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Why dealing with disabled people still seems difficult
Alleged blemishes and obvious otherness make a splash on the catwalks. The latest example: models in wheelchairs at New York Fashion Week. An honest statement or mere showmanship?
A model runs down the runway, next to a second model in a wheelchair . Seen at New York Fashion Week. Which questions first came to mind in this picture: Is this the mere display of disability? A fashion label just trying to grab attention? Or a real statement for a radical rethinking of more diversity in the fashion world?
After the model Winnie Harlow, suffering from the skin disease vitiligo, went to Desigual and designer Carrie Hammer sent for the first time a model with Down syndrome on the catwalk, also the label FTL Moda comments. For its show at New York Fashion Week, the brand cast handicapped women around the world. Including models who sit in a wheelchair, walk on crutches or have leg prostheses. The courage came to the audience of the show, at the end there was thunderous applause. Eye-catching? Hopefully, because regardless of whether the fashion label hopes for additional publicity by choosing its models or not, the actual topic is much too important to be dismissed as a mere PR measure.
The fashion show is very relaxed: People with and without disabilities appear next to each other. In real life, it often cramps when meeting. Only - how to behave properly?
Last but not least, what inspired us about the movie "Pretty Best Friends", the French 2012 hit comedy about friendship between people with and without disabilities, is that the characters easily deal with handicapped friends or strangers. And not only from the film, but also from the fashion show in New York, we can look a lot in this sense.
Our most common mistake when dealing with disabled people: We do not want to do anything wrong. Mistakes are allowed, they can even relax the mood. The most important thing is normality. The fact that we sometimes have a great deal of hesitancy about such encounters or that we are clumsy about them is above all because we know too little about the needs, the emotional world of disabled people. Without a family member or a disabled friend, we can only guess how we should behave. Our tip? Ask yourself: How do I want to be treated myself? And then react accordingly.
Moreover, we are often influenced by stereotypes. The reason: A disability is usually associated with suffering, the disabled are quickly pushed into the victim role. At the same time, exaggerated pity does not help much. By thinking that handicapped people have to do something good all the time, we automatically create a limit in our heads. But disability is not something alien. It just belongs to it. To the people and to the diversity. And therefore, of course, is also part of the colorful fashion world.
Photo: Getty Images
