Disability Myth Project- Draft

With your project, I am going to make an exception and allow you to use two myths for your project. The big thing that you need to remember is that the supercrip and charity myths are very similar, even though they do opposite things: the supercrip concept is used to ‘elevate’ a disabled person (used them as a source of inspiration) and the charity/pity concept is to keep the disabled person ‘in their place’ (keep them as low-status people). Despite the differences, both are used to degrade the disabled person. Neither work to see the disabled person as they wish to be ‘seen’ or understood. They both have harmful repercussions as they perpetuate stereotypes about people with disabilities.

Here are some ideas of how you can organize your paper and use your arguments/claims well. I am also recommending two new sources that may work better for your project. (You can still use the sources, including Dolmage’s work in your DMP paper.)

1) Throughout the movie, she is trying to get people to treat her the same as they did before the attack, but she is ultimately pitied because of what happened. In one specific scene, she is the object of charity when she is gifted a prosthetic arm. This approach is very harmful because while the intention was good, the people who gifted her did not understand that the reason she wanted an arm was for stability in the process of standing up on a surfboard again, not to “look normal.”

Example: Bethany receives her prosthetic arm and when it is presented to her by one of the men from Inside Edition, he says, “Doesn’t it look real?”(Soul Surfer, 54:10). This is an assumption that what Bethany wanted out of a prosthetic was to fit in and look normal. Her frustrated response was, “How am I supposed to use it on my board?...How am I supposed to paddle and surf in this thing?”(Soul Surfer, 54:56). Understandably so, Bethany is distraught because there was a clash in understandings of what was the purpose of the prosthetic arm.

Use Joseph Shapiro to help you support this observation (Shapiro, Joseph P. No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement. Times Books, 1994. (This article is on Canvas under “Scholarly Articles for your DMP papers”

2) To complicate the charity/pity myth further, the initial reasoning for Bethany to receive the prosthetic arm from a national news agency was to run her story as a pity story. This approach was supposed to inspire viewers with her so called recovery to normalcy. Even though she did not record her story with them, the charity gifting is glorified the movie creators to put the attention, focus, and emotional value on everyone but the person who has a disability, removing the power from Bethany telling her own personal story. By having Soul Surfer and this scene shown across the globe, it emphasizes that charity does not automatically help with an impairment.

3) While Bethany’s success as a female surfer is extremely admirable, the way the film depicts Bethany’s story objectifies disability and perpetuates the disability myth “Overcoming or Compensation.” This highlights society’s belief that living with a disability is a limitation and that Bethany must use her athletic gift to “overcome” her perceived “abnormality.”

The “Overcoming or Compensation” myth is perpetuated by the belief that disabled people are considered less than, and in order to gain social acceptance they must have a gift that compensates for their outlying difference.

Example: Once Bethany returns home from the hospital, one of the issues she copes with is that she will no longer be seen as a “normal” teen. She tells her mom that people like “normal,” and she is frustrated that even clothes won’t help “disguise” her missing arm (Soul Surfer). There are several instances where Bethany brings up her desire to be treated as a “normal” competitor and to not be given special treatment by the judges. While, the movie attempts to promote the idea that Bethany becomes accepted for who she is with her disability, disproving the association with being able-bodied and “normal,” they do so by spotlighting Bethany’s amazing “gift” that defies the odds, greatly perpetuating the “Overcoming or Compensation” myth.

Additionally, the film objectifies Bethany’s disability by focusing on how her self-growth allows her the opportunity to be a role model and source of inspiration for other children with disabilities. This signifies the power structures in society and how disabled people are secluded to the bottom rungs of the social hierarchy, unless they can prove to compensate for their attributes that classify them as “less than.”

Use Clare, Eli, et al. Exile and Pride : Disability, Queerness, and Liberation. “The Mountain: A Metaphor.” Duke University Press, 2015: 1-13. (This article is on Canvas under Week 1)

There are similarities between Eli Clare and Bethany Hamilton in the sense that they push themselves to be the “super-crip” because it provides a “shield, a protection, as if this individual internalization could defend us against disability oppression” (Clare, 8). Bethany becomes aware that with one arm she does not fit the definition of “normal” and if she doesn’t push herself to be the best, she will feel as though her disability “overcame” her. Disability makes society see people as different, as unequal, and the “super-crip” stereotype that Eli describes perpetuates the push for disabled people to “try the extraordinary” because if they don’t “overcome” their disability “at the base of the mountain lies the nursing home” (Clare, 12).

The bottom line? It is extremely important to recognize that living with a disability is a reality and disabled people should be recognized for who they are as individuals. They do not need to compensate, overcome, or disguise their disability, or be pitied, in the pursuit of being accepted in society.

Disability Myth Project (3)
Criteria	Ratings
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Introduction Does the introduction identify the disability myth and primary source, and how the writer will put them in conversation with each other? Does the writer include a brief summary of his/her primary source? Does the writer provide information about the disability myth and how it will be applied?	Excellent Strong Good Effort Not fully developed
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Thesis Does the thesis include information about the writer’s primary source and disability myth, and how he/she will use them to support his/her overall argument?	Excellent Very Strong Strong Good Effort Not fully developed or clear
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Development of Ideas Does the writer integrate his/her primary source with information from his/her annotated bibliography? Does the writer make good use of his/her secondary sources? Does the writer provide claims, evidence, and interpretations that support his/her overall thesis?	Excellent Very Strong Strong Good Effort Not fully developed or consistent
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Clarity and Transition Do the ideas flow together? Does the writer make use of transitions between paragraphs and sentences?	Excellent Very Strong Good Effort More Work is Needed Poor or absent transitions
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Grammar and Mechanics Have you checked your paper for spelling errors, capitalizations, grammar, and sentence flow? Is the write-up at least 4 pages, not including the Works Cited page?	Excellent Uses graceful language that skillfully communicates meaning to readers with clarity and fluency, and is virtually error free. Strong Uses straightforward language that generally conveys meaning to readers. The essay has few errors. More Work is Needed Uses language that generally conveys meaning to readers with clarity, although writing may include some errors. Poor Uses language that sometimes impedes meaning because of errors in usage and does not meet the paper's minimum page requirement.
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome LA Citations/Two Scholarly Sources Are the in-text citations done correctly? Do they have the author's last name and page number? Does the paper include TWO academic, peer-reviewed sources?	Excellent Provides two strong scholarly sources and correct use of MLA citations Very Strong Provides two strong secondary sources but citations need fixing. Good Effort Provides two scholarly sources but stronger connection to primary source and disability myth are needed. Or citations do not follow the MLA format. More Work is Needed Stronger use of secondary sources is needed. Or paper is missing one scholarly source Poor Paper is missing two scholarly or critical sources; paper does not use sufficient evidence from secondary sources.