For my artifact
presentation, I actually have a few images, one of which is the main one, which
then ties into two others. The
first one is of a male amputee displayed on the Ditch the Label photo campaign,
which is the second artifact. The
third artifact is an icon with the image used to recognize disabled individuals
as well as the word “pride” in different colors, representing gay pride,
therefore representing gay pride within LGBT identified disabled individuals.
The
main image is of a male who is a left leg, below the knee amputee. I attempted to find the background and
name of this model but was unable to.
Regardless, this campaign strives to prevent bullying. The topics in
this campaign range from religion, to sexual orientation, to career, to
disability. This individual’s slogan is “a disability should not define you”,
as well as “disable the label”.
One of the key issues that come up when a man loses a limb is the issue
of his masculinity. Does this make
him any less of a man? The
stereotypical view of a man in society is to be strong athletic, emotionless,
and able to overcome any challenges that are presented to them. This is considered to be the
heterenormative image of a man. If
a soldier loses a limb in battle, does this prevent him from being seen as a
man who served his country? When a
man loses his limb, he may feel he is not whole anymore, that all he is
expected to do is unattainable with the loss of a limb. We hear stories about Olympic runners
with prosthetics, or teenage girls who continue to surf after losing an arm,
but we don’t really hear about the individuals who lost their limbs and have
not been able to recover, and may not be the same person anymore because they
cannot come back from such a traumatic experience. The loss of a limb may cause this individual to feel that
they are less than they were before, and therefore affect the image they have
of themselves.
In
Serlin’s article, the issue of queerness and disability is focused on. There were a group of amputees who
performed in drag, known as the Amputtettes, and although homosexuality
remained hidden in the military at the time, these performers were accepted
among the troops as a source of entertainment. The article mentions heteronormative
masculinity. One image used in the
article shows a left arm amputee lighting a cigarette. Although this is a normal, nearly every
day action, these images were seen to be erotic to some, based on gaze, poise,
and even dramatic lighting. In the “Ditch the Label” contemporary image, this
model is shown shirtless, with a lot of focus on his body characteristics. He is seen with a toned body, which is
the stereotypical and almost expected image of the male body. He is also seen with dramatic lighting,
and it is visible that his hair and face have been touched up, that he has been
prepared for the photo shoot. This
picture seems to try to break the stereotype that is associated with the
disabled but at the same time creates an image for this man that tries to take
focus away from his abnormality. I
feel that this image almost digs a deeper hole for this individual because he
is seen with a healthy, strong body, and he is an attractive male, but the
physical aspects used to stress his masculinity make me have more of a view of
“does this make him even more of a man or does this feminize him?”
The
campaign itself is used to prevent bullying and these photos show all the
different diversity in the world and all the different groups that are
prejudiced and still receive criticism to this day, solely because of something
about them that may be different.
This campaign shows common stereotypes or ridicule that these groups
receive, but also strives to take the concern away from these points. That is, the campaign strives to make
these common stereotypes not matter for these groups.
The final image is
the well-known icon used to display wheelchair accessible locations, next to
the word “pride” displayed in rainbow, symbolizing gay pride in the disabled
community. This is necessary
because it goes unnoticed that there are individuals in the LGBT community with
disabilities, be they physical or mental, obvious or not. These two minority groups tie into each other and are a great
representation of the intersectionality that occurs within minority
groups. This image represents the pride
of members of the disabled community who are not only proud to represent
themselves as disabled individuals, but as LGBT as well, and they deserve the
same amount of recognition as any group who would march in a pride parade.
1)Do you feel that the first image
creates a more masculine, heterenormative image of this model, or do you feel
it creates a more queer image of him?
In what ways does this image “queer” him or in what way does it masculinize
or feminize him?
2) If the Amputettes were to be a modern
day performance group, what do you think the reactions to them would be, in and
out of the military? Do you think
there would be acceptance of it or do you think it would receive more
criticism, even though acceptance of the LGBT community has progressed over
time?
3) In general, how do you feel the
LGBT related images in the photo campaign affect the movement to prevent
bullying? Do you feel that the
associations made with these images stray society away from a heteronormative
community? Do you feel that these images as a whole create a view that does not
fall under the “norm”?
4) At pride parades, there are
various groups representing different institutions and showing their pride and
support for the LGBT community. If one of the groups in a parade was a group of
disabled LGBT individuals or gay veterans who were also amputees, do you feel
that this group would receive a greater deal of pity? Do you think that their intersectionality would work in
favor or against them? Do you feel they would receive the same level of
acceptance, support, and would be viewed the same as another group in the parade,
such as a college group or a popular bar?
As it pertains to question number 4 I will say what I said in class. Even though a if a float were to exist and it was in a parade I beleive people would still stand in respect because it is still men and women who gave a large sacrifice in order to help serve their country along with that fact that they did it under major scrutiny to begin with. I beleive people would support it simple out of respect for their service to the country if nothing else.
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