In my previous blog post, we examined Ryan Knighton’s presentation of his blindness and society’s response to his condition in Cockeyed through the sociological theories of George Herbert Mead, such as the “Self”, “I”, and “Me”. By analysing such instances of Knighton’s and society’s “I” and “Me” in his book, we learnt how Knighton’s identity as a disabled person is shaped by social constructs and stigmas. In this blog, I would like to expand our use of the sociological lens to focus on how disabled individuals such as Knighton are forced to portray themselves to society, so that we can better understand how society tends to generalise and discriminate against the disabled population.

Goffman’s Impression Management

Sociologist Erving Goffman argues that everyone conducts some form of “impression management”, which he explains as “when an individual appears in the presence of others, there will usually be some reason for him to mobilize his activity so that it will convey an impression to others which it is in his interests to convey” (3). Individuals thus have an incentive to carry themselves in certain ways due to how society would respond. In Cockeyed, Knighton finds himself “playing Blind Man for the crowd” (70) by making his cane visible to the public. He further writes, “Hey, look at me! I’m acting like a guy who needs a stick. Even I don’t think I need one right now, I’ll casually swing it around until it seems useful again” (70). Here, Knighton shows that he needs to manage the image of a blind person by using a cane so that society will treat him with extra caution, even when there is no need for his cane.

The dichotomy Knighton faces in presenting himself as a blind man without an audience can be further explained through Goffman’s “dramaturgical perspective”: individuals are always performing for society (Cole). Thus, an individual’s self consists of the “front stage” and “back stage”: in the former, the individual performs a part while aware of a situation or audience, while in the latter, the performance ends when nobody is watching or when the individual thinks nobody is watching (Cole). Knighton faces a dilemma in continuing the “front stage” act of a blind man when no one is watching because that is his “back stage”, where he should be free from societal expectations and drop the performance. Knighton questions this issue when he asks, “If nobody’s around, and everything is safe, how does somebody enjoy a stick?” (70). Indirectly, he is using a sociological lens to highlight the dichotomy between the front and back stage.

Norm Breaching and Deviance

In Cockeyed, Knighton also describes his friend Jane’s impression management of her deafness, albeit in a different way. By concealing her hearing aids, Jane presented herself as a person free of disabilities, which she preferred. However, rather than help her be more accepted by their bar friends, Jane “inevitably felt outside the group” (88). Ironically, one could argue that had Jane presented herself as a deaf person instead, the group would have been more accommodating and inclusive of her. Instead, her concealment of her deafness as an identity excludes her from the group. This can be understood as a form of deviance: actions that violate formal and informal cultural norms (also known as norm breaching), which in turn lead to some form of punishment. In Jane’s situation, by not conforming to the norm of presenting one’s disability, she ends up being excluded from conversations as a punishment as others cannot react accordingly.

Final Thoughts

By studying the different ways Knighton and Jane are treated for presenting their identity of disability differently, we can see how society forces disabled people to perform their disability if they want to be treated equally. If they conceal it, such as in Jane’s case, or if their disabilities are simply not visible or obvious, they risk being punished by society through exclusion or lack of accommodation, as society has generalised expectations of the disabled and discriminates against those who fall outside of these views. Yet, Knighton’s narrative shows us that the impairments of disabled people can be very different. As such, they should have the right to present it however they choose, and society should learn not to discriminate against these choices.

Further Readings

The idea of invisible disabilities is expanded upon in Anna’s blog, where she highlights that people with invisible disabilities face an additional stigma of skepticism, as society doubts their condition and assume that they are looking for special treatment.

The examples used in this blog are also explored, in conjunction with Jillayna Adamson’s experience as a deaf person, in Gurneet’s blog where she argues that society has a common perception that disabled persons are “ugly” and “look unpleasing”.

Works Cited:

Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959. Print.

Knighton, Ryan. Cockeyed: A Memoir. New York: Public Affairs, 2006. Print.

Cole, Nicki Lisa. “What’s the Difference Between Front Stage and Back Stage Behavior?” About.com Education. N.p., 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 07 Nov. 2016. <http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociology101/fl/Goffmans-Front-Stage-and-Back-Stage-Behavior.htm>.

Adamson, Jillayna. “‘But You Don’t Look Disabled… ‘” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Nov. 2014. Web. 07 Nov. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jillayna-adamson/but-you-dont-look-disabled_b_6208986.html>.