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Inclusion In The 21st Century

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Entry 3: Currently, in the 21st Century, society has become very fixated on the body. How a person looks, their body shape, how they dress, communicates, and even how one walks. The media bombard us on a daily basis on how to attain the perfect body. Consequently, what does this mean for the person with a disability, but only more exclusion. Judith Butler (2010) states that society has a cultural aversion to disabled people. Again, I am puzzled why this fear or pity prevails within us in the 21st Century. The Italian philosopher Umberto Eco in his podcast on Beauty and Ugliness posits that there is a link between ugliness and fear. Society fears it within themselves or from the world around them. According to Eco, ugly people are …show more content…

What then is the essence of inclusion? According to Miller and Katz (2002) who describe inclusion as: “.. a sense of belonging: feeling respected, valued for who you are; feeling a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that you can do your best.” In the Young Offenders, it was disappointing to see that the same old rhetoric of portraying people with disabilities as evil and sinister. In addition, the language used continues to normalise these very perceptions. Does this make it right if done in the name of art and what does this mean for us as a society? How can we change these cultural beliefs and fears of disabled people? Rather than our own individualisms, we need to socially relate more for a more inclusive society. As highlighted in ‘Going for a walk’, Butler instructs us that people with disabilities have gained a social acceptability. This is due to there being more physical access offered in the community. For example, kerb cuts on footpaths, automatic doors, and accessible toilets. Therefore, there are more disabled people out in the world, making this now the ‘norm’. Consequently, society has learned how to interact with them more, leading to more access that is social for all

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