No Pity

Shapiro No Pity In his book No Pity, Joseph P. Shapiro looks at the physical and social barriers to the civil rights of disabled individuals. The main focus of his book is to create an awareness and understanding of the damaging role that feelings of pity play in the self-confidence and self-respect of many disabled individuals. Further, Shapiro clearly outlines the scope of the disabled struggle for rights, and notes some divisions within the movement.

On a personal level, reading No Pity gave me a more empathetic understanding of the disabled rights movement, and also helped me to better understand the negative power of pity. In his book, Shapiro masterfully describes the struggle that many disabled individuals face to maintain dignity in a society that sees them as pitiful. Former poster child for the March of Dimes, Cindi Jones, recalls in Shapiro's book the stigma and pain of pity. Initially, Jones loved the publicity of being on television, on billboards, and her notoriety.

That all changed one day in her first-grade class when Cindi realized that her image was being used to invoke pity for the disabled. Writes Shapiro" She now understood with a bitter clarity. It had been a lie; she was not special - she and her polio were feared" (13). Shapiro's book, in addition to being an important look at the social and human cost of our perceptions of disability, is also helpful in getting the reader to understand the statistical importance of the disabled movement.

Early on in the book, he notes that there are 35 to 43 million disabled Americans, a startlingly large number. No Pity is also enlightening in describing many aspects of the disabled experience that are outside of the normal experience for the able-bodies. For example, Shapiro describes the hurtful image of the "supercrip," who "implies that a disabled person is presumed deserving of pity - instead of respect - until he or she proves capable of overcoming a physical or mental limitation through extraordinary feats" (Shapiro, 16).

Shapiro is also insightful in describing the struggle for rights for the disabled. In Chapter two, he notes the example of Ed Roberts, left quadriplegic by polio, who enrolled in the University of California at Berkley. Here, he notes that disabled rights have come about as the result of a long-fought struggle to overcome stereotypes and prejudices against the disabled. In addition, Shapiro also offers some insights into divides within the disabled community himself.

He notes that many disabled individuals welcome and encourage the Special Olympics as a way to dispel the notion of pity that is often associated with disability. On the other hand, Shapiro notes that many disabled individuals feel a dislike for the Special Olympics because the events are separatist in nature. Personally, Shapiro's book was an eye-opening look into the disability rights movement.

As an able-bodied person, like many others I often sometimes grumble at the expense and apparent lack of use of such items as handicapped parking, handicapped washrooms, and even the length of wheelchair accessible ramps that I need to navigate in the course of the day. This book put a real, human, face on the disability rights movement for me, and made me better understand the daily (as well as societal) challenges faced by the disabled.

In the future, I'll be a little less likely to grumble about some minor inconveniences in my life, as I can now compare them against some personal knowledge, gained from Shapiro's book, of the enormous difficulties faced by many disabled individuals in America. In addition to emphasizing the need for.