneer” of the narrator in last class’s “The Old Questions”.
Joanne’s observations were further expanded upon in the class discussion that followed. One student found that the waiter ignored Joanne while she was eating with Ricky, showing the lack of presence that people with disabilities have. Dr. Foss was quick to point out how Ricky and Joanne’s relationship is connected to many of our poems and short stories which depict such inter-disabled relationships, such as “The Wedding of Tom to Tom”. Lastly, we explored Joanne’s perspective of corruption in her organization, with the board meeting exposing a shelter-to-hospital pipeline that involved millions of dollars.
Next, we moved to discussing the poem “Tulips” by Sylvia Plath. The class did not have much to say on this poem, but we did explore the connection between the tulips, how they made the author feel (bad), and the author’s surgery.
We returned to small groups to discuss “The Yellow Wallpaper”. We agreed this was a very intense and disturbing story, while also containing insight into how a person experiencing a psychotic episode feels. My group noted that the main character does not have a name, despite the other characters being named, though it was pointed out that the narrative was written by the narrator. We connected the bars on the window and the nailed-down bed to a feeling of captivity. One group member questioned the timing of the story, thinking that perhaps she was here for longer than just one month.
Lastly, we joined in a whole class discussion about the short story. The notions of forced prescription and doubt of the disabled condition were reinforced through analysis of the text and the character of John. We found that despite the story being written, the main character lacked a voice: her dialogue did not seem to change the opinion of a single side character. Unfortunately, due to the length of our previous discussions, we were unable to look at Russell and Malholtra’s Capitalism and Disability, and thus class was ended.
Word Count: 556
I pledge.
Miranda Colbert’s Class Summary for 10/26/21
We began the class with a reward quiz, its questions based on the readings assigned for the week. There were protests and theories on what would happen if the entire class just refused to take the test but overall, the class was compliant. During this class period we mainly discussed the differences in relationships between persons with disabilities and vice versa, bringing up the question if it was even possible for a person with a disability and an ablebodied person to even have a healthy relationship.
The first poem we analyzed was Jillian Weise’s “The Old Questions” which was assigned the class prior, but never discussed.Throughout the poem the speaker is trying to have an intimate moment with the potential partner but is interrupted by the partner’s intrusive questions. After reading, Dr. Foss explained that the purpose of this poem was to explore the idea of curiosity vs intimacy. When asking what the class thought of the poem it was mentioned that the partner seemed to have more interest in the prosthetic leg rather than the speaker as a person. They also mentioned that the potential partner felt as though they had the right to know everything about it, as if it was an expectation. Their points were connected to real life examples when persons with disabilities are only connected to their disabilities rather than their personalities. For example, a female who is blind only referred to as “that blind girl.” Another point that was brought up was that the wall in the poem could represent a barrier for an experience the speaker could never have, a “love without prerequisites.” Dr. Foss interjected and mentioned that the reader could have that kind of love but just not with the partner the speaker is currently with. He also mentioned that there had to be some sort of connection prior to the start of the poem because they are in an intimate situation at the start. The discussion on this poem then ended with the point that the questions being asked to the speaker were nothing new, hence the title “The Old Questions”, as well as able bodied people feel as though they have the right to have their questions answered in exchange for something else such as an intimate moment.
We then moved on to focus on this week’s poem, Laura Hershey’s, “Working Together.” After reading, we concluded that the poem focused on the idea of relationships either intimate or not and the feeling behind them. Dr. Foss stated that the poem could’ve been read two ways, with a negative or positive feeling towards it and both versions had different messages to them. The negative view on the poem came from the phrases and words “sneer”, “heft”, and the job “no one thinks of doing.” Half of the class took that as the caregiver seeing the speaker as a burden and inferring that people with disabilities are nothing more than that. Just the job “no one thinks of doing.” It also implies that the speaker doesn’t like the way they are getting taken care of. The word “heft” feels as though the speaker is a burden that needs to be hauled or that the caregiver has to be reminded where certain limbs are, and they have to help the caregiver “forget”. The positive side saw the two sharing a bond and they each had their own jobs to do. The class saw the two in the same way as a parent helping their child; with lots of care and concentration. The interaction between the two inferred that there was no problem between able bodied persons and people with disabilities, that it wasn’t a burden or strange at all.
