Rodzina w procesie konstruowania obrazu osób niepełnosprawnych. Rola płci w niepełnosprawności
Family in the process of the construction of a disabled person’s image. The role of gender in disability

Summary/Abstract: The issues related to the role of the family in the process of creating relationships with ill and disabled people are discussed in the article. All individuals posses concepts of the disabled that form their attitudes towards such people. The image of a disabled person is responsible for one’s attitude towards the handicapped.The family should create an environment where children observe and learn positive patterns of behaviour towards people with disabilities which, in turn, form the basis upon which children’s attitudes are shaped. The process of perception of other people is dependent on many factors – one of them is the family. The author draws attention to the issue of gender in disability. The term “disabled person” turns out to be gender neutral. Women with disabilities consider themselves to be treated as a “third sex”. The discrimination of disabled women results from a lack of sensitivity to the sex of the disabled. This points out the need to change the attitudes towards people with disabilities in early childhood as well as the necessity to pay more attention to the gender of disabled children. Sex becomes a matter which is forgotten, perhaps even becoming irrelevant. Women and their function are pushed into the background, which results in the gender-related stereotyping of their social roles, a more difficult way of career advancement (theso-called “glass ceiling effect”), lower wages for women working in the same positions as men, and the low participation of women in public life.

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