Living In A Mask
It's Disability Pride Month.
I believe the whole concept of Pride is to bring attention to struggles faced by a marginalized community in hopes of inviting positive changes.
One of the struggles I believe people with disabilities face is constantly feeling pressure to minimize themselves so they can fit in with the rest of society. This 'minimization' is otherwise known as masking and more often than not, people with disabilties basically live in masks because they are too afraid to be themselves and risk being bullied, ostracized, dehumanized, or even demonized for it.
The problem with that is that people with disabilities are quite literally incapable of masking 24/7 without taking a break even if they try their very best, so they often get overwhelmed by the constant stress associated with masking and end up masking at the worst time, which creates chaos and pain for them and their lives.
I believe this heavy, neverending struggle is something 'typical society' needs to be made aware of.
A lot of divergent individuals are truly undervalued or quite often socially forgotten simply because they have disabilities, are seen as problematic or too weak or incapable of learning, and a good deal of typical individuals are too busy or uncomfortable to see the true value of anyone different than them.
And this problem has existed all throughout time...
Even in as advanced as humanity is in the time of Star Trek, this is very much the case and social inequality is still far from curable.
The best way we can try to remedy it, I believe, is to speak up about it and those who have lived experiences with the struggle are the best voices to speak because they truly understand it. Lived experiences, in my eyes, include experiencing it yourself or being related/close to those who experience the struggle.
One of the way I share my lived experiences are by writing essays and likening my experiences to TV or movie characters that I identify with.
I deeply identify with Star Trek, so I wrote an essay called 'For Your Comfort, I will Sacrifice' that was in the Spring 2022 Issue of Star Trek: Quarterly. You can find it here: https://startrekquarterly.wordpress.com/2022/04/02/spring-2022/
The essay was also published Treksphere.com in May 2022. The essay on Treksphere.com is expanded beyond the original because I felt there were additional things I needed to add.
You can find it here: https://treksphere.com/diversity-in-trek-for-your-comfort-i-will-sacrifice/
In the essay, I explain that Data and Julian Bashir were both very intelligent, capable individuals surrounded by people and circumstances where they stood out, but each responded differently to the responses of others, as did those in their circles. Data humbled himself and accepted the limits others placed on him because others couldn't see beyond prejudices. Julian Bashir, on the other hand, was given an existence that he hated by people who feared for the future his unaltered self would have faced because prejudice/indifference is relentless.
I feel as if this topic is very much worth exploring because people really don't take the time to consider such an intense social topic and I invite all to explore, enjoy, and become educated by the essays.
Comments
Post a Comment