5
Section one: The fundamentals
A)
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
Many of you are likely familiar with the concept of “ability inequity,” which the authors of this article define as “an unjust or unfair (a) ‘distribution of access to and protection from abilities generated through human interventions’ or (b) ‘judgment of abilities intrinsic to biological structures such as the human body’.”
However, they go on to identify the following “ability concepts” that are less familiar:
1) ability security (one is able to live a decent life with whatever set of abilities one has)
2) ability identity security (to be able to be at ease with ones abilities)
How prevalent are these forms of security among disabled people you know? Or, if you identify as a disabled person, would you say your social surroundings and community foster and support these kinds of security? Furthermore, while the focus of the article is on Kinesiology programs, it is also important to reflect on how academia in general accommodates for disability. If you feel comfortable answering this question, what has been your experience of postsecondary education to date?
-OR-
The authors also observe that “Ableism not only intersects with other forms of oppression, such as racism, sexism, ageism, and classism, but abilities are often used to justify such negative ‘isms’.”
What do you think this means? Provide an example.
| I think “ableism not only intersects with other forms of oppression, such as racism, sexism, ageism, and classism, but abilities are often used to justify such negative ‘isms'” means that discrimination tends to rely on certain assumptions about ability. Also, if someone or a group of people are labelled as less able, that label is sometimes used to justify the discriminatory actions or words. This means that if someone who identifies as a disabled individual, they are more likely to be discriminated against because in the society we are a part of, that label is reason enough to allow oppression.
An example of this could be looking back to eugenics. Groups who were under the ‘average’ intelligence or ‘genetically unfit’ were forced to be sterilized and had different laws and movements against them to ‘prevent’ them from creating more people like them. This opens the idea that ableism was used to justify the oppression against the people effected even though at the time it was something seen as normal and was accepted because of the discrimination against disabled people.
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Exercise 2: Implicit Bias Test
Did anything surprise you about the results of the test? Please share if you’re comfortable OR comment on the usefulness of these kinds of tests more generally.
| My responses indicated that I have a strong automatic preference for physically abled people over physically disabled people. I don’t think these types of tests are all that accurate for actually testing how one feels about certain groups of people, but more so how strong one’s working memory is. Differentiating between abled and disabled bodies and good or bad words via pictures, is more so a memory or cognitive task than deciding how someone feels about another group of people. I think there may also be a bias about how many questions one chooses to answer in the pre and post questionnaires because for the one’s I had no answer or preference to, I simply skipped them which would leave out that data because there is no point for the way I actually feel. I am surprised about the results because I got most of the good/able bodies matching to the correct key wrong, especially once it switched which key meant what and the different added categories.
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B) Keywords
Exercise 3:
Add the keyword you contributed to padlet and briefly (50 words max) explain its importance to you.
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Viewed as a more traditional approach and sees disabilities as a problem or defect within the individual. This model interprets disabilities in a way that focuses on diagnosing and treating the “defect” as to rid the person of the exclusions and segregation they may be experiencing. This model should collaborate with the social model of disability in order to help these people live a happy and healthy life rather than put them in a bubble where they cannot participate in sports or other mainstream activities.
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B) On Disability
Exercise 4: Complete the Activities
Exercise 5: Notebook Prompt
What do Fitzgerald and Long identify as barriers to inclusion and how might these apply to sport in particular?
The main barriers identified within the article include those under the umbrella of logistic, physical, and psychological aspects. These intersect with disability in sport through the ways in which athletes are treated as well as the representation of disabled people in the leadership or management roles. The barriers include aspects that are based off of both the medical and the social model in that they either focus more on the treating and integration or the inclusion and equality that are explained through each model. In sport specifically, this could apply in the ways in which athletes are actively participating or through how much representation and attention they receive. For example, someone on a team who has a disability may be getting more press attention for the team to show their inclusivity. Another example would be the opposite and disabled athletes getting no exposure because of their disability and teams worrying about how it may look on the team as a whole.
C) Inclusion, Integration, Separation
Exercise 6: Complete the Activities
Exercise 7: Notebook Prompt
Choose ONE of the three questions Fitzgerald and Long argue disability sport needs to address and record your thoughts in your Notebook.
- Should sport be grouped by ability or disability?
- Is sport for participation or competition?
- Should sport competitions be integrated?
| Should sport competitions be integrated?
In terms of sport competitions, I think they should be integrated but also grouped by skill level. For example if two people are performing with the same outcomes and similar styles of training, then they should be grouped as a team. If one of those people identify as a disabled person then it should not matter as they are the same level of skill as those on their team. As mentioned in the article from Fitzgerald and Long, the people leading the organizations are those with the most assumed expertise in the field of sport they are a part of. The main issue with these organizations is that they were created with the abled body in mind and used as the norm, however, grouping by skill level could help to make it fair for all. I don’t think making a team or playing a certain sport has much to do with physical ability but more so, the skill levels the individuals hold. Again, two people with the same skill level will most likely get the same results whether or not one or both or neither identify as disabled. If the leaders of the organizations listened to activists for disabled athletes, then they could have a more inclusive and integrated team that does not discriminate against disabilities but utilizes their strengths the same way they would for an abled bodied athlete. This change would also help increase the confidence and self esteem levels of disabled athletes in that they would be comparing and working with and against people of the same skill level rather than someone who is able bodied versus disabled. |
Part Two: Making Connections
A) Gender, Sport and Disability
Exercise 8: Complete the Activity
The paradox that sportswomen habitually face (as the authors observe, this isn’t confined to disabled sportswomen) involves the expectation they will be successful in a ‘masculine’ environment while complying with femininity norms in order to be recognized as a woman.