Anna Mollow and Robert McRuler’s, “Introduction” from Sex and Disability was our next topic. We broke into our first small group of the day where my group decided to focus on Anna’s experiences. We discussed how society has certain views on what disability is and how it should look like. For example Anna getting cat-called where the male told her she was too pretty to be disabled. Society feels as though disabilities are more physical than mental and there has to be something wrong with you for you to fit that standard. We also discussed how having a physical disability takes away the right for the person with the disability to tell anyone. Dr. Foss compared it to coming out and never having the chance to come out to whoever you want. He explained it as frustrating as well as extremely disrespectful. When getting back into large group discussion, the topic shifted on how people with disabilities were not seen as desirable in both intimate or work related situations. A classmate’s example was assigning parking spots based on socioeconomic class but then calling someone out when they dont look like the class they park in. Another classmate brought up the point that when it comes to the workplace, employers turn away people with disabilities because of image and the idea that an able bodied person would be more efficient. The action enforced the stereotype that people with disabilities are helpless and cannot be able to work and do better than an able bodied person.
Finally, we talked about the two fiction pieces that were assigned, Keith Banner’s, “The Wedding of Tom to Tom ” and Susan Nussbaum’s, Good Kings Bad Kings. When discussing Banner’s work the group focused more on the ending. With the main character, Anita, taking Tom and Tom to the motel after their “wedding” Dr. Foss asked the group if the action inferred that love between people with disabilities was seen as a joke. As if they were throwing the couple a bone. The class was split between answers, half of the class seeing Dr. Foss’ point after the statement while the other half still seemed to believe it was a kind gesture. The negative half of the class thought that the story was trying to focus on the obsessive behaviors of Tom and Tom and infer that people with disabilities cannot desire one another without the obsession. The other half of the class pointed out the relationship between Anita and Archie was the obsessive one, not Tom and Tom. Dr. Foss then asked that side if that meant that it was able bodied relationships that are seen as obsessive and unhealthy rather than the other? The class could not come up with an answer and could only ask another question: was the story actually progressive or just disappointing? When Nussbaum’s novel came up in discussion, my group focused on what we enjoyed about the story and what caught our attention rather than the deep topics. A classmate brought up how in the story Joanne just wanting human interaction was the reason she got her job, but at work she was put on display as a “role model.” We found it interesting how she was fine with that even though to us it seemed as if she was being used. Class ended before we could come to a conclusion.
Duck Joke Count: 4
“I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work.” -Miranda Colbert
Brian Cruz-Lovo’s Class Summary for 10/19/2021
On October 19th, 2021, we started class with Dr. Foss’ short five questions quiz about the readings that day. The questions were about “The Secret Garden”, “Comrade Luxemberg and Comrade Gramsci Pass Each Other in the Congress of the Second International on the 10th of March 1912”, and finally Kenny Fries “Beauty and Variations”. After the quiz, Dr. Foss announced an extra opportunity that involves an author we have been reading about for some time now. Kenny Fries was going to speak at Mary Washington and Dr. Foss encouraged us to attend and was going to make sure if a recording of the zoom call was going to be posted or not. After clearing through that, we began class where the main topic was how society and the environment can impact people with disabilities. We began this topic with small groups talking about the first 10 chapters of “The Secret Garden”.
