You raise some valid points....my daughter is ten she has been paralyzed since she was an infant. We met the youngest member of this cast and she was so excited. I appreciate that being on TV affords liberties the rest of us do not have. But to my daughter the name girls softens it for her to appreciate more than woman and I would normally be the first to argue about calling a woman a girl. In her case it is useful. As for the ability of Auti the quad, what I saw was that she has help that gets her dressed and that she also had some stem cell treatments in South America(?), nonetheless to me this is all about baby steps. Getting the able bodied population to look at the population that uses w/c is extremely important in order to further the cause of things we need, ie public transportation, support, access to jobs, good medical care, etc. No one would put on a show about quads who were totally dependent for care because people would not want to watch it. In doing it this way, many folks, who are otherwise not exposed, are getting to see how people who use chairs, are in fact people first. The logistics of how they present this is always going to be "hollwood-ized" it is no different than any other show/reality show. I am sorry it upsets you but I do see the benefit of raising awareness and the ability for my child to see an adult female who is happy, and enjoying life despite the obstacles she faces, it is incredibly empowering. My daughter has not seen the show it is too grown up, but when she met the youngest member of the cast, she felt empowered and we watched some bios on line. The woman talked about what a push girl is and how it means to push through when things are tough, we have used that many times and she gets empowered by it.
My daughter only crosses her legs by accident when her legs spasm, in the night mostly and she is all tangled up in her cath/drainage bag...not exactly the hollywood moment for the show! who knows this show may enable adults in our community to be willing to have my daughter over for a play date without being afraid. That would be so worth it! On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 7:19 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > The name alone raised my hackles. I dislike intensely calling women > girls -- especially in the media. Thank God newscasters haven't said that > as most of the US Gold Medals thus far are from "women athletes". > > And when I saw the cast, sigh, overly made up, bloom off the rose/hard, > and crossed legs… > > One of the "tells" I tell friends about is leg crossing -- as that is a > thousand percent more movement than I have. > > These show make me have to explain again, that, I am truly paralyzed, as > in can't move my legs, so no hopping on and off a seat at a restaurant or > coach (as a couple of characters do) is possible for me. > > If I could cross my legs, hop up on one wheel of my wheelchair to reach > groceries (as Auti did), or have people at my beck and call to dress me, > move my legs or pick me up and put me on the toilet (these are all scenes > from the show), chauffeur me around, take me bowling my life would be > sublime, never mind the unrelenting pain I endure that's attendant to TM. > > I keep trying to watch, but something they will say or do, so disgusts, > dismays or discourages me -- because I don't have the mildness of injury > or the ease of access or the extent of support or the mildness of > weather--- > > It may be an EastCoast/ NY vs West Coast thing, too, there's so much > superficiality it's hard to take…. > > (LOL, I'm reminded of the rappers' dispute. I, too, can never understand > why people who have warm weather and sunshine, who can pluck fruit from > trees in their are nearly year round think they have overcome anything. > I've visited Lala land in the 60s, the 80s and the 90s and spent a lot of > time in SF in the late 90s) > > Or that none of what I saw depicted any mutuality of interest -- the > musician who doesn't practice, the swimmer who has access to a gym and pool > but hasn't swum, no on reads or goes to a library, or makes anything (other > than money or whack omelets) > > Maybe it's the unreality of Reality Shows… I just keep hoping no one i > know watches it. > > > > On Aug 9, 2012, at 12:08 AM, Betty Clark wrote: > > Just curious... has anybody else caught the new reality show "Push > Girls" on the Sundance cable channel? It features 4 paralyzed women in > wheelchairs (plus a new 19-yr-old teen) - each with a different severity of > injury. They are absolutely amazing with the things they accomplish and the > confidence level they've achieved! They are a real inspiration - much like > Cody Unser and could possibly be very helpful to others in realizing what > can be done, even under adverse conditions. First-run episodes run at 10 pm > on Mondays here in the Northwest of the U.S. "Catch-up" episodes run on > Sundays starting at 11:30 am. If you haven't seen them yet, google "push > girls" and check out the different clips. > > Betty > (in Northern California). > > -- Mary Anne Egan The Stettler Group, Inc. [email protected] (908) 806-3001 (908) 806-3113 Fax
