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Social Constructing - Race and Disability

The same person in North America would have no need to walk five miles each and every day in order to survive so they would not seem to have a disability in this social environment. What this example shows is that no one person has a disability until they come face to face with something in their lives in which impede their ability to perform at what society thinks is a normal standard. This in fact proves Wendell's argument that society defines and constructs what a disability is and as long as that person did not encounter a situation where their performance was measured as less than normal they would have not come across this disability. In class, it was discussed that the definition of society further limits individuals in North America in the structures of buildings with things like stairs, height of light switches/boards/etc, tables used, size of the board, favoring learning styles, and the list goes on and on. .
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             Once you understand that the definition of disability is defined by society and not that of biology, it is easy to see how all encompassing the word disability could be. It becomes very easy to begin to think of situations in which many if not all of society would be disabled. One thing Wendell picks up on is the idea that it is important not to get too broad with the definition. She points out that in some societies it is normal for women not to be able to read so we would say this is not a disability for them resulting in then not having a problem in the area. This mindset can be a problem as well, as it is easy to see that if an entire society of women cannot read there certainly is a problem even if it is the norm. The second chapter of Wendell's book is "The Social Construction of Disability". In this chapter she further explores society's definition of disability and the stigma around this. This is when she introduces us to her 'disability' which affects the pace of life she is able to maintain.


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