In my small group, we discussed a lot about Mary, Colin, and the Garden itself. With Mary, there was lots of talk about how she was described when she was born. She was described as ill, sickly, yellow, and even malnutrition. With her attitude in India, we agreed that Mary traveling to India can be seen as a place to “cleanse” her and problematic that is. We also discussed how Mary’s attitude towards the servants. In India, she was rude and seemed unbearable to the servants but once she arrives in England, it shifts, and we watch her develop a friendship with Martha. Overall, Mary was having a better life in England since she was being “cleansed”. We moved into Colin and noticed that was a parallel between him and Mary when she was in India. We also mentioned their disabilities and how they are both physical ones. Finally, we noticed that The Garden can be depicted as this heal-all magical place and as a comfort zone for those whose mental health needs help. First, the heal-all aspect, we saw this as very problematic since having a place to heal everything isn’t progressive and one just can’t cure everything with magic.
After small group discussions, we came back as a class and Dr. Foss started by asking what we thought about Mary. As a class we talked about how Mary is physically ill, spoiled, self-absorbed in addition, she can be described as ugly both on the inside and outside, but it is problematic, to say the least. Dr. Foss then raised the question about how class can play into Mary or even Colin. A fellow peer mentioned Mary’s attitude but also how she isn’t independent enough which ties with the class she’s since can’t fully be independent with servants at her aide. We moved on to Colin and how The society around them has made them believe they are less than what they are, claiming that Colin needs “fresh air”. In Colin’s case, we talked about how he may have a psychological disability that makes him believe that he is physically disabled and how Society makes him worried making him disabled by his environment. We then mentioned Chapter 15 about the gawking and staring at Colin and how the people pitied him. The people from the outside respond to him as if he was physically disabled which another student made the comparison of Colin to Boo Radley both have this “ghostly” figure in their communities. We ended the conversation of “The Secret Garden” talking about the garden itself. As mentioned, the garden is seen as a place of comfort especially for those whose mental health isn’t at its best, it is a place of warmth and freeing.
As we wrapped up that discussion, we continued over to Kenny Fries’ “Beauty and Variations”. Since the poem is in 5 parts, Dr. Foss decided to break each part down and ask what we thought. In the first part, we see how the speaker is questioning himself where the partner is beautiful and abled in contrast to him in their relationship. We dug more into the line “Can only one of us be beautiful?” (Fries 107) and how this creates a complexity of love. There was a mention about how inner and outer beauty is always together but when disability comes in, it creates a complexity of beauty. We were able to start tying back to society and how the speaker may feel that society has raised him to think of himself to be not beautiful in contrast to his partner. As we continue, we saw that in Part 2 they seem to feel different, part 3 speaks on smooth skin and secrets, Part 4 talks about self-love and/or the partner understands that he’s beautiful while ending on Part 5 where he starts to see himself as beautiful.
To wrap up class, we decided to end in small groups talking about Anne Finger’s Comrade Luxemberg and Comrade Gramsci Pass Each Other in the Congress of the Second International on the 10th of March 1912”. With the little time we had, we were able to mention how society is always quick to judge on appearances and make assumptions without interaction with those with a disability. We all agreed that it is such an issue that in our society we have plenty of people who judge those just by appearance and how that can negatively affect those with a disability.
Word count: 896
“I pledge”- Brian Cruz-Lovo
Tabitha Robinson’s Class Summary for October 21, 2021
We started class today with the welcome announcement that there was no reading quiz. This excitement was quickly overshadowed by our first conversation about our final paper/project, which is worth 30% of our course grade. Professor Foss read through the assignment sheet with us and explained that we can either write a thesis driven paper or come up with a creative project for our final grade. In addition to this major paper/project, which is due November 16, we will have a take-home exam on our final unit about autism. Although November 16 seems far away, Professor Foss encouraged us to be thinking about our topic, since our topic proposals are due in two weeks.
To get our creative juices flowing (and to “make [him] a little misty”), Professor Foss guided us around past dis/lit websites going back to 2012, where we looked at previous major paper/projects. Some of these were very creative, ranging from literary analysis to photography to music to Tumblr versions of To Kill a Mockingbird. We also looked at various other websites linked on our dis/lit site, which might prove helpful for our research.
