People with Disabilities - Essay Example

Name: Professor: Course: Due date: Introduction People with disability in the society comprise those individuals that are suffering from long-term health complications which include physical, mental and intellectual as well as sensory impairments some of which are great barriers to the way they interact and socialize with others. This is because some disabilities are a major hindrance to the way affected persons can participate in community activities on equal terms with the rest of the society members according to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 1. Currently it’s estimated that about 10 percent of the world population which translates to about 650 million people, suffers from disability of one kind of the others and that about 30 percent of the population live with atleast with one person suffering from disability. About 80 percent of the disabled persons live in the developing countries where they lack the necessary support, appreciation and encouragement from the society because of the existing poor social structures (Rosemarie 2009). The challenges and difficulties that disabled persons are facing in the society, has also been accelerated by the fact that there are different perceptions by the society. The disabled perceptions different societies have towards the disabled persons determines greatly on the way they regarded in the community and role in various social activities. For instance while there are those communities that may hold that disabled persons are non-sexual, there are those who hold the view that disabled persons are without sexuality (Robert 2002). It is from this point that this essay seeks to critically analyze these differing views in reference with different concepts which include discourse and power. Application of key concepts The discourse concept as used to explain the issue of disability and in particular with regard to non-sexual and without sexuality is important in demonstrating the reason as to why disabled persons are regarded they do in the contemporary society. The discourse concept seeks to explain the truth about something is founded on such institutions as education and family. According to this concept, distinct and very different sets of explanations about a given theme or phenomenon does exist. The concept is also used to determine what the society knows and how we can know. It also from this concept that the relationship to power by individuals can be determined since it can be used to shape individuals and the society. On the other hand, the concept of power is used to explain the relations that do exist and that are likely to change over time given certain circumstances. Further, the power concept is used to explain the shape of whom we are and what we are able to do and how we understand ourselves and the general knowledge we have about the world around us (Rosemarie 1996). Idea of non-sexual, or without sexuality Despite the fact that disability can exist in various forms and can only affect some parts of the body and their functions, there are theories by some institutions that people with disabilities may be non-sexual while others maintaining that, people of such situation may be without sexuality (Jenny 1991). Non-sexual can be explained as a scenario where a person is not able to either have sex or involved in sex activities as a result of malfunctioning of body parts or even health status that does not give one the emotional power to do so. On the other hand, sexuality is very complex aspect in human life and about personality and self. Sexuality can be defined in terms of sexual thoughts and feelings, desires, longings, erotic fantasies and turn-ons as well as experiences. In many occasions, sexuality can be explained as the force that tends to empower someone towards displaying emotional feelings towards the other person. What this means therefore a person without sexuality, is an individual who does not experience any of the above in any way. In different institutions therefore, disability despite being an wide concept and that can have an impact on any part of the body, many people seem to believe that with certain disabilities, the affected persons are likely not to have or participate in sex in ant way or may lack the emotional feelings and desires to be an emotional relationship with another person (Kevin and Bill 1999). Even though disability is a common phenomenon in the society, the subject has been dominated by different views that have been institutionalized and have continued to cause a lot of marginalization and discrimination of the affected individuals. This is because little attempt has been taken to study in detail the sociology of deformity and address issues that may be surrounding the problem. Paterson and Hughes (1999), in their Disability Study and Phenomenology, found out that sociology of disability has taken a political direction and that it’s losing its ground within the social setting. In this context, phenomenology provides the opportunity for transcending Cartesian dualism which depicts that the body of an individual as a passive precultural object (Zwischengeschlecht.org 2011). However, according to the study by Paterson and Hughes, has shown that impairment is founded on political content which is as a result of one’s own understanding rather than medical. Even though disability can be explained in very wide terms, it cannot be forgotten that sexuality is a very ‘hot’ topic that cannot be discussed with looking at one’s disability. This can be established in the study by Katrina Karkazis in his book ‘Fixing Sex’ even at birth point; diagnosis of sex is highly superficial. This is because, one can actually look at the child and conclude whether