Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The World Is Taking Crazy Pills (Pt. 6)

Europeans are not our betters in any respect:


A doll billed as a "real retard" found its way into stores in Gothenburg in western Sweden on Thursday, prompting strong reactions about a campaign meant to draw attention to the treatment of people with disabilities. "Treat her like a real retard," reads the packaging of the doll, created by the Gothenburg Cooperative for Independent Living (Göteborgskooperativet för independent living – GIL). "She doesn't swear, have sex, drink, or poop. So much better than a normal retard."


According to the group, a non-profit which provides personal assistants to people with disabilities so they can live independently, the doll is meant to stimulate thinking about how people think about and treat disabled people in Sweden. "Most often people say things like, 'Oh, it's so great that you buy your own food!'. It makes you feel like you're seen like a total idiot," GIL's Anders Westgerd said in a statement.


Maybe I am looking at this the wrong way. I thought it was insulting, childish and not at all how I would treat people with legitimate disabilities.


I guess I'm just not European enough.



(with thanks)


2 comments:

Katb. said...

I appreciated reading your sensitive comment about the Swedish doll. You are 100% right, that was in terrible taste and belied discrimination and injustice. Thank you for speaking up and pointing to what is clearly and completely inappropriate.

Osumashi Kinyobe said...

Thank you for your comment.

It wasn't just the terrible taste or the meanness. It was the idea that this "toy" was claimed to be educational.

Hardly.