Once questions were exhausted, we moved into small group discussion of Flannery O’Conner’s “Good Country People.” My small group was somewhat disgusted by the story as a whole. We expected a sexual assault scene and were almost relieved when Manley merely stole Hulga’s wooden leg—still a terrible violation of her body. We toyed with the idea of Manley being a kleptomaniac. At the very least, we said, his obsession with stealing things from disabled people is an attempt to gain power over his own life by making others feel helpless. We also noted that just because Hulga has two disabilities, an artificial leg and a heart condition, she is treated as if she has a mental disability too. She is treated like a child, when in reality she is a very intelligent woman. Back in large group, we asked the big question: Is this text progressive or not? We appreciated that Hulga has a strong sense of self. She isn’t “edgy and broody,” according to Melissa, because of her disabilities, but because those around her do not accept her. In this sense, the representation is progressive. Besides, at least she doesn’t end up dead or cured—or does she? Zeb pointed out that Hulga said the leg is her soul and it was stolen from her. From there, we considered that the text may not be as progressive as we thought. We could see some victim blaming at the end where Hulga is written as sheltered and naïve. (Note: Melissa also invented a new word, edgy-cated. Definition: when you get too educated and it makes you edgy.)
While in large group, we discussed The Secret Garden, which had the exact conclusion we expected. Healthy equals lovable for Colin and his father; disagreeable equals disabled for Colin and Mary. The garden cured all disability in the story, from Mary’s “contrariness” to Mr. Craven’s trauma to Colin’s illness and anxiety. Although we were inclined to write off the story as NOT progressive in the least bit, one idea came up that gave us pause. Is this story an early form of showing the importance of mental health? We know that mental illness does often translate to physical symptoms. Mr. Craven’s grief and Colin’s conviction that he will die could certainly be causes of physical illness. Perhaps their physical issues were in part brought on by their mental states. And while fresh air and exercise are not a cure, they can be helpful for people with physical or mental illness.
Back to small group, we discussed Baynton’s “Defectives in the Land.” We saw strains of white supremacy here as disability and race mingled and almost became one. Foreign race equals defect in this logic. Brie told us about her field trip to Ellis Island and seeing the cards of people turned away due to “defect.” Back in large group, we elaborated further on that idea by realizing that we tend to only teach those things through a historical lens. After taking this class, Brie said, she had a whole new perspective on the discrimination in our nation’s past. The old discrimination was justified with new scientific data from the theory of evolution and genetics (eugenics).
Word count: 720
I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work. –Tabitha Robinson
Kelly Brown’s Class Summary for October 14th, 2021
Even before the class period began, many students were anticipating a quiz while sitting outside Room 322. Their prediction proved true, because in the words of Dr. Foss, “What better way [is there] to welcome us back from Fall Break?” He followed up the quiz with some announcements: the first was to remind us of the upcoming events for Disability Awareness Month, including a presentation from Kenny Fries, one of the authors we read for the day. The other announcement was that Dr. Foss had updated our grades for both class participation and reading quizzes, and we could now view them on Canvas. Since we had reached the midpoint of the semester, it was helpful to know where we stood academically, in case we wanted to step up our game.
Our first large group discussion was on “Disabled Lilacs,” a poem by Petra Kuppers, as well as the experimental video that accompanied it. Dr. Foss, who had never been corrected until his previous section, pronounced lilac as “lIE-lAHk”, while the rest of us pronounced it as “lIE-lAK”. Although the meaning of the poem was not initially obvious, it is arguably looking at disability from a broader and more general perspective. The speaker leaves their disability ambiguous so that the text is more inclusive and can relate to anyone, regardless of if you know someone disabled or are disabled yourself. The descriptive imagery suggests that this poem takes place within a dream world, perhaps one where ableism does not exist. If that were the case, though, the main symbolic motif would have been lavenders instead of lilacs. After all, some parents use lavender to calm down their kids. What is the significance of lilacs, if any? Could it possibly have more to do with their juxtaposition to simplicity, nature, and beauty? We were left with even more questions after watching the experimental video, and I joked that “experimental” was a fitting word to describe it. Whereas I was expecting to hear the poem articulately read out loud, the video instead alternated between Neil Marcus seemingly reciting the words as they appeared on screen, and Lakshmi Fjord describing black and white photos of a nude couple. Another one of my classmates argued that due to its presentation, someone who is unable to see would entirely miss the text. Additionally, the meaning behind the photographs shown is unclear. How do they relate to the poem? It was tougher to draw substantial conclusions from the video, so we decided not to dwell on it further.
