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The nurture versus nature debate is an old one, from ancient Greek philosophy through English literature (Shakespeare's The Tempest) to the current debate about the importance of genetics in our makeup. The question is whether we are born who we are and that some pre-destined agenda is written down somewhere, in the stars or in our genes, or whether life experiences and the things we perceive mould us and shape us.
It is argued that a persons concept of the world is built upon their perceptions, from the sounds they might hear, to the things they might see or the emotions they might feel. Bought up in an isolated environment, like Peter Seller's character in the film Being There, we develop on the basis of our own perceptions. Place us in a civilised place and the perceptions and agendas of other people become confused with our own. The result is a tapestry of contradictions and a lack of genuine comprehension or understanding. Clarity is lost. Our own ideas, opinions and prejudices are not our own, they are a part of this tapestry.
Prejudice is just what it says it is. It is a pre judgement, based on a social opinion or conception of what a person is like. The real guidelines should be our own perceptions which are unfortunately for the most part distorted. Everyone has prejudices, and all are guilty of putting people into boxes and compartmentalising them. On our first meeting with someone what we see or hear or feel inside affects our judgement of them. Immediately they are grouped. Only later, when we get to know them better may the person leave their box and become a unique individual with no equal.
History is littered with examples of mass compartmentalisation: slavery, religion, racism, xenophobia, sexism. Most people would deny being prejudiced. It is associated with evil ideals, such as Nazism, and the horrors that come with them. On being asked a direct question about prejudice then most people deny it influences them.
The importance of what we look like, how we appear to other people, is equalled by the importance of how we see ourselves and how we feel other people see us. It is easy to say, "I don't care what people think." It is far more difficult, given the boundaries we are bought up in, to mean it. Body image is a corner stone of society. From early childhood we are governed by an image of what it is to be normal, which media influences maintain well into our adulthood.
Common newspaper stories about how a person has overcome their disabilities and has participated in a `normal' activity reinforces the idea that everyone has an ideal of normality that has to be lived up to. This is equalled by the common comment heard in the street, "How amazing, they're just like normal!" The sad thing is that many of us accept other people's perceptions of us. We feel that we are not normal, that we are less than others.
Where do our ideas of body image come from? It is interesting to note that the young child will have little concept of what it is to be normal, and will in a lot of cases accept people they meet for what they are. It is only when they are a little older - perhaps attending school, beginning to follow television, reading - that their ideas about body image are developed. Children are notorious for being cruel. In the playground stereotypes are developed. People who do not fall into the normal category are often teased and bullied. Adrian Mitchell called it the Playground Blues:
It is difficult to believe that these prejudices are developed in each child's mind without any influence from the outside. Rather in most cases opinions are developed and adopted from an existing source. It is common for children to fear the disabled. They are different and difference is to be feared. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was at first feared then pitied. These are the choices we are given, fear or pity. Sexism and racism are well documented and almost everyone has an awareness of these issues. There is no word disablism. It doesn't exist.
In our upbringing, we learn subconsciously that there is a body ideal to live up to. The heroes in our comic books are extensions of this ideal. Batman and Superman are ideals that as we grow up we know we can never achieve. We are taught though that we can achieve normality. This is a cheat. All we can do is maintain an appearance of normality. One of the first things a member of the disabled community learns is that normality is just an appearance, only they supposed to work harder at maintaining it than anybody else.
Jake and Elwood put their finger on an important point in the song Everybody needs somebody to love.
"And please remember people, that no matter who you are and what you do to live, thrive and survive, there are still some things that make us all the same: you, me ,them, everybody."
Our needs for love, companionship, achievement, self worth, self actualisation, employment, education and success are equal to anyone's. All are realised through social relationships. These relationships are built on a trust and understanding of one another and in the early stages of a relationship trust is built upon our impressions of each other. People like to think they build relationships based upon an astute judgement of another's character and personality. It is more likely that we base our understanding on a sub conscious body image.
Perception on a minute level is pure and unadulterated. The light that forms images on our retinas, the motion of the air forming sounds, the things we feel and touch: all these send signals to our brain and in one way or another we gain an impression of the environment about us. Two things ought to be considered. Firstly how do we know we all see, hear or feel the same things: what one man calls yellow is not necessarily the same colour another man sees, although he calls it yellow as well. We all like to eat different things, what if our perceptions share this same variety of taste.
This is important because a large part of prejudice is a shared concept of what is and isn't normal. The first part of ridding ourselves of prejudice might be in seeing that all of us are unique and perceive unique things. Secondly once these perceptions reach us they are immediately translated, largely by a process of socialisation, and become part of a concept of the world around us. This concept of the world is shaped when we are young and it is very difficult to change, though not impossible, once formed. In this context we are taught that two and two makes five. Perhaps it doesn't.
A recent campaign on behalf of abused woman used a poster to encourage the signing of a petition. On it a question was posed, `Would you tolerate domestic abuse?' Below was a statement, `By not signing our petition then you just have.' Being a passer-by, saying nothing, letting it happen does not excuse you from being part of a crime. If you are not part of the answer you are part of the problem. In most cases the concept of normality is something that exists as background noise, we are not even aware of its presence. It is only when events affect us individually or someone close by that we consider the issue head on. Looking and seeing are not the same things. When we look we regard a wheelchair, a stick, an old lady, a black man, a woman. We don't see the person behind these things. These first impressions effect and quite often define our perceptions. The advice of Phylis Mckormack is relevant:
"So open your eyes, nurses, open and see,
Not a crabbit old woman, look closer, see me."
Look Closer
