Damian+de+Vega

Synthesis-





[|Steven Hawking]

http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/scientist/stephen_hawking_zero-gravity.html

Damian de Vega September 26, 2010

Very few people in the world have been to the great outer space. How many people do you know have taken a trip outside of the Earth’s atmosphere without being an astronaut? It wouldn’t be to bold to say that you didn’t personally know any individual that can say they have done so. There is one man that has taken this trip and enjoyed every moment of it because it had been his dream for decades and decades to go. Describing the man that earned an amazing, almost impossible, adventure to go on, it would never cross your mind to think that this man was a member of the disabled community. Yes, it is true. This man of great achievements far beyond his trip to space goes by the name of Stephen Hawking. He is known for having one of the sharpest, most precise and brilliant brains in the world to this day. His overly abled-nature means that we have to re-think what we define as "abled," for the most part.
 * Intro to Analysis**

Damian de Vega September 21, 2010 Questions on image

1) My first impression was shocked that Steven Hawking was in space. 2) A man is floating in space. It is a disabled person who cannot move his muscles. 3) It draws attention. Stands out. 4) Outer space. It is rare for everyday people disabled or nondisabled to go to space. This disabled man succeeded past almost all able people in the world. It is extraordinarily amazing. 5) The video recorder. 6) His purpose is to show the world Steven Hawking in outer space. 7) The intended audience is the general public. 8) "...we shouldn't be impelled to do these because we have a disability, to prove to some social overseer that we can perform, but we should pursue them because they deliver their own rewards and satisfactions" (Linton 229). The image works because the image is purely about Steven Hawking living his dream to feel what is like to be in outer space. Many people have this same dream but do not ever get to go in their lifetimes; at least not in today’s time period. Steven Hawking is living a dream that almost all able physicists have but never get to do. 9)The fact that a disabled person is in outer space living his dream.

Damian de Vega August 31, 2010

New Meanings for the Disabled

"Reassigning Meaning" by Simi Linton is a research paper in which the meaning of the words abled and disabled are reviewed in a brand new light where they are separated from their uses of the words in the social and medical world. The essay talks about different words and the vibe they give off when used. Linton also mentions that "language that conveys passivity and victimization reinforces certain stereotypes when applied to disabled people. Some of the stereotypes that are particularly entrenched are that people with disabilities are more dependent, childlike, passive, sensitive, and miserable and are less competent than people who do not have disabilities." This is a terrible way to direct a conversation toward the disabled community. The disabled should be treated and talked about as equals to anybody else on the planet. Linton makes a valid point in her statement about how "those who are not deemed normal are devalued and considered a burden or problem." What is normal? How can we describe a normal individual? I know this sound like a cliche but in a way it is a difficult question to answer. If we, as a society, change the way we introduce certain words such as disabled to describe certain people, we can change the overall perception and make every individual feel equal.

Damian de Vega September 8, 2010

Reassigning Meaning Quotes

"The present examination of disability has no need for the medical language of symptoms and diagnostic categories" (Linton 223). There are other ways to go about labeling an individual.

"The term //disability,// as it has been used in general parlance, appears to signify something material and concrete, a physical or psychological condition considered to have predominantly medical significance" (Linton 224). The word //disability// points to something that stands out from the ordinary. An example of this would be; you are walking down the street and somebody comes up to you and says to look at the disabled person down the sidewalk. You would look for somebody in a wheelchair or helmet rather than somebody who, lets say, is a schizophrenic.

"...centering the disabled position and labeling its opposite nondisabled focuses attention on both the structure of knowledge and the structure of society" (Linton 226). It is broken into black and white instead of leaving a gray area of acceptance.

"The term //able disabled// and //handicapable// have had a fairly short shelf life. They are used, it seems, to refute common stereotypes of incompetence. They are, though, defensive and reactive terms rather than terms that advance a new agenda" (Linton 226). It is basically making the term politically correct and friendly, but still holds the same meaning as a derogatory term.

