Riley Logos

In Nancy Mairs’ article for The New York Times, “Disability”, published in 1987, she expresses her distaste with the media's representation of handicapped people. Mairs, who struggled with multiple sclerosis herself, clearly and sharply conveys this disgust by stating, “I’m not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of a chronic incurable degenerative disease.” (Mairs 13), and that she is actually, “the advertisers’ dream: Ms. Great American Consumer. And yet the advertisers, who determine nowadays who will get represented publicly and who will not, deny the existence of me and my kind absolutely”(Mairs 14). Mairs is greatly upset that disabled people are defined by their disabilities and, therefore, are underrepresented in public media. This might lead to one asking themselves, but why are they? And the answer, according to Mairs, is quite simple, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life”(Mairs 14). Mairs concludes by pointing out how this effacement could have dangerous consequences for both disabled people and, as she called everyone else, TAPs (Temporarily Abled Persons) alike. Treating disabilities as an abnormal characteristic (as opposed to viewing them “as a normal characteristic, one that complicates but does not ruin human existence” (Mairs 15)) can cause one of these repercussions, as it makes the

In her essay “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs presents her audience with an honest inside view of her life and perspective as a cripple, a word she openly uses to define herself. She brings her world to us by discussing a wide variety of things including language, family, and humor, and how these all relate to her life. Through various stories and insights, she allows her readers to gain an understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities. She examines the public’s view of the disabled, as well as the views they have of themselves, and compares them to her own. She makes it clear that she is not to be defined solely by her disability. In discussing honestly her views, as well as

Stella Young’s TedTalk “I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much” discusses the various ways in which those living with a disability are often viewed differently for doing the same mundane things those living without a disability do. In her speech, Young claims that people are lied to about disability. She tells a story about how she was teaching and a student raised his hand asking when she was going to begin her inspirational speech since the only interaction with a person with a disability prior to her class revolved around a person giving an inspirational speech. Young then goes on to state that the world is deceived by “Inspiration Porn” and which leads to the idea that those living with a disability are “objects of inspiration”. She jokes that no matter how long she sat at the bottom of the stairs having positive thoughts that would not get her to the top of the stairs. Young concludes her speech by saying she wants to live in a world where disability is considered the norm and not the exception.

Author of disability Nancy Mairs who’s a feminist and a cripple, has accomplished a lot in writing and teaching. Her remarkable personality shows in many of her essays especially in Disability which was first published in 1987 in the New York Times. In this essay, Nancy Mairs shows how disabled people are constantly excluded, especially from the media. By giving out facts and including her personal experiences, Mairs aims for making some changes regarding the relationship between the media and people with disabilities. Mairs thesis is shown implicitly in the first

Author of disability Nancy Mairs who’s a feminist and a cripple, has accomplished a lot in writing and teaching. Her remarkable personality shows in many of her essays especially in Disability which was first published in 1987 in the New York Times. In this essay, Nancy Mairs shows how disabled people are constantly excluded, especially from the media. By giving out facts and including her personal experiences, Mairs aims for making some changes regarding the relationship between the media and people with disabilities. Mairs thesis is shown implicitly in the first and last

In the CNN article “How outrage over Cecil the lion killing misses the point,” Frida Ghitis utilizes logos several times in an attempt to persuade her readers to adopt her stance on the issue. One such use of logos is when she cites a writer from the Facebook page “Shame Lion Killer Dr Walter Palmer” as saying, “What's more appalling, the death of ONE lion...or the 30,000 children that die from hunger daily?" Ghitis is attempting to appeal to her audience’s reasoning that 30,000 human lives have more value than one animal’s life. Though this tactic may be effective for readers who lean towards her opinion, these numbers might cause skeptics to question the validity of her source. Another example of Ghitis’ use of logos in her argument is when

In the media today, people with disabilities are perceived as tragic heroes or as medical miracles. They are rarely seen for their intelligence or for their accomplishments excluding their overcoming disability hardships. The textbook, Everything’s an Argument, contains an excerpt from Charles A. Riley II 's book “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change.” Riley, a journalism professor at New York’s Baruch College, uses appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade his audience that their methods of portraying disabled people are in dire need of change.

In the world we live in today, many of us criticize or judge others while not noticing it. For instance, when one sees a person with a disability they seem to aid them in any actions they’re taking. Many believe they are committing a good deed, although we are actually thinking of them as an incapable and/or weakened human being therefore we assume its our duty to assist them. In addition, the people’s lack of awareness about the history of people with disabilities are the reason why many of us slack the credentials to realize how we characterize them. Last but not least, the extra effort we make when we see a person with a disability has to be viewed from all perspectives not just one.

The author claims that rather than treating someone different, it should be considered “as just another manifestation of human diversity.” Instead of allowing outside sources, such as the media, influence the judgmental mindset that causes us to look at people with disabilities differently, society should view people with disabled bodies and bodies with mere differences with body acceptance as part of a “manifestation of human

There are numerous individuals that believe disability makes a person helpless and incapable of obtaining a life full of accomplishments. Catherine Kudlick proved that this is not the case; anyone with a disability has the opportunity to achieve their life goals. It is clear in her interviews and writings that people without disabilities need to be educated on how disability can be an advantage. She learned how to change her perspective and in doing so, she dedicated her career to change other’s perspective on disability and the way it is viewed by society, in general. Catherine Kudlick has learned over time and through her experiences that disability is not to be ashamed of and with her acceptance she has made her career on educating individuals about disability.

All people who have brown hair are not alike. All people who have disabilities are not

Burns (2011) contended that if disability is to be better represented in news media, more needs to be done to educate and expose student journalists to PWD, and language and images that accurately represent PWD", which is still the right way to go, educating is a lifetime

Disabilities play a major role in media.Perception portrayed in the media directly influences the way people with disabilities are treated in current society. An example would be Glee, the character Becky has Downs Syndrome, her disability is a very positive situation because it's giving people with disabilities the ability to work.

When people with disabilities are included in the making of media content, they are able to “debate the societal issues related to them that rarely make the mainstream press” (Haller, 2010, p.117). This means that they can bring up problems that they have personally experienced and help educate society on how those problems can be resolved. News about disabilities should be included in the media more often in order to help able-bodied people become aware of disabilities and avoid the stereotypes that have been created. If a person with a disability helps make a story about someone with a disability, they can make sure the story explains the necessary issue and disregards any stigmas. Beth Haller describes in her book Representing Disabilities in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media that “historically, articles about people with disabilities rarely made it into the news, and, when the articles were written, that they were misrepresentative and stigmatizing” (2010, p. 119). In addition, an individual with disability can

Approximately 15% of the world’s population is, in a way, disabled. Whether it is a physical disability or a serious chronic disease, we have about one billion people in the world that live with a disability every day of their lives. It often occurs that these people are seen as an outcast of society; people that cannot live normal lives. It is important to realize that this is not true at all. People with disabilities are completely able to be part of the world. It is just the world’s duty to accept them.