[il-talk] Fwd: an article that I think is totally detrimentaltowards blindness

[Deborah Kent Stein]

One thing I recall Beth saying - either in her book or when I heard her 
speak once - is that nude modeling is a good job for a blind person because 
you don't have to do anything except sit there.  That is a very troubling 
message to put out to the world!  I do not get that message from this 
article, fortunately.

Debbie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leslie Hamric" <lhamric930 at comcast.net>
To: "Robert A. Hansen" <roberthansen33 at yahoo.com>; "NFB of Illinois Mailing 
List" <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2013 11:32 PM
Subject: Re: [il-talk] Fwd: an article that I think is totally 
detrimentaltowards blindness


>I too, thought the article was very interesting. I know best Binky and I 
>used to work with her when I worked at Easter Seals. I've also read her 
>book long time no see and I have a brill copy of her second book, Hanni, 
>safe and sound. I think what she met on the part about walking arm in arm 
>with friends, is that it's nice to be able to walk together with a friend 
>and not necessarily have to worry about where you're going. You can just 
>turn your brain off and relax for a bit. I think is blind people, we have 
>to have good people skills because we interact a lot more with others then 
>sighted people do. Probably because, our way of interacting with the world 
>around us is through information we get from other people. I also know that 
>a lot of us can totally relate about the job discrimination thing. I see 
>her choice of going into new modeling is an opportunity to try something 
>different instead of beating her head against the wall about whether or not 
>people are going to see past the blindness. I think that's totally 
>acceptable what she came up with and how creative she is. And from what 
>I've seen when I worked with her Easter Seals, she is a very independent 
>traveler and a very good dog user. She has actually been a published author 
>since 2004. So she does not do the nude modeling anymore. She's a pretty 
>amazing speaker too. I heard her speak at a function that Seeing Eye put on 
>in Chicago and she was pretty amazing. I also think it's totally acceptable 
>to mention some benefits about being blind, such as being able to have a 
>guy dog. I can relate to that one very well, especially when I got my first 
>guy dog. In fact, I actually came to better terms with my blindness when I 
>realized I was able to take this really cool dog everywhere. And as a 
>result, I slowly started to accept it. The blindness that is. How we all 
>deal with our blindness is a very personal decision. Just by two cents 
>worth.
> Leslie
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Mar 31, 2013, at 7:44 AM, "Robert A. Hansen" <roberthansen33 at yahoo.com> 
> wrote:
>
>> Comments, reactions?  The floor is open for a heated discussion.
>>
>> Robert
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from Samsung tablet  roberthansen1970 at gmail.com
>>
>> -------- Original message --------
>> Subject:an article that I think is totally detrimental towards blindness
>> From:"Robert A. Hansen" <roberthansen1970 at gmail.com>
>> To:Robert Hansem <roberthansen33 at yahoo.com>
>> Cc:
>>
>> Nude Modeling: Going in Blind
>> ; Fink*
>> At hrst I wasn't sure about taking a nude modeling job. ! knew Mike
>> never expected me to answer the want ad. I think he'd read U to me as a
>> sort of joke, trying to lighten up the dark mood that sets in every time
>> I start looking for work.
>> I was working full-time and studying for a master's degree when I lost
>> my sight. Job interviews since then have centered on Braille, tape
>> recorders, and talking computers. Employers erd up fascinated with the
>> technology, yet unsure about my capabilities.
>> It's been rough to be rejected over and over again for jobs I know I am
>> more than qualified for. That's why the nude modeling idea appealed to
>> me. No need to explain technology at this interview. For once, I
>> wouldn't have to beg them to see past my blindness. Sight is unnecessary
>> when all you're doing is letting art students draw you whileyou stand on
>> a tabletop without" any clothes on.
>> In fact, that's the concept I tried repeating any time •[ felt any
>> anxiety about this job. "C'mon, Beth," I'd say to myself. "You'll just
>> be standing there naked." Too often, unfortunately. this phrase got
>> shortened to a repetitious mantra:
>> "Naked."
