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A Reflection on Disability Culture-ing

jogengo's picture

In reflecting on Kuppers’ work, I really enjoyed how disability culture was described as a verb. I think this gives justice to how dynamic, rebellious, and active it is. Describing disability culture as being “more like a process than a state,” as Kuppers states,  gives justice to the aforementioned active and dynamic qualities of disability and the disability community. Kuppers’ unique perspective in the world of dance and movement fuels these insights. Kuppers revisits this point of culture being an action and work of progress rather than a state when she uses terms like “culture-ing.” Her point about disability being a process is supported by her mentioning, what I believe to be the action behind the verb culture-ing: “. . .

Reflection on Strange, twisted shape reading

Jenny Jiang's picture

The reading is inspiring in many ways. I always think of dance performance as being chreographed and delicately designed to fit the taste of the audience. But besides from the dances we are used to on Telly or big stages, simply manipulating our bodies and experiment the possibilities (shapes that could be created and broken down) also shows us the immense charisma that dancing arouses. 

Disability Culture

Danika's picture

In my experience, I've usually believed that a culture is established by the people who experience and shape it, either by being a part of a particular demographic or by specific proximity to it. This is an imperfect definition, as culture is always fluid, but I think it makes clear that there are generally people who don't inhibit a given cultural space. I.e. allies are allies, but they don't have a role in a culture regardless of allyship. With disability culture, I think a little differently; perhaps due to the fact that all people are impacted by disability culture in some way, or have the ability to become a member of the disabled community. In this way, allies (and non-disabled people in general) have influence on disability culture and experience it, even indirectly.