I've been meaning to write about this since Thanksgiving. Its a debate that Jean and I had at the MMC. Now perhaps we were only discussing this because we were delirious from the 12 pounds of turkey we had eaten, but somehow I think we'd have ended up debating this at some point regardless of the situation.
While at the MMC we saw a woman wearing the most delightful shirt. In fact I'm surprised that its not on Jean's Christmas list. It was a shirt that was covered in screen printed wolves. I believe that there may also have been glitter...it was hard to see. Naturally Jean and I instantly gave each other the "did you just see what I saw Oh My God!" look. But then we noticed that this woman had on a very large plastic back brace: clearly indicating some serious injury or disability. This poses the question: (I sound like I'm in an extemp round) "Is it OK to make fun of a terribly unfortunate shirt/clothing choice if the person wearing is clearly disabled?" I say yes and here are my reasons. We weren't saying "oh my god that lady is so ugly." We were saying "That shirt is so ugly." And it was...hideous...and not at all appropriate for the Thanksgiving holiday bar experience (anyone recall the Thanksgiving whore from last year?. We are making fun of the shirt. Not the woman or her disability.
I suppose it could go further. If, for example, I see a mentally challenged person wearing a screen printed sweatshirt (the kind with the fake polo shirt collar on top) can i make fun of that? Perhaps the mental disability makes her think that its a nice shirt! At that point am I inadvertently making fun of the shirt and the disability?
What do you think? Is it OK to make fun of a terribly ugly shirt of the person wearing it has some sort of disability? Inquiring minds must know!
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2 comments:
Hmmm... I'd say it's a matter of degree and personal agency. Like, if the person is obviously able to support and dress themself, then astonishingly poor fashion can be mocked just as it would on anyone else. Glitter wolves on someone able to make it out to MMC... yeah. I'd say that's fair game. If you think about it, it's pretty patronizing to assume that just because a person has a disability, they can't be responsible for what they wear.
On the other hand, I would guess that most disabilities necessitate some budgetary and lifestyle accommodation -- so mocking stuff that's a bit out of date or just kinda plain is pretty harsh.
Mentally disabled... yeah, it stands to reason if someone's impaired enough for other people to notice without talking to them, someone else is probably dressing them. So that's a "no."
Debating which disabled people can be made fun of for their fashion choices? We are so going to hell.
AH YES.
I agree with the AV. I mean, I still feel bad because I made fun of that lady's shirt...
but I pose myself this questions:
would I have made the "oh my God face" at her shirt had I seen the backbrace first? Because I didn't see it until after the fact.
And, I hate myself, but I have to say no. If I saw a person in a wheelchair, and he was wearing, say, a tank top with arm holes that were big and stretched out, I probably WOULDN'T make fun of him. THAT'S why I'm going to hell. I am not an equal opportunity asshole to people.
And as for the mental illness--yeah, you can't make fun of that shit. That is not cool. But if someone broke their leg and was wearing a sweater with a snowman on it and that snowman was made of cottonballs? Well, that lady deserves to be made the "oh God what is she wearing" face at.
We also posed the question of whether or not you KNOW someone is mentally disabled before you make fun of them...or if they are both physically and mentally disabled. The last one is obvious because of the mental part, but what if you don't know? I mean, what if The Clap not only has the clap but a clinically proven lower IQ?
I hate myself! (Naw, she's just a ho.)
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