>> "Naked."
>> "Naked."
>> "Naked."
>> "Naked."
>> "Naked."
>> When I was in college, I used to set rny alarm extra early in order to
>> get into the communal shower room and have it to myself. It xvas years
>> after I was married before I finally quit wearing flannel nightgowns to
>> bed. At home I stiil dress and undress behind a closed bathroom door,
>> and everi when \ve lived in a very isolated house on the outer banks of
>> North Carolina, 1 never walked around undressed;
>> When I mentioned this nude modeling idea to a few
>> "You'll be perfect!" they laughed. "You won't even see the students
>> staring at you. It won't bother you at all that you 're up there naked,"
>> Somehow 1 disagreed. Whether I could see myself or not, I'd know my
>> clothes were off And I'd know the students would know I was naked-
>> Making all this worse was the paranoia I've developed since losing my 
>> sight.
>> I always think people are staring at me: If Dora, my see-ing-eye dog,
>> makes a wrong move and I have to correct her, I'm sure every eye is on
>> us. When I fumble to find a doorknob, I know everyone is watching and
>> pitying me. I hate the feeling that people are watching me without me
>> being aware of it.
>> Why on earth would I accept a job that required me to be stared at?
>> But then I wondered: Could it feel okay as long as I knew that watching
>> me was what. they were MipptMed to be doing? Maybe those laughing
>> friends were right. Maybe it'd be «wy to stand naked in front of people
>> now that I can't see myself anymore, can't see them looking at me? Could
>> nude modeling turn out to be yet another thing I could do as a blind
>> person that I never couid do when I could see? Was it possible that
>> someday I would find standing naked on a tabletop as easy as reading
>> Braille in an elevator? 1 had to find out.
>> I grabbed Dora's harness and walked to the art and design building,
>> armed with questions about the want ad in the paper.
>> What a pleasure it was to have a potential employer welcome my interest!
>> "We're short on models this year," -I was told. Til help you fill out an
>> application ifyou're interested."
>> The application was short, with questions about my
>> weight, my height, and my skin color. Nothing was ever said. about the
>> fact that I was blind. The only bothersome" ques-
>> and had to admit I'd just turned 40. The interviewer mentioned how nice
>> it would be to have a middle-aged model.
>> 1 let the comment slide by. If they wanted a middle-aged model, I'd be a
>> middle-aged model.
>> The audition for the job took place the next week in front of four art
>> instructors and the receptionist who had helped me fill out the
>> application. We women who had applied came to the art room with a robe m
>> our backpacks. We undressed in a separate room, put our robes on, and
>> gathered again in the art room. One by one we were asked to stand on a
>> four-foot-by-five-foot tabletop, take off our robes, and do different
>> poses. As the first woman stepped onto the tabletop, I sat quietly
>> waiting lor my turn, questioning whether I'd lowered myself to something
>> here. Or was this just another opportunity that would have never come my
>> way if I hadn't gone blind?
>> I often think of my blindness this way. That is, if I hadn't lost my
>> sight, ! wouldn't have learned how lovely it is to walk arm-and-arm with
>> friends all the time, how rewarding it is not to judge folks by what
>> they look like.
>> I would have never had a black Lab, and I would still be relying on
>> sheet music rather than'playing the piano by ear.
>> These thoughts were interrupted when the art instructor asked who wanted
>> to be next. "Me!" I called out. I was eager to get this over with. I
>> jumped up and asked my dog to take me forward. The tabletop .was just
>> about the same height as tlie one at the vet's office. Dora decided- to
>> stay seated on the floor. I was a little disappointed, as I thought
>> having a dog up there might distract the art instructors from
>> concentrating on me.
>> There was a stepstool there to help us onto the platform, but I avoided 
>> it.
