Handicapism

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Handicapism is a sociological term, which describes a theory and a set of practices that promote unequal and unfair treatment, discrimination and oppression of peoples with apparent or assumed disability, functionally comparable to concepts like racism or sexism. Here, people are categorized by the type of apparent or assumed physical or mental disability, and at the same time on this basis, assigned or denied each of the groups certain perceived abilities, skills, and/or character traits. (This is an affiliation to the respective category of Disability as being a fundamental determinant of human abilities and characteristics: For example, that all autistic people are emotionally cold or are good in calculation; "mentally handicapped", but have a good heart, a sunny disposition, etc.) Initially, some are not necessarily negative labels.

These stereotypes in turn serve as a reason for handicapism practices and have an influence on the attitudes and behavior towards the people of the respective group. Also the labeling has effects on the person in each category. Their options for action are limited, and the person's identity changed.

Assumptions, myths (selection)

Handicapism has said that people with disabilities are

• Dependent (forever a child)
• Recipients (the allegory of holding a cap in hand, begging)
• Defective, deficient, dysfunctional, and therefore inferior beings
• Less efficient, incapacitated or substandard work force (Especially in view of the labor market)
• Suffering, pitiable

and

• To prefer the company of other disabled people ("They feel more secure, where they are not competing with normal people.")
• To have certain properties (for example, "You have such a good memory." "Blind people are like that.")

Effects

Personal behaviors

• personally distance, avoiding contact
• being spoken for, and at the same time, spoken about, as if they were not present: a lack of autonomy
• when communicating used by the first name instead Mrs. or Mr.
• heaped exaggerated praise for people with disabilities as if they were still children, the performance is designated as extraordinary, unbelievable because the disability.
• A comment, actually reserved for Jews and Blacks: Have you ever heard: "Some of my best friends are disabled?"
• A woman who smiles a lot, they say, "It is so good that you can still smile. Heaven knows, really You don't have cause for joy."

With the label "disabled" results in a no win situation. If a person fulfills the cliché, it is a poor, sad person with a heart of gold, one expects gratitude and a desire for pity and charity. If the person succeeds in breaking the stereotype, she is regarded unusual, a rare case, amazing.

Society

• Barriers, such as poor access to transport and buildings for people with disabilities
• mass media:Ugliness and beauty are not only defined arbitrarily, they also serve as evidence of good and evil. Ugliness is equated with violence and fear, a popular subject of horror films. And characters like Captain Hook, promote the fears of children against disability among adults.

Disabled people as helpless objects of charity, compassion, disability presented as a cost factor to raise funds + resulting benefits are referred to as a privilege.

• Charity claims to want to eliminate disability, traditionally used degrading images (even in the 17th and 18th century for admission, the Citizens were able to visit Prisons, Workhouses or lunatic asylums, to gape at the "raging lunatic" which there were chained in cages.)
• Institutionalizing

Humans, of which is conceived, who that they are less able than others and therefore suffer (and because of their generally constitutional), must be helped - if concrete given - are (Time, attention, educational effort, care, financial support, etc.) They are seen as useless and incapacitated they should behave patiently and gratefully. They are not allowed to formulate causes or suggestions.

Handicapism implies incompetence, and handicapism developed incompetence, by denial of decent work is created dependency. Cycle-like, the attributed inefficiency of the receiver confirmed itself.

Each person will be assigned multiple roles in society. Handicapism causes different role expectations are overlaid, as well as gender roles, so that people with disabilities are often perceived as sexless beings.

See also

• Ableism
• Audism
• Disability rights movement
• Inclusion
• Intersectionality
• Social criticism
• Universal design

Literature

• Walter Fandrey: Krüppel, Idioten, Irre: zur Sozialgeschichte behinderter Menschen in Deutschland (Cripples, idiots, madmen: the social history of disabled people in Germany) (German) ISBN 978-3-925344-71-8
• Susan Schweik: The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public (History of Disability), ISBN 0-8147-8361-9
• James K. Shaver: Handicapism and Equal Opportunity: Teaching About the Disabled in Social Studies, ISBN 978-0-939068-01-2

External links

• Handicapism - Disabling Images or Images Disabling? By Justice Jitendra N. Bhatt† in: The Practical Lawyer