Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
WORLD YOUTH STUDIES CONGRESS-IV, Rome, İtalya, 12 - 13 Kasım 2024, ss.72-73
ABSTRACT
Introduction and Purpose:
This study explores the rhetoric of Ableism as power discourse by drawing on
Michel Foucault’s ideas interrogating the governing pervasive assumptions of a
well-intentioned society, family. The term "ableism" describes the
bias and social stigmas directed at individuals with disabilities, stemming
from the notion that typical abilities are superior. Ableism labels people
primarily by their impairment and is fundamentally predicated on the idea that
persons with disabilities must be "fixed."
Materials and Methods:
Like racism and sexism ableism labels entire groups of people as
"inferior" with false assumptions, harmful stereotypes, and
generalizations. Whereas the use of restraint or seclusion as a means of
controlling students with disabilities or segregating adults and children with
disabilities in institutions can be considered ableism, invasive questions
about the medical history or personal life of someone with a disability are one
of the minor forms of ableism and remains unrecognized. Ableism is an ideology,
a mental framework as Stuart Hall defines, and dominates the society’s way of
thinking. It operates as a discourse of power and domination. It becomes
visible in the mental frameworks transmitted through rhetorical devices,
language, imagery, and systems as displayed in Doris Lessing’s novel The Fifth
Child (1988).
Results: Lessing makes the
rhetoric of ableist capitalist ideology visible through the unwanted, othered,
and dismembered horror-inducing Ben. Harriet unable to mother a disabled child
abandons him to a neighborhood teen named John, who adopts him into his violent
gang, a microcosm of the violent society, where he finally feels belonging and
happy. Discussion and Conclusion: As the Fifth Child, Ben, which means blessing
and the one that should be one of the equal parts of something cannot be a part
of society, the family, and one of the fingers of the hand.
Key Words: Ableism,
Ideology, Youth, Power, Michel Foucault