>> With my robe still on, I backed up to the table and
>> hitched myself up instead. Crouching down, I felt the table-top's edges
>> to be sure I wouldn't fall off. Finally centering myself on the
>> tabletop, I stood up and unbuttoned my robe. I was told to strike six
>> poses, eventually ending up in a reclining position.
>> If I had been able to see that first model do her audition, I might have
>> had a better idea of what was expected. I was suddenly so concerned with
>> which six different poses to take that I forgot I was naked up there. I
>> passed the audition, but not due to my grace. All I could figure was
>> that the department was pretty desperate for models. They seemed
>> particularly interested m me for my age and my willingness to work
>> mornings. Most models are students who would rather not wake up early.
>> After surviving the audition, I figured I'd probably take the job and
>> see how it turned out. Modeling wouldn't start right away, so I still
>> had a few weeks to think It over. And to train Dora to jump up on a
>> tabletop.
>> The sheet of rules they gave us at the audition wasn't available in
>> Braille, so one of the professors read it out loud.
>> Weeks later, as I get ready at home to go to my very first modeling
>> session, I can only conjure up three things from that long list:
>> 1. Do not stare at the art students as they work. For me, this will be
>> no problem;
>> 2. Be on time. This could be a problem on days I have to walk to work.
>> But for today, MikeJias agreed to drive me to the studio. This, even
>> though he's still nol crazy about my standing nude on a pedestal
>> surrounded by college students; and
>> 3. Be clean. Again, this shouldn't be a problem. I shower every morning,
>> modeling nude or not.
>> My showers are usually quick ones, soapy hands brushing over spare fire
>> and love bandies as tasras'Tcah.'One d~T the advantages of becoming
>> blind is the inability to look in full-length mirrors. I was a slim and
>> trim 26-year-old when I lost my sight, and if I shower quickly, avoiding
>> pinching any inches along the way, I have the luxury of still picturing
>> myself looking the way I did m my 20s. And on days 1 can't completely
>> convince myself of this fantasy, I imagine that the clothes I choose do
>> wonders to hide any middle-age spread.
>> But the jig's up once I take my clothes off in front of this art class
>> today. They'll notice every lump and layer of fat.
>> And. this morning, in the shower, so do I. The shower ends up being a
>> long one. Exploring all those bulges takes time. So does contemplating
>> just how I'll feel with all those students scrutinizing my pear-shaped
>> body in their attempts to recreate it on paper.
>> Shower finally over, I head for the coffee maker, remembering to limit
>> myself to a half-cup. Standing still and naked in front of people is
>> going to be hard enough. Standing still and naked while having to pee is
>> something nightmares are made of.
>> Sucking ever)' last drop from the mug cradled in my hands, I am finally
>> able to conjure up some of the more reassuring things that were said at
>> our audition. "The art students will, think of you models the same way
>> medical students think of the naked bodies they work with," claimed one
>> professor. "It's all very professional."
>> Another professor pointed out that a tot of the students would be
>> freshmen and not yet very .sure of themselves as artists. "Add to that
>> the fact that they've probably never been in a room with a naked
>> stranger before," he said, "and you'll realize they'll be a lot more
>> nervous than you'll be."
>> (continued on page 10)
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Sent From My Lenovo b-470/570 Laptop
>>
>> My email for off list and other business use is rob 
>> erthansen1970 at gmail.com
>> Skype name is roberthansen33
>>
>> Some websites I recommend are
>>
>> www.wzrdchicago.org
>> WZRD 88.3fm  Chicago's home of freeform programming
>>
>> www.democracynow.org  for a truly independent voice in media
>>
>> www.fsrn.org  A unique voice for news
>>
>> www.dishnuts.net for some awesome freeform internet talk and music and 
>> other assorted content
>>
>> www.wtnd.us
>> An independent radio station WTND-LP 106.3fm in Macomb, IL
>>
>>
>> www.nfb.org  The largest organization of the nation's blind
>>
>> www.aa.org if you need help learning to live on life's terms
>>
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