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

Mon Apr 1 16:45:31 UTC 2013

Well, I definitely plan to include it in any of my future disability
studies classes for sure!

On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 11:28 AM, Robert A. Hansen
<roberthansen33 at yahoo.com>wrote:

> This has been a thought provoking rticle.  Hmm..an excellent one for a
> feminist class or if it existed, a blindness studies course.
>
> Robert H
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Sent from Samsung tablet  roberthansen1970 at gmail.comDeborah Kent Stein <
> dkent5817 at att.net> wrote:
>
>
> 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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> >
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-- 
Ryan Parrey
PhD Candidate-Disability Studies
Graduate Assistant-Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Persons with
Disabilities
University of Illinois, Chicago
Board Member, Disability Geography Specialty Group, AAG