I believe that in some respects having a physical disability places you among the oppressed. For instance, the Nazi vision of a perfect human race had no place for Jews, Gypsies or disabled people in particular. People with disabilities are systematically oppressed by institutions in place. As a person with a disability, I face many barriers that are interweaving but may seem negligible if viewed microscopically. Many times people think that I merely have trouble walking or something like that when my disability entails many more things. I can actually walk pretty well as long as the distance is not too great, but my problems are mostly invisible. To someone who sees just that aspect of me, I can easily overcome that one obstacle. The obstacles I face however interweave. Due to my disability I also have trouble writing small and neatly. Furthermore, my hands tire faster than most people. I share this fact with few people because I don’t expect people to understand.
Two models can be used to analyze this situation: the bird cage model and Hallie's institutional cruelty.
The
bird cage model is a good way of explaining oppression because people do not
feel as defensive upon hearing the explanation. The bird cage model is basically the systematic arrangement of barriers that are interwoven, resulting in being trapped. If you look from the outside, it appears that you can simply step over the barriers (a macroscopic view of the bars). But with your internal view the bars are arranged to stop you from moving. As a result the obstacles you face can appear invisible. It is also quite simple, to its
benefit. In my description of myself, I note the existence of individual obstacles I can overcome but at the same time these obstacles work together. Because I have trouble walking great distances and have trouble with motor control I am I have more difficulty with activities than other people. In particular, many sports and other physical activities are both too involved and intricate for me. Due to my poor motor control, I also struggle with drawing and even some motion-controlled video games such as Okami (though the video game itself may also have been at fault). Through these multiple examples it is clear to me that I am oppressed under the bird cage model.
Hallie’s explanation of oppression requires re-reading and lots of additional thinking. As an ethic/racial minority and a person with a physical disability, I want to know how I can apply both models to myself. The Hallie model has four criteria: 1. Substantial cruelty, 2. Built into our institutions, 3. Operates at edge of awareness, and 4. Has a power differential. Under criteria 1, people with disabilities often face ridicule or even more serious consequences, including becoming homeless due to discrimination; they are often treated inhumanely as well. Our institutions, under prong 2, clearly create barriers. The institutions of society glaze over disability and focus exclusively on the able-bodied person. For example, someone with Attention Deficit Disorder would likely have difficulty learning in many classes because of how classes are often taught. With effort this barrier can be overcome but the existence of such a barrier is problematic. School should be accommodating for different types of learning so that anybody who wants an education can get one. By getting an education, I mean an education that suits their strengths rather than a prescribed, set path. If you feel that your needs are not being serviced because you fall out of the norm – usually the case for disability – then you will feel a crushing of self-respect. People with disabilities are also constantly fed with information about what a person should be like. The normal person does not need cane, mobility scooter, or walker, nor does the normal person need to wear ankle orthoses at night; the normal person can talk to other normal people without needing to sit down. These ubiquitous images also diminish self-respect. Furthermore, our institutions only poorly accommodate disability nor do they usually acknowledge its existence. Criteria 3 stipulates that the institutional cruelty operates at the edge of awareness. Disability is rarely talked about, even though many people fit such a category in some respect. Depression, amongst other mental health concerns, is usually either ignored or viewed with derision, for example. Indirect evidence also comes from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 being far more well-known than the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Lastly, a power differential is created because numerically disabled people are a minority and because they have less economic power. One could go further and say that educational and economic opportunities can be diminished (depending on the disability). Under Hallie's model, I would conclude that people with disabilities are an oppressed group.
Using both Hallie's and Frye's models, I determined that people with disabilities are an oppressed group -- That is to say that having a disability means navigating interweaving institutional barriers.
Hallie’s explanation of oppression requires re-reading and lots of additional thinking. As an ethic/racial minority and a person with a physical disability, I want to know how I can apply both models to myself. The Hallie model has four criteria: 1. Substantial cruelty, 2. Built into our institutions, 3. Operates at edge of awareness, and 4. Has a power differential. Under criteria 1, people with disabilities often face ridicule or even more serious consequences, including becoming homeless due to discrimination; they are often treated inhumanely as well. Our institutions, under prong 2, clearly create barriers. The institutions of society glaze over disability and focus exclusively on the able-bodied person. For example, someone with Attention Deficit Disorder would likely have difficulty learning in many classes because of how classes are often taught. With effort this barrier can be overcome but the existence of such a barrier is problematic. School should be accommodating for different types of learning so that anybody who wants an education can get one. By getting an education, I mean an education that suits their strengths rather than a prescribed, set path. If you feel that your needs are not being serviced because you fall out of the norm – usually the case for disability – then you will feel a crushing of self-respect. People with disabilities are also constantly fed with information about what a person should be like. The normal person does not need cane, mobility scooter, or walker, nor does the normal person need to wear ankle orthoses at night; the normal person can talk to other normal people without needing to sit down. These ubiquitous images also diminish self-respect. Furthermore, our institutions only poorly accommodate disability nor do they usually acknowledge its existence. Criteria 3 stipulates that the institutional cruelty operates at the edge of awareness. Disability is rarely talked about, even though many people fit such a category in some respect. Depression, amongst other mental health concerns, is usually either ignored or viewed with derision, for example. Indirect evidence also comes from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 being far more well-known than the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Lastly, a power differential is created because numerically disabled people are a minority and because they have less economic power. One could go further and say that educational and economic opportunities can be diminished (depending on the disability). Under Hallie's model, I would conclude that people with disabilities are an oppressed group.
Using both Hallie's and Frye's models, I determined that people with disabilities are an oppressed group -- That is to say that having a disability means navigating interweaving institutional barriers.
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