she is a boy or a girl and any defy of that is termed as a disability. This is because different institutions hold different views with regard to certain features and such observations are very obvious and described differently by different cultures (Jennifer 2009). However, according to Karkaziz, these perceptions may be not well informed. This is because, these are only external analysis which entails observing the genitalia parts with bare eyes. Karkaziz goes further to acclaim his position that lack of physical genitalia should not be used to conclude that one’s non-sexual or without sex. This is because the genes may be in form and with very little medical attention one can function equally well as any other person. On the other hand, the latest case of Caster Semenya an athlete from South Africa is what has put the subject of disability into big disarray. Even though, Semenya’s sex could not exactly be told, it is not easy to tell that her state is a disability but what can be termed as a “Hermaphrodite”. The Hermaphrodite scenario among individuals occurs when during child development from the womb. During child development in the womb virtually everybody was once a hermaphrodite where one could be seen to be equipped with both ovaries and testicles which is a 100% ambiguous genitalia state. However, at a later stage in development, the two organs separate even although not in all cases to form XXs girls and XYs boys. With the acceptance of the case of Caster Semenya by IAAF to continue participate in different world competitions, is a clear demonstration that disability is only disability based on how a given society perceives. For instance, the case medical institution believes that Hermaphrotide is a normal case and never disability as may have been looked at by ASA and IAAF while banning Semenya from participating in global competitions (Katrina 2008). In addition, like of traditional practices such as female circumcision, some cultures are strongly of the view that lacking certain parts of the body or some deformities is directly related to the non-sexual and without sexuality among different persons (Virginia 2009). This is because people have been shaped with the concept of discourse and power which have continued to influence greatly on the way people from different institutions tend to find the truth about something and also find out what subjects human beings are, their capacity and the knowledge they posses. For example, female circumcision in some institutions may be termed a normal practice in some societies; it is condemned and considered a violent action against the girl child. The opponents of the practice are of the view that female circumcision is like cutting the head of the penis and it tends to cause great deformity to the victim. However, this has not been proved medically since the same practice has happened to many young girls and yet they are still very sexual and full of sex (Tom 2003). Conclusion In the contemporary society a lot of literature has been produced about sexuality and disability and the industry is controlled by professionals from various fields such as medical and psychology. However, what is emerging is that the voice of the disabled persons is conspicuously absent in better parts of these works. As is like in many cases, disabled persons are highly displaced subjects and also fetishized as objectives. According to the medical practitioners, disabled persons are seen as people suffering from some kind of deficit and that sexuality is a big problem because it is an issue among the majority members of a given institution. In general, the depicted relationship between people with disabilities and non-sexuality or without sex is founded on the concept of society discourse and power both of which may not be constant in all institutions. Bibliography Jennifer Germon, extract from “Money and the Production of Gender,” in Gender: A genealogy of an idea. New York: Palgrave, 2009, pp 25-55. Jenny Morris, Pride Against Prejudice: A personal politics of disability. London: Women’s Press, 1991 Katrina Karkazis, ‘Introduction’ Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority, and Lived Experience. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008, 1-27. Kevin Paterson and Bill Hughes. “Disability Studies and Phenomenology: The carnal politics of everyday life” in Disability and Society, Vol.14 No. 5. 1999, 597-610. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson. Staring: How we look. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Morgan M Holmes. ‘Queer Cut Bodies: Intersexuality and Homophobia in Medical Practice, 1995. www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/queerfrontiers/queer/papers/holmes.long.html Robert McRuer, “Compulsory Able-bodiedness and Queer/Disabled Existence,” in Disability Studies: Enabling the Humanities, (eds) Snyder, S., et al. New York: The Modern Language Association of America 2002, 88-99. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson “Introduction: From Wonder to Error - a Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity," In Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body. New York: New York University Press, 1996, 1-19. Tom Shakespeare, “Cultural Representation of Disabled People: Dustbins for disavowal?” in Disability and Society, 1994, Vol. 9 No. 3. 283-299. Virginia Braun, "Selling the 'Perfect' Vulva" in Cosmetic Surgery: A feminist primer, ed Cressida Heyes and Meredith Jones (Farnham: Ashgate, 2009) 133-149 Zwischengeschlecht.org 2011, ‘The Hounding of Caster Semenya and the Extermination of Hermaphrodites in the "Developed World,"’ November 2009, http://zwischengeschlecht.org/pages/Semenya-Soundarajan-Discrimination-of- Hermaphrodites-in-Sports Read More