[nabs-l] Blindness and Identity

[Jedi]

Well, if we want to get down to brass tacks, we can all say that we 
will never know just how our beingness affects our perceptions, but the 
bottom line still lies at the fact that our perception of our beingness 
is largely determine by what our culture teaches us about it, and 
identity is the presentation of how we respond to those teachings in 
our interactions with ourselves and others.

I think it's interesting that two men have been interested in whether 
or not I see myself differently because I can give birth yet no women 
have weighed in on the subject. I also think they're more interesting 
in my birthing abilities than I am. Well gentlemen, you're welcome to 
those abilities so long as you're willing to take the identity that 
comes with them. *tongue in cheek*

Respectfully,
Jedi



Original message:
> The point is that without ever having had the experience of being a man, you
> cannot say for sure that your being a woman does or does not have an impact
> on how you see yourself or experience the world. I suspect it does, but
> without any basis for comparison, you can't say. Just as my being blind from
> birth prohibits me from determining whether or not or to what degree my
> blindness affects how I view myself and experience the world. My gut feeling
> is that my blindness has a fairly profound affect on at least a significant
> subset of the things I experience and the way in which I experience them.

> Blindness is absolutely part of my identity, as is my height, skin color and
> love of the Chicago Cubs. Your identity is just an exhaustive list of all of
> the characteristics and attributes which make a particular person the
> particular person that they are.

> To what degree I identify myself as blind or identify with the greater
> community of blind people is a completely separate question from that of
> whether or not blindness is part of my identity.

> I don't think blindness, strictly defined, is a social construct, while I
> think the concept of disability is. I'm sure that to articulate my reasons
> for feeling this way would require more time than I am willing to put into
> it now, but that is my gut feeling.

> Thought I'd throw my two cents into this interesting discussion.

> All the best,

> Sean


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