We transitioned to the second poem of the day: “Excavation” by Kenny Fries. Seeing as Fries would be our keynote speaker for Disability Awareness Month, it felt reasonable to analyze some of his writing. The title alone is very impressionistic, and on its own, it could be interpreted in a number of ways. For the speaker, the excavation represents a foot surgery, which resulted in “the bones at birth [they weren’t] given” that they now appear to be stuck with. By examining their new foot shape, the speaker also peels back all of the hurtful nicknames they internalized, such as ‘freak’ and ‘midget’. The poem’s lament, therefore, is a struggle to find a proper home in a body that has been greatly altered, similar to Shelia Black’s “What You Mourn.”
We moved into small groups to talk about “Cathedral,” a short story by Raymond Carver. My group in particular talked about the hostility, and perhaps jealousy, of the narrator throughout the text. None of us were sympathetic towards the narrator, and one of my group mates even said he felt insecure. He has no interest in connecting with anyone, including his wife, and never calls Robert by his name, instead referring to him as “the blind man”. Another one of my group mates compared the tension between the two men to male turkeys puffing up their feathers to intimidate one another. In the end, when the narrator finally attempts to both figuratively and literally see things from Robert’s perspective, it does not feel like a gesture of good will. In fact, it feels more like a form of saviorism, since drawing with your eyes closed is nowhere near equivalent to actually being blind. Still, is it a step in the right direction for the narrator? Maybe from that point, he can continue growing and improving as a person.
We ended the class discussing Jay Dolmage’s “Academic Ableism” in small groups. Dr. Foss prompted us to also consider UMW’s campus, and whether or not it is accessible. My group pointed out the image of a stairway on page 3 of the online text, and how it relates to the ongoing conflict of accessibility versus aesthetics in colleges across the country. Is there a way to achieve balance between the two? Many schools, UMW included, seem to care more about improving their image than accommodating for people with disabilities. My small group agreed that how a campus looks does not matter if it is not accessible. Another instance of academic ableism that the piece hints at, but does not cover in great detail, is academic papers. Students are often taught to prioritize formatting and big words, in order to sound smart and get better grades from teachers. Consequently, the process of writing essays becomes less fun and more time consuming, as we are forced to overlook any real substance. To make academic papers more accessible and easier to finish, teachers would need to be less critical of simplistic language and contractions in favor of getting the point across.
Word Count: 927
“I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work.” – Kelly Brown
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
Zeb’s Class Summary for October 7th, 2021
On October 7th, our discussions focused on chapters 28-31 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Rosemary Garland-Thomson’s “The Case for Conserving Disability,” and “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar.” The overall theme this class period seemed to be how other people view and understand, or have a lack of understanding for, disabled people.
Professor Foss began the class period by mentioning that he gave the section before ours the chance to leave early, so he would give us the same opportunity. I’m not sure if he had ever mention having another section before, but the chance to leave was appreciated. Directly after, we began discussing To Kill a Mockingbird. A student brought up the possibility that Arthur might have PTSD due to how he reacted to things around him, as though he was terrified of things, or he possibly just doesn’t like people: the audience can’t really draw a conclusion from what little we see of him in the book. That led to the point of how a person can make an argument that there are suggestions that he is disabled, or an analogue to disability. He may just be a recluse. Arthur is also a bogeyman in the beginning, which dehumanizes him a bit, but he is also a guardian angel of sorts. He isn’t malicious in his intentions as far as the reader is aware, and he watches over the Finch children from the shadows. He’s a moral character despite being presented in a darker setting. Foss brought up the point that that Bob Ewell attacked the kids to do more than scare them, possibly trying to kill them, and Arthur kills Ewell accidentally. If it went to trial, he probably wouldn’t have gotten in much trouble due to the fact that he was clearly protecting the kids and himself. People were worried that he would kill someone in the beginning of the book, and he ended up doing it. Their worst feelings of what he would do materialized. Burying up the fact that Arthur killed Ewell is seen as the right thing to do by Atticus and Heck Tate, which implies that people believe that Arthur needs to be protected.
