05-02-2023, 06:44 PM
This really has gotten me to thinking about the crossovers between sex/gender and impairment/disability. Like, the level of someone's impairment could be minimal or extremely pervasive, but the way in which they present that impairment and it effects their interaction with society, their disability, can also be on a spectrum and may not match up with where their impairment is on the spectrum. And of course, not all impairments or disabilities are immediately recognizable, if at all.
It really is an interesting philosophical conundrum to get into. I mean, technically speaking for all my life I could've qualified for things like handicapped parking and what not because of my weight. But, because I never viewed myself as disabled I never applied for those sorts of things even though when it boiled down to it I had an impairment (well, several, but that's a whole other story). I also know an amputee who really lives his life in a way where he doesn't like to come across as disabled. He goes around on only one leg and is a very successful person right now as a motivational speaker, author, and lately a comedian. I haven't talked to him in 20 years or so, but he used to refuse to use his handicapped permit unless he couldn't find other parking, for instance (or if it was raining or something).
It's just weird to think about all of this.
It really is an interesting philosophical conundrum to get into. I mean, technically speaking for all my life I could've qualified for things like handicapped parking and what not because of my weight. But, because I never viewed myself as disabled I never applied for those sorts of things even though when it boiled down to it I had an impairment (well, several, but that's a whole other story). I also know an amputee who really lives his life in a way where he doesn't like to come across as disabled. He goes around on only one leg and is a very successful person right now as a motivational speaker, author, and lately a comedian. I haven't talked to him in 20 years or so, but he used to refuse to use his handicapped permit unless he couldn't find other parking, for instance (or if it was raining or something).
It's just weird to think about all of this.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
