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Short biography of Margarete Steiff
The facts of her life are fascinating, and make me want to add her to the guest list of my fantasy Space/Time dinner party. This narrative of her life is problematic.
::Facepalm:: Here we go with the "innocent victim" Disability-Narrative (sigh). And I trust I don't have to explain to my regular readers why "confined to a wheelchair" is full of fail -- right?
(and "well-built"? Really? oy.)
Shall we continue?
Okay, now we're into the Disabled-as-unfair-burden-on-the-Able-bodied Narrative. (Sigh)
But it doesn't end there (snipping a bit):
Now, we've got the Disabled-as-emotional-manipulator narrative.
It's that last one that I'd particularly like to translate. How about this, instead?
"Margarete Steiff was a creative and intelligent woman who learned, early in life, to be an effective self-advocate for her own independence."
There. That's better.
Still, since this is a dedicated "Teddy Bear" site, I suppose they'd be tempted to play up the childish aspects (Victim, spunky, inspirational, manipulative) of her personality even if she hadn't had a disability.
The facts of her life are fascinating, and make me want to add her to the guest list of my fantasy Space/Time dinner party. This narrative of her life is problematic.
(Quote) Margarete was a very lively, well-built child and led a carefree life until she became ill with polio at the early age of 1½. She was destined never to walk and to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. (unquote)
::Facepalm:: Here we go with the "innocent victim" Disability-Narrative (sigh). And I trust I don't have to explain to my regular readers why "confined to a wheelchair" is full of fail -- right?
(and "well-built"? Really? oy.)
Shall we continue?
(quote) Her mother, above all, found this very difficult to bear. She would have to care for her daughter for as long as she lived. Her daughter would never be able to take on the role of housewife and mother and, at the time, it seemed as though she had absolutely no prospects for the future (Unquote)
Okay, now we're into the Disabled-as-unfair-burden-on-the-Able-bodied Narrative. (Sigh)
But it doesn't end there (snipping a bit):
(Quote) She spent her free time playing with the other children whenever possible. Margarete was a creative inventor of new games. She was always having new ideas and organized the games in such a way that she could take part.
In doing this, one of her natural gifts became evident, one that was to help her a great deal in the years to come: Margarete had a way of telling people what had to be done in a manner that made them want to do what she said. (unquote)
Now, we've got the Disabled-as-emotional-manipulator narrative.
It's that last one that I'd particularly like to translate. How about this, instead?
"Margarete Steiff was a creative and intelligent woman who learned, early in life, to be an effective self-advocate for her own independence."
There. That's better.
Still, since this is a dedicated "Teddy Bear" site, I suppose they'd be tempted to play up the childish aspects (Victim, spunky, inspirational, manipulative) of her personality even if she hadn't had a disability.
