The Yelleti Times

    Nancy Mairs’ essay inspired me to ponder back to patterns in the portrayal of disabled people in the media. In the TV show that Mairs saw, “the whole point of the show” was “the poor young woman had MS.” However, this is not limited to just this TV show. Although “Glee” is praised for its inclusivity, it is heavily loaded on disability stereotypes and harms how disabled people are perceived in real life.      In the show, Artie Abrams is known as “Wheels”, as he is in a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury. As harmful as this epithet is, there is an episode in which Artie has a dream that he is not disabled and has an entire dance number. In this, he claims that his disability prevents him from living a “normal” life. This implies that people with disabilities are not capable of living a normal life. Additionally, the intentions of this scene are not worthy of appreciation - the directors of “Glee” most likely did this to showcase the actor’s dancing ...

  “The Leavers” by Lisa Ko beautifully tells the story of a young boy named Deming whose mother abruptly left when he was young and his transition through foster care, school, and racial discrimination. Being an Indian-American, I can deeply relate to many experiences Deming has gone through. While reading this book, I find myself in a safe haven where I am understood.           In elementary school, Daniel (Deming’s preferred name) faced a lot of racial discrimination as in school, “Everyone he saw was the same color except for him”. This exact situation reminded me of when I was in elementary, middle, and even high school and was frowned upon in my extra-curricular activities. For example, at the time, I was the only Indian girl involved in western singing and musical theatre. During recitals, rehearsals, and competitions, people would judgmentally stare at my back as I made my way up to the stage and Ko perfectly described how the toxic environment ...