7.3 The intersection of gender, disability and race: Able-bodied men dominate in the
7.3.3 Representation of gender, disability and race across the four textbooks
Country of
textbook
Subject Number of images
Description Gender Race Zimbabwe Business
Studies
0 None
Swaziland Business Studies
0 None
Lesotho Business
Studies
1 An employee
using a wheelchair
Male African
South Africa Business Studies
3 A person in a
wheelchair begging
Male African
An employee in a wheelchair
Female White
An employee awaiting compensation for accident at work
Female African
Overall references made to persons with disabilities across the four textbooks are disproportional. The Lesotho and South African textbooks show an underrepresentation of persons with disabilities, while the Zimbabwean and Swazi textbooks do not refer to persons with disabilities or their experiences. This is likely to create the impression that able- bodied persons are the norm. Although there is an equal representation of females and males with disabilities, notable from the table is the racial connotation of whom the disabled persons are, with people of colour more frequently represented as disabled and in need of assistance.
The representation of persons with disabilities can be seen from the examples presented below, where both genders are shown in low-paying occupations and portrayed as needing financial assistance.
The first examples are from the South African textbooks. On page 66 the text reads, Unemployment rates are very high among people with disabilities. Those who are able to find work remain in low status positions and earn lower than average remuneration. The text is juxtaposed with a photo of a white female engaged in computer work (Figure 7.9).
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Figure 7.9: “Those who are able to find work remain in low status positions and earn lower than average remuneration.”
The text reinforces the notion of unemployment as it relates to disability. Aggregation is used in presenting disability as the cause of unemployment. Actual numbers of people with disabilities who are unemployed are replaced by abstractions: ‘unemployment rates are very high’. Van Dijk (1991) states that abstractions are used to give an impression of the credibility and objectivity of information, while specific figures are not given. This ideological squaring gives the impression that the statement is factual. In the absence of modality or hedging, this sentence is written in the declarative mode, which appears to assert the content as a universal truth. The declarative mode, as Fairclough (2011) points out, can be an indicator of asymmetrical relations of power; in this instance the power of employers to choose able-bodied over disabled people and inability of the system to provide sufficient opportunities for disabled people to acquire competences to become economically employable. The phrase those who are able to find work adds to the emphatic tone of the extract. The word ‘those’ also functions to assert the otherness of disabled people, creating the impression that they are set apart and do not belong to the in-group which is presumably perceived to be ‘normal’.
The overt message from both the picture and text is that the woman illustrated has ‘a low-status occupation’ and ‘earns a lower than average wage’. There is a subconscious and implicit link that this a ‘normal’ experience for people with disability. This reification throughout the textbook may leave learners with disability marginalised, making it harder to accept that opportunities are available to everybody irrespective of ability.
On page 72 of the South African textbook, in another example the text reads, Unemployment is affecting many people. This may be due to a number of reasons. The text is juxtaposed with
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a photo of a African male in a wheelchair who is seen receiving charity from a white male (Figure 7.10).
Figure 7.10: “Unemployment is affecting many people.”
Again, aggregation is used to explain unemployment. The word ‘many’ obscures the actual numbers of people affected by unemployment. This is done to give the impression of scientific research, yet readers are not given specific numbers. This may influence readers to believe once again the statement to be factual and objective. The reasons why many people are unemployed are omitted from the text. From the picture, the reader may assume that disability may be one of the causes of unemployment. The authors foreground a picture of a disabled man, who is assumed unemployed since he is begging on the street and receiving charity. He is constructed as hopeless and in need of assistance, creating the impression that persons with disabilities are not self-sufficient. There is also silence on the white able-bodied male’s position of privilege, which allows him to donate money to the African disabled male. This silence asserts the otherness of disabled identities by objectifying them and establishing ableism as the norm.
Another example on p. 89 reads as follows, The Employment Act protects the rights of every employee in the country, including field workers who are vulnerable to exploitation. The text is juxtaposed with an image of an African female (Figure 7.11) awaiting compensation for fieldwork, which resulted in her disability.
