Gender, Class, Sexuality Issues...

A person with a disability includes learning disability, developmental, cognitive, emotional, physical, as well as sensory impairments that limit the performance of a major life activity. Society targets people with disabilities because some people are more equal than others. The disabled play an inferior role in which people that are not disabled dominate. The disabled are not treated equal, on the contrary they are discriminated. Discrimination is when a person is treated as less, inauspiciously because of certain traits without justification or not adjusting to their needs. Gender, sexuality, and class are crucial factors –double discrimination- in which their disability is the target.

Gender
Discrimination is more prevalent among females with disabilities. When a woman gives birth to a child with some type of impairment or disability the family places the burden on her. The father of the disabled child leaves all the work to the mother including care for child, feeding, bathing, clothing, and nurturing. Baring a child with a physical disability also puts the blame on the mother. “It is her fault that the baby was born this way.” It is not unusual for the husband to want a divorce because of this. Husbands do not want to be married to women that bare children with disabilities. I find this striking because the burden should not only be placed on the women nor the blame. Both helped conceive the child so it is not about whom is to blame but work together to care for the child.
Women with disabilities are more prone to being abused, with acts of violence. Women and girls are sexualy abused, physicaly abused, or raped. It is a “silent act” because women are not capable to accuse these acts of violence because of their physical or mental disability. They are also not as likely to report these acts.

Class
Females with disabilities have a higher risk of having health problems, becoming poor, and death. The overprotection of parents and dependency leads to these factors. Society also makes disabled individuals feel like they need to depend on their family as well as others. Families overprotect their children because they do not want them to get hurt but do not realize that their children might not able to function and survive in society or on their own. Individuals with disabilities think that they are in fact helpless therefore are isolated from others, social learning, don’t experience on their own, and think that making mistakes is not normal.
In developing countries people are just uneducated about this subject. Parents and people do not know how to deal with individuals with physical impairments, cognitive, visual, and so forth. For example, when I went to Central America in December of 2006 I noticed that there were no type of programs or services for people with disabilities. Society does not want to deal with them so they just push them aside. Students with disabilities are not included in the mainstream. I met a child that was bind. His family did not have the resources, or education so did not send him to school, and just stayed home. His family was so overprotective because they neither wanted anyone in school making fun of him nor him getting hurt. They did everything for him therefore the child was so dependent that he could not even brush his teeth on his own.

Ways Individuals are Discriminated
People with disabilities in Norway have lower a education compared to the rest of the population. Jobs are not available for the disabled. They are discriminated against because of their physical disability or physical characteristics. People would prefer to hire a "normal person" than a person whom is blind or in a wheel chair. The individuals that do not work rely on special assistance or services and are on pensions. 9 out of 10 young individuals on a pension say they would prefer to work than to be home. They would like to work and be to survive in this society but people do not permit them to be elf-sufficient. Society makes them become dependant and tells them they are helpless. 31% of persons with physical impairments never visit cafés or restaurants, compared to 9% of the population at large (Ziesler). The law in Norwegia excluded the disabled from any type of services, which are available to the rest of the public. They are secluded from any type of normal or everyday activities because they are portrayed as lesser beings.

Sexuality Issues
People with disabilities face different types of issues with sexuality during early childhood, adolescence, and early reproductive years. In childhood gender lays the foundation for gender roles. Gender roles include female and male activities or the way society influences the way we act with masculinity or femininity. A person with a physical disability may have limited exposure to gender roles and may not be able to experience them spontaneously. In “Reproductive Issues for Persons with Physical Disabilities,” the author states that a person with physical disabilities has limited development of psychosexual and social maturity (Haseltine 4). Individuals with disabilities have limited development in these areas because they are too dependant, families are overprotective, and are not allowed to experience on their own. They also do not have the ability to develop social skills needed to function in society. Most of the information that we acquire about sex comes from our peers or the media. They lack awareness as well as comprehension of sex education and normal behaviors. Most families do not allow them to experience sexuality because it is not "normal."
Women with disabilities say that their experiences with sexuality happened later than women who do not have disabilities (Haseltine10). When intimate with a disabled female or male one needs to consider playing gender roles. He/she would need to have initiative, be playful, and confident.

Society and people are to blame at some degree because they reinforce dependency. The disabled are influenced to think that they are helpless and need assistance to communicate and act. Therefore it leads to difficulty in social learning, educating themselves about special services, sexual behaviors, sexual relationships, sexual development, health problems, poverty, death, and so on. We need to stop this endless cycle of hate and oppression, and love everyone.

Resources
Haseltine, F., Cole, S., and Gray, D. (1990). Reproductive Issues for Persons with Physical Disabilities. Maryland: Paul H. Brookes.
Ziesler, M., (2002) Double discrimination against disabled women in rich and poor countries. Retrieved November 12, 2007,
Web site:http://www.disabilityworld.org/index.htm