Still thinking of making a new version of this infographic:

[capri0mni]

[Image description: a block of text, divided into four sections. The base of this box is bright yellow, with black text that reads: “Ableism: The belief that the value of a human life is best judged by a Measure of Ability.”

Above that, reading left to right, are three blocks titled “Racism:”, “Sexism:”, and “Homophobia:”.

The “Racism:” block is brick red, and reads (in white text): “Blacks are natural thugs because they’re not as smart as Whites, and they can’t control their emotions.” A yellow arrow points to this from the box defining “Ableism,” and yellow text reads: “That’s ABLEISM.”

The “Sexism:” block is dark teal, and reads (in white text): “Women are better off married to men, because they are weaker, and are less rational.” A yellow arrow points to this from the box defining “Ableism,” and yellow text reads: “and that’s ABLEISM, too.”

The “Homophobia:” box is lavender, and embedded in the upper right corner of the sexism block; it reads (in white text): “Gay men are corrupting our culture by being effeminate and undermining healthy Masculine Values.” An arrow with a teal point and yellow shaft points to this from the box defining “Ableism,” and text (in teal and yellow) reads: “That’s SEXISM, which is ABLEISM.”

Description ends.]

As I said in my previous post, I want to make it a hand-drawn picture of trees (or a single tree with many branches), with the definition of Ableism under the ground, "feeding" the roots of all the other -isms that grow out of it.

I'm also thinking of making it a multi-panel, comics-like thing, so I can "zoom in" on details of the tree, specifically the "fruit" of the tree, where I could include some of the consequence of bigoted thinking and policies (racial profiling, abortion restriction laws, etc.).

But for all the changes I want to make, it's still going to be word-based art, and I've realized I need to come up with the words first, so I can know what shapes to draw around them.

So:


Bigotry: Beliefs and policies which deny certain people full access to human society.

Ableism: Using some Standard of Ability (Mental/Intellectual/Physical) as a measure of someone's humanity.

All Other "-isms": Believing certain groups of people have inferior abilities based one or more arbitrary characteristics, thereby justifying bigotry against them (because they don't "measure up" as fully human).

[Note: some of the consequences in the bulleted lists are historical, some are contemporary]

Racism: Blacks are thugs because they can't control their impulses, or learn as well as whites. They are also physically stronger than whites, and are less susceptible to pain (both these are outside the parameters of Standard ability -- I.E.: ableism)

• black people are used as beasts of burden on slave plantations, bought, sold, bred and castrated like animals.
  
• unarmed black youth are assumed to be threats, and shot by police
  
• black people gathering to protest are met with riot police
  
• black people are refused pain medication by medical doctors, who don't believe their pain is severe.

Sexism: Women are better off married to men, because they are physically weaker, and less rational (failing to measure up to either the mental or physical standards of ability --Ableism).

• women are forbidden to own property
  
• women are denied the right to vote
  
• women must wait until they are 30, or until after they have at least three children before they are allowed to have their ovaries removed -- even if they are at a high risk of ovarian cancer, and plan to never have children.
  
• women are catcalled in public, and are expected to make themselves sexually available to men at all times.

Homophobia: Gay men are corrupting our culture by being effeminate and undermining healthy Masculine Values (Sexism --> Ableism).

• Homosexual relationships are illegal
  
• Homosexuals are forbidden from adopting children
  
• It is legal to fire someone for being homosexual.

I'm also thinking of (but have not firmly decided in favor of, yet) making some "branches" closest to the base of the tree specifically for Ableism, and how disabled people are barred from full participation in human society...

Anyway, bedtime, now. I'll probably palaver more tomorrow.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

And disability is so stigmatized that when someone who is disabled also encounters racism/sexism/homophobia, observers dismiss the part disability plays.

re Homophobia: Lesbians are so rare they don't even show up on the lists :,)

Re: your last point, it's worth mentioning somewhere but maybe not here, the ableism that permeates "impairment cultures." That is, blind/deaf people who dismiss those who patronize by saying, "I'm strong as a bull!" Or wheelchair users who complain that people talk to them "as if they were stupid."

[capri0mni]

And disability is so stigmatized that when someone who is disabled also encounters racism/sexism/homophobia, observers dismiss the part disability plays.

Virginia is progressive enough to be one of the 14 states with a Hate Crimes law. However, the way the law is written, only specifically named demographic categories are covered, and Disability is not on that list. I remember reading, when it came up in the news last year (but I'm too disheartened to search too deeply for it now), that the judge in the case of the black, mentally disabled, football player, anally raped by his white teammate was not a hate crime -- because the victim was disabled, it was merely a crime of opportunity.

The "Oh, well, what do you expect?" attitude.

*sigh*

Re: your last point, it's worth mentioning somewhere but maybe not here, the ableism that permeates "impairment cultures." That is, blind/deaf people who dismiss those who patronize by saying, "I'm strong as a bull!" Or wheelchair users who complain that people talk to them "as if they were stupid."

Indeed.

This is, as they say, the "Disability Hierarchy." But it's more like a fractal than a ladder or a pyramid.