Disability Rhetoric

During this class, my peers and I encountered a reading called “Disability as Masquerade” by Tobin Seibers. As I read this piece, I could immediately picture a physical expression of the concept of masquerade and how it interacts with society. So naturally, I had to make my envisioned sculpture. Masquerade as a concept is interesting because it unable to exist without something we rely on socially, culturally, and politically: Normal. Because of its reliance on normal, Masquerade is the perfect place to begin to integrate conversations of Normal Theory into the Disability Lens. Many scholars in disability studies critique how normalcy is used to perpetuate ableism but rarely do focus on what normal is and how it functions. In our discussions in class, we, the authors of this blog, have hit on the idea of deconstructing normal.  We have consistently hit a wall when attempting to come up with a way go about deconstructing normal. After some reflection, I could not think of a better place to start deconstructing normal than exploring the relationship between normal, masquerade, passing and society. This discussion inspires you to continue the exploration I started here in your daily life.