"Although they may be considered well-meaning attempts to inflate the value of people with disabilities, they convey the boosterism and do-gooder mentality endemic to the paternalistic agencies that control many disabled people's lives" (Linton 226). This is basically saying that we treat people with disabilities as an unequal person who needs extra attention and help even when it is not necessary.

"...we shouldn't be impelled to do these because we have a disability, to prove to some social overseer that we can perform, but we should pursue them because they deliver their own rewards and satisfactions" (Linton 229). She is saying that she wants to achieve for her own self acceptance and make herself feel good for nobody but her.

"...those who are not deemed normal are devalued and considered a burden or problem" (Linton 230). This is terrible but has some truth to it. People need to change the attitude towards the disabled and not think of them as anything less than equivalent to everybody else because everybody is good and bad at certain things.

"Language that conveys passivity and victimization reinforces certain stereotypes when applied to disabled people. Some of the stereotypes that are particularly entrenched are that people with disabilities are more dependent, childlike, passive, sensitive, and miserable and are less competent than people who do not have disabilities" (Linton 232). These stereotypes that are listed bring down the disabled people and put them on a lower pedestal that the "normal" people. This is demeaning and just wrong in general.

"Disabled people are more likely to say that someone //uses a wheelchair//. The latter phrase not only indicates that active nature of the user and the positive way that wheelchairs increase mobility and activity but recognizes that people get in and out of wheelchairs for different activities: diriving a car, going swimming, sitting on the couch, or, occasionally, for making love" (Linton 233). This quote is a positive notion saying the way some disabled people mention things can be in a good light and have a better feeling towards the way they live life.

"...the prefix //dis// connotes separation, taking apart, sundering in two. The prefix has various meanings such as not, as in //dissimilar//; absence of, as in //disinterest//; opposite of, as in //disfavor//; undo, do the opposite of, as in //disarrange//; and deprive of, as in //disfranchise//. The Latin root //dis// means apart, asunder. therefore,to use the verb //disable//, means, in part, to deprive of capability or effectiveness" (Linton 235). The overall "dis" is indeed a prefix that puts the "disabled" in a lower rank than the "abled." There shouldn't be a negative categorization for any types of people. All men are created equally and should therefore be treated the same.

Linton, Simi. “Reassigning Meaning.” //Disabilities Studies Reader//. 3. (2010)

Damian de Vega September 13, 2010

**Summary on Linton Article**

In "Reassigning Meaning," Simi Linton argues her point on how one group of people places a label on the less dominant group, the disabled, while discussing how certain words reinforce and keep these views powerful. Linton approaches the audience by giving a good amount of examples and points that defend her statement. Simi goes into deep detail about the words 'disabled' and 'non disabled' and how they have different meanings when looking at specific uses. Linton says,"…centering the disabled position and labeling its opposite nondisabled focuses attention on both the structure of knowledge and the structure of society" (226). She is saying that in a sense it is broken down into black and white pieces instead of leaving a gray area of acceptance for the 'disabled' people. Linton is trying to open the readers mind and make a clear understanding of the point she is trying to make on this issue. Linton talks about terms that can be considered ableist remarks. Linton goes on to say that "ableism has recently landed in the Reader's Digest Oxford Wordfinder (Tulloch 1993), where it is defined as 'discrimination in favor of the able-bodied'." Ableism is like that racism or sexism for the disabled bodied. Linton also goes into other parts of regular language that has an impact on the greater picture. Linton explains that "Language that conveys passivity and victimization reinforces certain stereotypes when applied to disabled people. Some of the stereotypes that are particularly entrenched are that people with disabilities are more dependent, childlike, passive, sensitive, and miserable and are less competent than people who do not have disabilities" (232). Linton is saying that these listed stereotypes bring down the disabled people (for the most part) and put them on a lower pedestal than the 'normal' people (232).This is demeaning and just wrong in general. Linton thinks the group that is being labeled have the right to place the tag on themselves and should not have to settle for what other people say. Other parts of speech Linton mentions is the use of the prefix 'dis'. Simi mentions, "…the prefix //dis// connotes separation, taking apart, sundering in two. The prefix has various meanings such as not, as in //dissimilar//; absence of, as in //disinterest//; opposite of, as in //disfavor//; undo, do the opposite of, as in //disarrange//; and deprive of, as in //disfranchise//. The Latin root //dis// means apart, asunder. therefore,to use the verb //disable//, means, in part, to deprive of capability or effectiveness" (235). The overall prefix 'dis' indeed puts the 'disabled' in a lower rank than the 'abled'. There shouldn't be a negative categorization for any types of people on the planet or even the universe. All men are created equally and should therefore be treated the same. Simi Linton uses various techniques which can be considered intelligent and convincing points to shift the opinion of the audience. The audience of Linton's article is anybody open minded enough to listen and learn from another point of view. Linton transforms the audiences views once understood and gives people a new perspective on how to go about socializing with certain people. It is and always has been wrong and unjustly to label and tag groups of people into categories that could possibly hurt or damage anthers morale. Linton expresses her view points and clearly states her position on the argument. It is up to the audience to agree with what was said or not. Whether you agree with the essay or not, great points were made and nothing can take that away from Simi Linton.

