The Rejected Body

I appreciate Susan Wendell's ability to openly discuss disability and how it has been socially constructed in our culture for much of our history. In her chapter "The Social Construction of Disability," Wendell opens up about the construction of disability and how it has affected the way that people carry out their normal lives, regardless of their health status. First, I really enjoyed how Wendell defines the idea of disability in the most literal sense. Although this term can apply to those who have certain restrictions of their mind, body, or soul, the author considers the inability to be able to do something as a disability. This could include someone not being able to dance or sing, which are simple tasks. In doing so, Wendell redefines an idea that exists in our culture and widens its breadth so that it can apply to anyone, regardless.

I was very interested in Wendell's ideas about the pace of life and how they relate to our social perception of disability in a variety of spheres. To be completely honest, we do live very fast paced lives that most certainly exclude those who cannot keep up, and this is especially true in America. The fast pace of our lives is now almost considered a downfall by other people cultures, and I would most certainly agree. As Wendell points out, we do not think about our fast pace of life unless we are marginalized or threatened in any way by ideas concerning normal functioning. Furthermore, I enjoyed how Wendell discusses disability and functioning in terms of occupation. Many times employers are concerned only with the disability of their employees, rather than their ability to perform tasks in an either unique or efficient way. We definitely have high expectations, which only seem to create more disability in our society.

Lastly, I enjoyed how Wendell talks about both the physical structure and social organization of our society as impeding forces of many people. She agrees with many feminists about the construction of our masculine world, but further discusses how particular structures in our society make the divide between the "abled" and "disabled" even greater. I never quite understood how many obstacles exist. This idea reminded me about some of the points that surfaced in "Unpacking the White Knapsack;" the author argued the ignorance of a great majority of our society. In her discussion about obstacles Wendell says, "This is no coincidence. Much architecture has been planned with a young adult, non-disabled male paradigm of humanity in mind" (p40). These aspects of our society create so much stress and widely range from public transportation to communication systems. It thus splits our world into two spheres and further persists our construction of disability.

I really did enjoy this reading by Susan Wendell and her perspective of disability in our culture, today. It has been a part of our history to ostracize those people who are considered "different," rather than shift our thinking and way of life to accommodate everyone. Why are we always so reluctant to change? When taking a quick look back at our history, it is only evident that change can bring many good things. I was reminded of the Tuskegee study and how the exposure of this medical shame brought about changes to the way in which we now conduct research. Without the IRB many of these problems could be taking place in areas a lot closer to home.