True or false?
Take a moment to reflect on this paradox below (optional).
| true |
B) Masculinity, Disability, and Murderball
Exercise 9: Notebook/Padlet Prompt
Watch the film, Murderball and respond to the question in the padlet below (you will have an opportunity to return to the film at the end of this module).
The authors of “Cripping Sport and Physical Activity: An Intersectional Approach to Gender and Disability” observe that the “gendered performance of the wheelchair rugby players can…be interpreted as a form of resistance to marginalized masculinity” (332) but also point out that it may reinforce “ableist norms of masculinity.” After viewing the film, which argument do you agree with?
a) Murderball celebrates a kind of resistance to marginalized masculinity
| d) Murderball does both of these things
The film highlights a lot of masculinity that is seen to reinforce traditional norms such as aggression and competitiveness while challenging the stereotypes but also making a point to recognize those in the wheelchairs as being strong and capable. It shows the resistance of marginalized masculinity through showing the wheelchair rugby players being aggressive and showcasing their toughness which is more so associated with traits geared towards traditional views of masculinity. It also reinforces the links between dominance and physical power that connects masculinity with physical ability. By highlighting that dominance and power and aggression, the traditional traits of masculinity, the film still upholds those traditional aspects of masculinity in that the wheelchair players are presenting with those traits in order to prove their masculinity so they can prove themselves in the game.
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Section Three: Taking a Shot
A) Resistance
B) Calling out Supercrip
Exercise 10: Mini Assignment (worth 5% in addition to the module grade)
1) Do you agree with the critique of the “supercrip” narrative in this video? Why or why not? Find an example of the “supercrip” Paralympian in the 2024 Paris Paralympics or Special Olympics coverage and explain how it works.
| After watching the video, I think it was not as effective as they thought it was going to be as they were kind of only highlighting the fact that people who are disabled can do common, everyday tasks. I thought it was strange that in a video about sport, they also included things like brushing teeth as if it is some sort of shock that disabled people cannot do that on their own. It made me think that there are some people in the world that believe things shown in that video to be shocking or unreal because, like the blog post states, some people don’t think disabled people have independence and if they do then they should be celebrated for every little thing in their life. I think it sends a message that is problematic because although celebrating little wins is important in my opinion, portraying it a success and almost miracle that someone with a disability can brush their teeth, work, or play with their child, is a little bit dramatic.
This article talks about how narratives from previous Paralympics have changed over the years, going from being viewed as a concept that is there as a “sideshow” to the Olympics to creating awareness and conversations about Paralympics. It also talks about how people were very focused in on the attempts to help people overcome their disabilities through sports. One note from this article suggests that Paralympic sports are just as aggressive and physical as Olympic sports. I think this statement is one of the many ways they are creating awareness for the Paralympics and Special Olympics because they are showing, through traditional norms, that these are just as much sports as the ones non disabled people participate in. The way in which the Paralympics are explained in the article is that they are a subgroup to the Olympics that are to be held at the same level of standard and impression as the Olympics as well as a place that is meant to be safe and inviting to disabled athletes. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jul/11/channel-4-paralympics-approach |
2) Does the film Murderball play into the supercrip narrative in your opinion? How does gender inform supercrip (read this blog for some ideas)?
(300 words for each response)
| The film reinforces the supercrip narrative in that it showcases disabled men participating in sport while being celebrated and praised for achieving the “impossible” of being a successful athlete in a wheelchair. Similar to some of the comments mentioned in the article above, the film projects a type of surprise of what the athletes can “manage” even though they have a disability. For many, especially in 2005 when the film released, the idea of sports continuing after an injury causing a disability or just being an athlete with a disability was very rare and almost unheard of. The film seemed to reflect this in that it highlights the praise and over exaggeration of joy and shock that is given to the athletes. However, the film does go against the narrative in the ways in which it humanizes the characters and shows how their disabilities effect them rather than just how we think they may be effected. When looking at the aggression levels that fit the traditional view of masculinity and toughness that is expected through sport, the film includes that within the disabled athletes. Expanding on this, they have a wide representation of gender norms, in that they highlight some hyper-masculinity through the aggression shown in the games as well as the physical power that is held to a high value. Furthermore, in terms of gender, the film opens up conversation to sexuality pre and post disability which seems to be ignored or deemed “taboo” in media. I think that was an important thing to include as it acts as another way to help humanize them and show that they are still capable of doing the “normal” things a person should be “able” to do. From the “I am not you supercrip” blog, I think how it was said that depictions of disabled athletes is often viewed as a way for viewers to imagine them as mimicking a non disabled person. I think this is an interesting way of putting things because it is true. As seen in the media coverage, ads, and just conversations people have around the Paralympics and Special Olympics, I feel as though the athletes are being talked about as if they are constantly being compared to non disabled athletes. I do not think this mindset makes sense because they are each their own individual and they have different skill sets but I can definitely see this as being a common schema among viewers.
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