**Bibliography:**

Linton, Simi. “Reassigning Meaning.” //Disabilities Studies Reader//. 3. (2010)

Tulloch, S., ed.1993. //The Reader's Digest Oxford wordfinder//. Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press.

Damian de Vega September 15, 2010

**Summary of "Beholding" by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson**

In "Beholding," Rosemarie Garland-Thomson infers that staring should be used for a positive outcome and how it is important to see the beauty in people and not the opposite of that. Thomson talks about good staring, bad staring, and visual activism in her essay. She wants the reader to listen and learn about why staring can be for good instead of bad and how we should stare at others. Thomson explains that we should not stare at people in a bad way. We need to learn about bad staring before we can stop doing it. Thomson writes, "bad staring satisfies supposedly salacious curiosity and leads to the ethical dead end of //schaudenfreude//, of taking satisfaction in someone else's misfortune" (200). As we can see that we do not want to stare at people with this attitude behind us. Staring in a way of having pity or feeling better about ourselves is wrong plain and simple. People need to focus on what a good stare should be. Good stares are ones that create a positive outcome in the aftermath of things. Rosemarie explains, "but only one that has the capacity to move us to volunteer our time or to petition Congress rather than recoiling and forgetting is ethical" (200). It is of ethical value to take our time and use what we "stared at" and learn from what we saw. We need to take our experiences and make the world a better place from it. Thomson writes about an extraordinary individual be the name of Harriet McBryde Johnson who teaches the world to look instead of not staring. Johnson practices visual activism which is giving people all around the world a better understanding of staring and looking at other people in a proper way. Thomson states that "by putting themselves in the public eye, saying "look at me" instead of "don't stare," people such as Matuschka and Johnson practice what might be called visual activism" (204). Visual activism is important in society today and is helping the people of the world to take a step in the right direction when it comes to disabilities and treatment towards the issues surrounding it. The one aspect that ties this interesting article together would be the words of Fraser, "To be held in the visual regard of another enables humans to flourish and forge a sturdy sense of self. Being seen by another person is key to our psychological well-being, then, as well as our civil recognition. Staring's pattern of interest, attention, and engagement, the mobilization of its essential curiosity, might be understood as a potential act of be-holding, of holding the being of another particular individual in the eye of the beholder. Staring as beholding is a way to bring visual presence to another person, to recognize fully their "distinctive characteristics" (Fraser 2003, 29)" (205). Fraser helps Thomson explain that by staring at other individuals, we take a piece of their souls and do what we may with them. We can toss them or cherish them. We may not realize it but we affect other people's lives every day by our stares. The staree takes a piece of the stared's life and make something else out of it. Staring can be a beautiful act and should always be so.