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Figure 7.11: “… awaiting compensation for field work which resulted in her disability.”
First, there is omission of the type of work the woman was doing in the field and the conditions under which she was working. This information is important as it could give the reader an idea of who was responsible for her injury. Second, when discussing matters of employment and disability there is no mention of how the Employment Act seeks to protect the injured and exploited employees. For Fairclough (2000) this language serves to conceal where the actual responsibility lies, as well as the actors who carry out the exploitation and protection.
This sentence is written in the declarative mode, which appears to assert the content as a universal truth. The infinitive verb ‘to protect’ suggests that the act is aligned with what is perceived to be greater social and economic imperatives. Notable here is the connotative meaning of the picture. The gaze of the women looking slightly downwards indicates that she is worried. Intensity is also displayed through her pose. The authors do not offer a critical discussion of possible future problems the woman could face due to her disability and how this could be addressed by the business sector. Again, this information may appear in the section as part of tick box compliance (Pillay, 2016 – this study).
From the discussions in the South African textbook related to disabled identity and experience there is no evidence of a disabled voice. People with disabilities lack a real visibility or voice in the texts. This may further advance the notion of discrimination and passivity since people with disabilities are not seen to be actors in their own right. The lack of a voice for individuals with disability in any of these texts suggests that an ideological power dynamic is operating in
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terms of the more powerful participant putting constraints on the contributions of less powerful participants. In this instance, the authors and society constrain the voice of people with disability and assert an ableist perspective (Fairclough, 2002, p. 113).
On page 134 of the Swazi textbook, the text reads, I am glad companies have policies to employ disabled people. Although I am not paid a lot, I have a stable income. This is juxtaposed with a picture of a male working in a construction company, doing filing (Figure 7.12).
Figure 7.12: “Although I am not paid a lot, I have a stable income.”
The text is written using the first-person pronoun ‘I’, employing a confessional style, and creates the impression that the man was employed because of policies and not capabilities. The word ‘glad’ suggests contentment of the worker at being employed, although he is represented in an occupation, which is low paid, highlighted by ‘although I am not paid a lot’. There is a notable omission as to why the man is ‘not paid a lot’, which is left to readers to assume. This adds to the impression that the writers are excluding and concealing vital pieces of information that could give a negative slant to their endeavours of inclusion. The text also omits how people with disabilities are included on construction sites, and their experiences or difficulties. The phrase ‘disabled people’ renders people with disabilities as the ‘others’, creating the impression that they are set apart and do not belong to the in-group, which is presumably perceived to be
‘normal’.
The picture and text is accompanied by an activity question: How do you feel about disabled people? The question appears to indicate an underlying presupposition of disability otherness
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(as opposed to ableism norm) on the part of the authors. The question seems to be predicated upon the unspoken assumption that the readers of the text are able-bodied. It also appears to assert the notion that persons with disability are ‘different’ in that they are identified as a separate group, apart from the learners, as well as that there may be one right way to feel about the disabled.
Notable from the visual representations is the idea of disability as primarily associated with a wheelchair, placing disability within the realms of medical deficit, as the images foreground only physical disability. Learners are not invited to consider and identify other types of disabilities, which can also be present in the workplace. This representation provides learners with very limited knowledge of disability that one can encounter in the workplace.
The omission of people with disability in Lesotho and Zimbabwe’s textbooks was bolstered by visuals of employment advertisements (Figure 7.13).
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Figure 7.13: Omission of people with disability bolstered by visuals of employment advertisements(top: Lesotho, p. 361, bottom: Zimbabwe, p. 196)
While the textbooks frequently call for inclusivity, both genders with disability are repeatedly excluded from the definition offered. For example, the advertisements in the textbooks do not refer to how women and men with disability will be accommodated in the jobs advertised. This omission assumes that the jobs advertised are for able-bodied people.
The authors invoke a limited conception of inclusivity towards disability in the selected textbooks.