This led to how Arthur is viewed by people in the book. A student noted that most of the adults don’t talk to Arthur directly very often, if at all. He’s in the room when Atticus and Heck ask about what happened to Ewell, but they don’t involve him in the conversation. Foss said that it should remind us of how people will talk about disabled people in front of them, as though they cannot hear, or they use their pet voice to them. Scout treats him as though he is littler than her. The way he’s treated is analogous to how people treat people with disabilities. Someone else said that they found it interesting that Scout is treated as an adult despite being 8 or 9 throughout the entire book. She acts as the adult when talking to Arthur. The student posed the question of whether or not it’s a developmental disorder and he is treating the kids as a secret friend. Foss said that some students were worried that his gifts were predatory at first. There are some adults who understand how children’s minds work and how to make them happy. Scout asking Arthur if he wants to pet Jem’s head is not something you’d ask an adult. It implies that he is somehow less than her. Another student noted that it’s interesting how Scout can relate to Arthur, whereas adults can’t. There was a bit where she says that she was beginning to understand his body English (page 319). He is brought to her level, and she is understanding that she is guiding him and the appearance of that. That is more of an implication that she is understanding of how others might see him as less than her. Later on, someone related Arthur to Lenny from Of Mice and Men in how they like to touch things. Foss said that Arthur’s childlike speaking could be further indication that he is disabled or disability-aligned, and with that comes infantilization from Lee herself. She sees the character she has created as a child afraid of the dark. Someone else said that it’s interesting that Scout and the others are protecting Arthur by not having him go to court. People had preconceived notions of Arthur already, and there might be a similar occurrence to what happened in the Tom Robinson trial. Foss said that part of what Heck was worried about was that people would recognize that Arthur was the hero in the story. They would bring him food and stuff, which would disturb Arthur’s lifestyle. Atticus, Heck, and Alexandria understand Arthur and accept him on his own terms, though people in town may not do the same. Heck said that it would be a sin to put him through that, which is similar to what another character said about Tom Robinson’s shooting. It also ties back to what Atticus said about shooting a mockingbird being a sin: we’re meant to see Tom Robinson and Boo Radley as mockingbirds. There’s an intersection of race and disability there, as well.
The discussion continued to talk about how the whole town was at the pageant aside from Atticus, women who were decorating, and the usual outcasts. Scout sees Atticus as above it all, she doesn’t relate to the women, and Arthur would be one of the others. Foss noted that Atticus and the Finch family are the ones bridging Maycomb’s favorable parts and undesirable parts. Foss also noted that Arthur’s hands are sickly pale, but it might not mean he is actually ill. The description goes on to describe shallow teeth, thin hair, and so on. He’s described as a ghost who looks different and ill. It’s mentioned that Arthur has a bad cough as well, but that could just be from exertion or from the Fall cold. A connection was also made between Arthur being ghostly and the Gray Ghost book Atticus and Scout read at the end. They say that a person is nice when you finally see them. Earlier, Foss said that what Lee wants the reader to get from the story is to stand in other people’s shoes. In the end, Scout has finally seen enough to understand what it might be like to be in Arthur’s shoes (page 321). Even standing on Arthur’s porch was enough to give Scout the opportunity to understand him. After she understood him, she left him alone and never saw him again. Foss posed the question of whether or not it’s a good ending or not. Scout didn’t go into his house, she didn’t learn more about the way he lives his life, and she never leaves him again. If people who acknowledge Arthur don’t see him as being able to join society, is that really progress? Someone hesitated in the jury during Tom Robinson’s trial, but it was progress. Is it enough progress, though? However sympathetic Lee wants to make Arthur’s character, is it really right for him to be so fragile and for Scout to consider herself as having walked in his shoes despite knowing very little about his life? At the end of the discussion, Foss asked if this is a progressive representation. By the end of the story, we like Arthur, but we may infantilize him and will never know what it’s like to live his life. A student replied said that it’s a step in the right direction to at least be able to see a disability-aligned character as a person who could be a hero. Now that we’ve taken that step, we need to go further.
