Disabled sisters flourish

1. promote understanding of disability issues;

2. mobilise support for the full integration of persons with disability in the society;

3. illustrate how the media often only looks at certain issues on special commemorative   days;

3. reflect on issues experienced by persons with disabilities; and

4. raise awareness about challenges facing people living with disabilities.

 

 

This article displays gender awareness, as it is about two disabled sisters who have made it in the business world. The article does not use language that demeans or induces feelings of pity towards the women. The accompanying photo shows the sisters at their business looking successful and happy.

 

It is rare to see a positive story about people with disabilities that does not portray them as helpless, weak, or unusual, so this article represents a good change, since it focuses on their business success. However, the problem is that these types of success stories are only considered important when World Day of Disabled Persons is celebrated. Outside of commemorative days, it is very difficult to find positive articles about people with disabilities.

 

In addition, although the women are successful businesswomen, the article talks about their disabilities first. People with disabilities are very often defined by their disability, with other aspects of their personalities or careers considered less important. This article could just have easily appeared in the business section, but because the sisters are disabled, the first focus is not their business success. To a certain degree the article misrepresents the women by saying that they are disabled first, and afterward mentioning their business.

 

More than half a billion people in the world are disabled as a result of mental, physical and sensory impairment. Observance of the Day offers an opportunity to foster changes in attitudes towards people with disabilities and eliminate barriers to their full participation in all aspects of life. However, people with disabilities should be highlighted in the media in positive ways throughout the rest of the year as well.

 

1. Do you think the general public has a good understanding of the various issues around disability?

2. Is the media doing enough to provide positive images of disabled persons?

4. Do people living with disability have the same rights as able-bodied people?

5. Has the media played a good role in articles about disability? What do articles about disability usually look like?

5. What language if often used to talk about people with disabilities? What kind of language should be used?

6. Do you think disabilities can make women more vulnerable to things like poverty and abuse? How?

 

1. Conduct a research on whether disabled men and women are treated the same. It might be at workplaces, hospitals, shops and on the street.

2. Visit disabled person’s homes and interview them on their lives. Do they receive support from their community? What challenges do they face? What they do for a living and what do they want to achieve?

3. Conduct research about what kinds of jobs disabled people have access to. What is preventing them from accessing other types of jobs? Consider the education system – is it accessible to people with disabilities?

4. Compare this article with others that focus on people with disabilities. How are they different? Consider language use, tone, and what aspect of the person’s life the articles focus on.

 

Business Unusual: Gender and the economy