Perceptions

vase or two faces?
(Sorry about the font - I don't know why but I can't make it bigger.)

Our perceptions and opinions about something can be drastically different from the reality. We forget that our perception of something may not be true, that there are many different angles to everything and we can only see one. We always feel entitled to establish our own perceptions about something and treat those perceptions as fact, even if we aren't able to fully understand the situation.

 The disabled mannequins, which were created in Sweden for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, were met with a variety of responses from the public. Most of the viewers looked at the mannequins with what looked like confusion or displeasure. My interpretation was that they believed that the mannequins made this way would offend people with disabilities and make them upset. This was the public's perception - that disabled people would feel that they were being mocked by such models. But the reality is that they were thrilled! They were very happy to see themselves represented in a way that they have never seen before.
The essays we read indirectly discuss this. Think about it: when you see a disabled person, you think that they are incapable of doing a lot of things. Their disability is the first thing you notice, the primary aspect of them you remember. This perception is what Mairs argues against: "Take it from me, physical disability looms pretty large in one's life. But it doesn't devour one wholly" (Mairs 2). She proceeds with examples of ordinary things she does to emphasize that her disability is just a small part of her and despite it she lives a normal life.

 Both Mairs' essay and the mannequins serve to normalize disability and show that they are a part of normal living. They serve to change the world's perception that disability is something other; to "insert disability daily into our field of vision...in the small and common scenes of our ordinary lives".

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