Gimp

The video Gimp was eye opening in a few ways. First, the video made it clear that disabilities are not the end of your life. This was displayed by a dance that showcases people with disabilities yet that is not its only focus. I thought it was interesting to see disabled and non-disabled people doing pretty much the same dance moves. At times I didn’t even realize people were disabled at first. It was a good example of how we can easily follow the stereotype that disabled people are helpless. This video proved that notion was false. Ableism is the idea that disabled people are inferior to non-disabled people but video such as this prove this to be wrong. By showing disabled people as the same as a non-disabled person, having them to the same physically strenuous exercises, works to break down negative ideas about disabled people.

In Susan Wendell’s piece, “The Social Construction of Disability,” she opens with making a very important point. She writes, “I see disability as socially constructed in ways ranging from social conditions that straightforwardly create illnesses, injuries, and poor physical functioning, to subtle cultural factors that determine standards of normality and exclude those who do not meet them from full participation in their societies” (477). I think the most important part of her point is that the subtle ways disabled people are excluded in our society. The idea that there is a “standard of normality” proves there is a disparity between who can participate fully and who cannot. I feel as though most of the time non-disabled people ignore these subtleties because they can. However, disabled people cannot because it is something they have to face every day.