Chapter 9 presents some cold hard facts about the beginnings of relationships. One that I write about in web lecture four is the role physical beauty or attractiveness plays in whether or not you even decide to interact with someone. So much research has found that people who are viewed as more attractive are also perceived as smarter, friendlier, more competent--the list goes on and on. And what's even more distressing is that beauty is associated with good and ugliness is associated with bad. Just watch any movie or TV show--the "baddies" are almost always unattractive. In the web lecture I discuss the Batman movies and the association of disability with being bad or evil. Many other films and works of fiction follow this pattern--the bad person has some sort of disability that explains why the person is bad. Imagine the impact this has on persons with disabilities. For a useful counterbalance to this theme, view Murderball, a documentary film about rugby players who are quadriplegic.
I've done several studies focused on communication and disability, including two surveys of SJSU students with disabilities. I've also written about metaphors for disability, such as disability as medical problem, disability as culture, and disability as community. Those metaphors not only shape how you think about disability, but also how you interact with persons with disabilities. As one of my colleagues at Ohio U once told me, keep this in mind: persons without disabilities are TABs (temporarily able-bodied).
--Professor Cyborg
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Professor Cyborg, it is so true what your Ohio U colleague told you that persons without a disability are TABs, temporarily able-bodied. What an enlightening perspective! In the same concept, I have also recognized that we will all grow old, and at one point or another, some part(s) (physically or non-physically) of our body will not function. Even some of us already wear glasses or sustain a minor injury. Therefore, young people are just not old YET. I watched "Philadelphia" recently, and my husband made a good point that "we are all" actually dying, even healty people.
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