James.Womack@f14.n300.z1.fidonet.org (James Womack) (10/24/90)
Index Number: 11270
I read you gals' comments on that new word contest with interest. I
think I am rather partial to Vixen's comment on the degrading view
of it. When I posted it, I thought it was a good idea. i still do.
The basic premise behind the contest was that this group felt that:
1. People looked too much at what they assumed disabled people
could not do and not enough at what we "can" do.
2. People's attitude of focusing more on our disabilities rather
than our abilities might change if theterm(s) used to describe us carried
a more positive connotation.
3. A contest with such a significant prize might actually provoke
people into actually re-thinking their presumptions about disabled
people.
I think the motivations for the contest were noble and not meant to
degrade. I can see why you two could see it as degrading. I can even
kind of agree with you on that. But, please be easy on the sponsors.
they meant nothing but the best. Of course, it might have helped of
they had consulted with how disabled people viewed the contest before
sponsoring it, but they meant no harm. They meant well. Besides, having
50,000 pocket change isn't a bad idea.
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Internet: James.Womack@f14.n300.z1.fidonet.orgAnn.Parsons@f204.n260.z1.fidonet.org (Ann Parsons) (10/30/90)
Index Number: 11359
Hi James,
Well, now, you've hit the nail on the head when you say that maybe they should
have asked disabled persons what they thought of the whole issue. That, my
dear James, is the crux of the whole issue! They went ahead with "good
intentions" to *tell* *us* how we should call ourselves and how we should
think about ourselves and how we would benefit from *their* *help*. This is
the attitude which has *crippled* all of us. People who think they know best
do things for us and we are the beneficiaries of misinformation, misdirected
programs, wasted college degrees, dependent on the omniciant agency, and on
and on and on. This is why I am so against this kind of Malarkiface.
Malarkiface is a Parsonsism. it is a combination of Malarky and artifice. It
means something which is made badly or artificially which is nonsense. The
combination of nonsense and bad formation is awesome. It doesn't help. It sets
us backward it doesn't allow us to move forward, it binds us not frees us.
When will people stop looking at a person with a disability as a different
entity? When will people begin to say, I want to get to know Ann, Vixen,
James, etc, not The Blind, The deaf, the able bodied? Sorry, soap box put
away. Excuse me folks, for my ranting but for God's sake!!!!
Take care, see you on-line.
Ann P.
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