The class moved on from To Kill a Mockingbird to “The Case for Conserving Disability.” Foss said that it’s important to look at the stories of disabled children who can’t tell their own stories, and that people want to acknowledge that there was suffering but it was entangled with joy. Their lives were still worth living. The question is how disability can be seen as something other than a negative: if it’s a gift, a resource, or productive. Not just in terms of society but in our views of ourselves and our others. We entered small group discussion and he said that we could tackle any or all of the various sections in the piece. My group primarily focused on the role of disability in society. There were similarities to the poems we read about conforming to beauty standards, like the woman who missed her old body before being treated, as well as the idea that people shouldn’t conform to what society views as normal. One person in the piece said something along the lines of disabled people contributing to teaching nondisabled people how to be more human (page 344). We thought that it was messed up that he believed that it worth to keep them around to inspire fear and loathing in nondisabled people. We also got off on a tangent about the difficulty of reading on a screen and how stories are easier to remember than theory pieces.
After our small group discussions, we had a class discussion about “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar.” Foss said that it’s a piece that is encouraging the reader to think of the intersection between disability and gender/sexuality. It’s also a story that seems to have progressive aspects that push readers to critique the response of Bibi’s family/community members, but there’s also the cure narrative at the ending that seems to pull the rug out from under that sentiment. A student mentioned that they thought it was another theory piece at first. Foss said that we’re supposed to think that the efforts to cure her are- if not misguided and misplaced- fruitless, which may undermine the medical model. Another student was hesitant towards seeing Bibi’s seizures as a medical thing, and that they could be more akin to temper tantrums because the treatments didn’t seem medical. She didn’t seem to be able to control the fits, however. Foss noted that, for many readers, we are being asked to see that there is an actual sort of condition. In the second paragraph, there’s traditional Hindu medicine and unconventional medicine. All of those were attempts to cure her before marriage, but marriage seems to have been closer to the actual cure. Some readers drew attention to “to the best of our knowledge cured” which may mean that they just haven’t seen any seizures since; she may be having them in private or they may not notice them due to seeing her in a different light. Bibi has internalized the ideas of a woman’s role in the society she lives in. They start to see her as a woman other than a disabled person. Is she actually cured? Some said that they think that the speaker using the words “treatment” or “cure” imply that there is something more physical that couldn’t be cured or didn’t go away with marriage. She didn’t even get married; she only had a child. Her disability wasn’t cured, her status in society was. She was able to have a child, her own home, and run the shop. She was a burden before, but she became a productive member of society in the role of a working mother. Another student asked about whose perspective we’re reading, and Foss said that it was likely someone who lived in the building, or possibly multiple people who took turns as the protagonist. Lastly, Foss said that the cousin and his wife were more humane to Bibi. When we’re reading the story, the author wants us to have a critical view of the story. There are a lot of things preventing Bibi from having the life she wants, and that critique is dropped by the end of the book. There’s the possibility that the cousin could have impregnated Bibi before he left, possibly non-consensually. If we go back to Arthur in To Kill a Mockingbird, have we seen enough about her to understand her? Maybe there was a crime, but it might not matter to society because she was cured. Bibi’s father left things to help her, but those things were used as scrap paper or turned into boats; they lost track of or used the directions on how to help her as scrap paper. In all three of the texts we read, there seemed to be a heavy emphasis on how nondisabled people view disabled people and whether or not they can understand them. There’s also the question of whether or not they really try.
“I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work.” – Zeb Armstrong
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.