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 I don't know what is that intrigues so much about disabilities. I think it's this question that seems to always pop in my head that asks, "why is it that people do not see another person when they see those with disabilities?" and "why do we find some reason to pity them?" But then, these questions always seem to bring me back to women and men. I think that as a society, we function in such a way in which we strive to attain an ideal through what was established as a norm. Although we don't really talk about what precisely that norm is, somehow we know exactly what it is when we see it and when we don't. We see people with disabilities, as well as those who do not preform their expected gender or even those who simply do not fit this idea of the powerful, masculine man as nonexistent and therefore pity them for not having the ability to function "properly."

Even something as simple as a man opening the door for a women or another person doing so for a disabled, can be seen as condescending. Although this is an extreme example, it has been said that people have this underlying concept ingrained in their way of being that tells them that we live in a  hierarchical world in which some are better than others. I don't know whether I agree with this or not, but it's hard not to believe in something that you can never know true. It is almost like God and his (using the most common language to describe this phenomenon) being. How do we really know HE exist, if we know we will never know the answer? I don't want to go into depth here, because that is a whole new issue that requires more research, but on a final note, I don't know if we can ever rid ourselves of what has so been life as we know it, but like feminist and activist have set out to do, we must simply try.

This image was taken from:

  http://www.studentservices.utas.edu.au/equity/just_talk/Disability/disability.htm