In one of my communication classes a theorist named Elkin suggested that all images of the body was beautiful and distorted in its own way. When I thought more about that statement, it struck me for a never thought of it that way before. Who says that there is a certain way our body should look and function for it to be considered normal?
The Gimp performers showed that they are not , in fact, unable, but in their own way more able. The way most of our bodies are formed would never allow us to perform in such a way. Therefore, while many would consider them as having a handicap, perhaps the majority of people have a handicap that does not allow them to do what these people are succeeding in doing. This realization on its own greatly effects the progression of the issues of disability.
Wendell had one quote in particular that stood out to me in the article The Social Construction of Disability. “…subtle cultural factors that determine standards of normality and exclude those who do not meet them from full participation in their societies.” From the way that architecture is structured, to the way that society labels people of disability, culture creates subtle hints to why certain people don’t qualify as normal.
I like the way you phrased “there more able.” I’ve been trying to figure out how to word that without sounding offensive. From the Wendell quote, I realize that disabilities are really subjective to a society's standard. One person’s disabled may be another’s enabled. Nevertheless, that thinking still won’t help people in a wheel chairs with unaccommodating architecture.
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