Assignment 1

SOC 3026S: ASSIGNMENT 1

In first part of this essay we will be exploring the intersections of disability with sexuality, gender and class which are illustrated in the film ‘Children of a Lesser God.’ Lastly we will look at how society disables certain bodies and using examples of some social stereotypes on disability, we see in the film.


This film helps us understand disability and sexuality for the characters in the movie start a sexual relationship. In the reading by Sait et al (n.d) they discuss that there is a notion that people with disabilities cannot sustain sexual relationships, and can be described as asexual, also that they are viewed as childlike and are overly protected. The movie Children of a Lesser God goes against these idea’s for she was able to sustain a “normal” sexual relationship with James. It portrayed Sarah, with the disability of being deaf, the same as any other non-disabled person when it came to sexuality and relationships.

In the beginning of the movie, it was stated that Sarah had had many sexual partners when she was younger. It became clear that she had these sexual partners for she wanted to prove to others that she was no different from the other non-disabled girls when it came to sexuality, and being a woman. “In the case of a disabled person these feeling of inferiority are very often associated with notion of their value or lack of it as a sexual being” (Popplestone, n.d; 4). This was the case with Sarah; she felt inferior and was trying to prove otherwise. However, the boys whom she was having sexual relations with were evidently taking advantage of her, for she appeared to them as being “easy”.

When it comes to disability and gender, it is clear that there are inequalities amongst disabled men and women, as there are inequalities amongst non-disabled men and women. In the movie Sarah was an educated women, however, when she came back to the school where she had studied, she was given a job as a domestic worker. A man with the same education (he was also deaf) was given a post as a teacher, which is a more respected job, and one with higher pay. The World Bank stated that studies conducted since the early 1980’s have shown that disabled women and girls have been receiving fewer opportunities, in terms of healthcare, education and employment than disabled boys and men (World Bank, ). In Thompson (1997) it is said that both the female body, “and the disabled body are cast as deviant and inferior, both are excluded from full participation in public as well as economic life” (Thompson 1997, 19). Therefore, to be both female and disabled, one is viewed as “inferior”. Sarah, being both female and disabled, suffered from these hardships.

On the issue of disability and class, in the movie we see that Sarah is able to work but she is part of the lower class because she a cleaner at the school. Even though, we learn that Sarah is intelligent, because of her disability or rather inability to hear or speak, she gets employment as a low status, domestic cleaner.

It is evident from watching Children of a lesser god that the film deals with issues that face people with disabilities. Without delving into the plot of the movie it is important to outline the main character and the role she plays in depicting the struggles commonly faced by those with disabilities.
Sarah Norman is young girl who goes to work in the School of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Sarah develops a keen relationship with a new staff member who encourages her to work on her speaking rather than carry on with the use of sign language. Sarah lives an isolated life. Her Father left her and her mother at very early stage. Naturally she took her disability to the reason for his departure. Her mother sent her off to this special school for those who are hard of hearing.
As we can see, the film illustrates the common “understanding/norm” in society that people of different natural abilities are sent to different schools and institutions were they are segregated from the rest of society. Although these institutions are established to help these people, they in turn ostracize them from the rest of society. Sarah’s mother is a typical example of how we ship these people off to be on their own amongst their “own” type.
Sarah accepts herself as deaf and so continues to engage in sign language as a means of communicating. The new teacher challenges her to learn to speak and to talk rather than use her hands. This is an example of the process of “normalizing” these people. We want them to be like the rest of us.
Upon doing my research on this topic, I learnt of an interesting suggestion. It said the quite a large number of people in the world all over suffered of hearing disabilities. It was suggested that sign language should be incorporated into the schooling system from an early age so as to find ourselves as society where we have to send these people who are as capable, if not more so, as you and me.

According to Thomson (1997: 46): “The limitations disabled people experience result more often from interaction with a social and physical environment designed to accommodate the normate body”. It is clear that we as people with certain bodies are disabled by society by being sent to different institutions and by treating them differently and by trying to normalize them to fit in with the status quo











Bibliography
1. Popplestone, R. (in Press) Are blind people better lovers? ] In Steyn, M. E. and Van Zyl, M. On/off the edge: Shaping sexualities Vol 2.

2. Sait, W., Lorenzo, T. Steyn, M. and Van Zyl, M. (in Press) [Mothering disabled children] In Steyn, M. E. and Van Zyl, M. On/off the edge: Shaping sexualities Vol 2.


3. Thomson, R. G. (1997). Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature. New York: Columbia University Press. 19-51.

4. World Bank. Accessed online @ www.worldbank.org