Wheelchair use equated with terminal misery (click to enlarge):
Wheelchair use will keep you from EVER having fun. So implies this ad for Goodyear Tires from the August 2, 1937 issue of Life. Everyone looks depressed about the fact that the boy’s in a wheelchair, from the boy himself to his sister and even the dog. I’d be kind of depressed too if I were teetering on the edge of a porch [notice that Sis has one leg up on a step] without a guard rail. This image could be used in a discussion of how perceptions of persons with disabilities have changed over the years…and also how they have stayed the same [witness the stubborn popularity of “wheelchair-bound” as a descriptor for wheelchair users].
Comments 14
Christine — November 30, 2008
I can't be certain, but I would wager that this ad is mainly in reference (or at least, timely) to the polio epidemic, which to be fair was kind of depressing and scary to a lot of people. I think it's still relevant to discuss problematic perceptions of ability, particularly looking at stories of polio survivors and social stigma, but I would also make a point about locating this ad historically if it's used (whether it was actually specifically about polio or not).
(And then of course the issue is further complicated by the perception of polio as a historical phenomenon, when in fact it is still a world health issue. But yeah.)
Vidya — November 30, 2008
My first thought was polio, too -- but isn't the ad copy meant to suggest that the child was injured in a car accident caused by a tire blow-out?
Christine — November 30, 2008
@Vidya - Hmm, good point though. I guess I thought it was in reference to the wheelchair tire?
Vidya — November 30, 2008
I wondered about that, but this chair looks like it was perhaps before the time of chair-tires with inner tubes? (very thin wheelframes). And could a pushed, manual wheelchair experience a 'blowout'?
Penny — November 30, 2008
I think Vidya's right--it's about automobile tires and proper inflation to prevent blowouts and thus accidents and injuries (permanent or not). The chair's wheels don't look susceptible to a blowout. The ad may be subtly tapping into the public's fear of polio and its aftereffects for added impact, though. For many, many images more explicitly related to polio in the 20c. US, see the Smithsonian's excellent online exhibit, "Whatever Happened to Polio?"
http://americanhistory.si.edu/polio/
Vidya — November 30, 2008
"The ad may be subtly tapping into the public’s fear of polio and its aftereffects for added impact, though."
I think Penny's exactly right here.
Christine — November 30, 2008
I think my reading comprehension was taking a coffee break this afternoon, because auto tires clearly make more sense. Agreed, agreed! But perhaps Penny has something there and I am not too crazy in making the mental leap.
As a side note, from me realizing my weird mistaken reading, it was interesting to shift perspectives from (at the time, incurable) disease to what's being portrayed as a preventable accident. Often I've found myself noticing how the idea of disability/ability leads into the issue of cause (and inevitably prevention). Especially given the guilt factor of this ad. A side discussion could be the changes in public perception when a difference in ability is seen as self-caused, other-caused, or luck of the draw as it were. Did it make a difference then? Does it make a difference now?
Tim — November 30, 2008
What would you consider a suitable euphemism for people restricted to wheelchairs?
Vidya — November 30, 2008
"People who use wheelchairs."
I'm shocked that people are not aware that 'wheelchair-bound' is never an acceptable phrase.
Penny — December 1, 2008
"Wheelchair user" is also fine. "Wheelchair-bound" and "confined to a wheelchair" are not.
Bagelsan — December 3, 2008
“Wheelchair user” is also fine. “Wheelchair-bound” and “confined to a wheelchair” are not.
I had never heard that before... but now that I think about it, I guess saying "confined to a wheelchair" makes about as much sense as saying I'm "confined to my feet." (Oh, no, I only have two! And they are relatively unstable! I feel so deprived! :p)
Penny — December 6, 2008
Exactly, Bagelsan. Or "confined to your shoes"--where most of us find that good shoes make for more comfortable, safer mobility, that's also true for wheelchairs--if they fit right, they increase users' mobility, comfort, and safety.
Sociological Images » “Disabled Girls” Video Game — July 18, 2009
[...] also have a posts of a girl with a limp as an ugly friend, Goodyear ad featuring a sad kid in a wheelchair, nude calendar of Paralympic athletes, dolls with Down’s [...]