Equality in Performance

Notes

- Age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnershipare areas you cannot disriminate

- MUSIC HALLS: G H Elliot would wear black makeup, sing and dance. This type of performer is known as a minstrel and was very common in music halls in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The 'stars' tended to be middle aged men with women in the minority. Women were in the minority in British music halls. Vesta Tilley would dress and act as a man to enable her to perform her comedy routine and singing act. All performers were of white British origins. Racial segregation was commonplace in many states in the USA.

- SILENT FILM: In the late 1800's, there was the story of the white Standford murder, which confirmed that it was unwholesome for a girl to be the desire of men, and therefore an actress was an unsuitable career for a young girl. Some female stars only had traditional gender roles in films, such as Florence Turner. Some of these actresses were more popular than their male counterparts, as there were less of them.

-1930-1960; The Golden Age of Film, produced such stars as Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Stewart, Marlon Brando and Marlene Dietrich.

- At this time there were still very few roles for black actors.

- Sydney Poitier pushed boundaries for black actors.

- Women were still playing the roles of wives and girlfriends.

- Characters were occaisionally written with disabilities, but would always be played by able bodied actors.

- Best Actress 1948 Oscar - Loretta Youn

- Nan Winton was a news reader in 1960 and she complained about the treatment she received from her collegeus, that she " felt like an outcast and discriminated".

- in 1976 the first female braodcaster was on a network news programme; Barbara Walters.

- Programmes that were very acceptable in the 60' and 70's, would today be deemed racist and sexist, such as comic Les Dawson, and Love Thy Neighbour (1970).

- Bernard Manning was also a controversial comedian at the time.

- FASHION AND EDITORIAL: This years New York fashion week saw Naomi Campbell and Iman start to try to balance diversity, to try and encourage designers to use more black models. Naomi Campbell was the first black model to appear on the front of french Vogue in 1987

- Are women discriminated against in society due to the constant portrayel of beauty/perfection/skinniness and celebrities?

- Manufacturers use actors (not real people) to sell their products.

- Very few companies use black/asian actors and no adverts could be found with disabled actors in the UK

- Is Hollywood a better place today?

- Women and black actors have more roles

- Men can acts until they're very old, whereas women can't as much (as old women aren't deemed beautiful).

- Some actors have physical disabilities and fulfil those roles if the character demands it.

- Films addressing disability and sexuality are not uncommon.

- 'Unacceptable' Stereotyoes: Corrie - Carla Conner is a boss of a factory (a women running things) and in Breaking Bad a teacher and respectable citizen is making meth.

- Chickenshed Theatre Company - teaches and produces actors with a range of disabilities and backgrounds

- Boundaries have been pushed: Corrie shows more disabled people, The Accussed shows trans people

After reading about the social constructs of beauty for my essay, I have come accross many reasons and ideas why disability and disfigurement is regarded as 'less than' what would be considered a 'normal' body. The term "kalókagatheia" was used in the 6th century BCE to decibe the intric relationship between physical beauty and ethical perfection, i.e. what is on the outside directly reflects how you are on the inside. This theory can again be seen in Lavater's work in the 18th century: " Morally ugly or bad states of the soul express themselves with a negative countenance. In his view, the face is a general expression of a current state of mind". (Wegenstein, Bernadette. 2012, page 12) Deformity/disfigurement has always been viewed as a mutilation and a violation of nature, as Margrit Shildrick summarises it: "monstrous bodies". Those deemed anything other than normal by society, are rejected.

Similarly,, I think society only wants to see 'beautiful/normal' people on screen, and because it has been that way for so long, thats what everyone believes is normal and what we should be aiming for, when in reality its hopelessly unrealistic. Women age, but because people don't want to see it or accept it, we don't see it often in the media.

Wegenstein, B. (2012) The Cosmetic Gaze. UK: MIT Press

Contextural reading has given me a deeper understanding of why society has such views of disabilty, but not why they choose to purposefully discrimminate against it. I assume it's because the practise of using able-bodied actors is the norm now, and people are afraid to go against that, even though that would be doing the right thing.

I do think that ideals are changeing though. I think disability is certainly seen more, instead of being shunned. The recent UK Paralympic closing ceremony featured performance artist, model and singer Viktoria Modesta, who has had one of her legs amputated below the knee. This interview with her features the issue of disability in performance.

Donaldson, D. (2012) Interview with Viktoria Modesta. Right Now. uknown. Available from:http://rightnow.org.au/topics/disability/interview-with-viktoria-modesta/ [Accessed: February 13th 2015]

Right Now: What has your experience been with the community’s perceptions about people with different bodies? Do you see yourself as disabled?

VM: Absolutely not, I never have. To me, being disabled means you are limited in your life and assume there is a barrier between you and achieving the things you want. I simply don’t see it that way. It’s about making the best out of yourself and concentrating on what you can do, enjoy and achieve. My personal experience has been that when you carry yourself in a positive way, people don’t react to you in any cliché kind of manner.

Right Now: Do you think community perceptions about people with disabilities have changed over the years?

VM: It’s very sad that a majority of the world is still stuck in an old fashioned, patronising way of thinking about disability. I think it’s the people with disabilities – or however you want to name it – that hold the power of change. By being positive with a strong spirit and not showing cliché signs of self pity, victimisation or demanding special treatment, I really believe there is a chance for disabled people to get the respect and acknowledgement they most desire.

What the Paralympic events have re-confirmed is that most physically disabled people are just as intelligent, creative and modern as any other person. Most of the time the differences are simply superficial, and can be adjusted with new science and technology. To me, that’s the first step in the right direction. I know that, judging by what I had to grow up with in Latvia, people used to associate physical disabilities with mental incompetence – which is simply nonsense in most cases.

Right Now: Does this present any challenges for you in your modelling and performing, or has it even helped you, perhaps?

VM: I guess my view of equality between people plays a bit role, and so does my belief that no matter what country or background you come from, everyone holds the power the change themselves into the person they want to be. When I work in the fashion or music industry, I simply compare and judge myself with my COMPETITION in the business. It’s a point which a lot of people misunderstand when approaching the subject of physically disabled people in the real working world. Being good at what you do should have no exceptions, whether you are missing arms and legs or not, it’s about your skills. So I would like to think that my success so far has been attributed to hard work and general determination in life – and not my limbs, real or not.

Right Now: What do you think about the public reception of the Paralympics this year – has it changed the way the public see people with disabilities?

VM: I think it broke so many taboos about what people are like, what they look like and what it means to have a physical disability in the twenty-first century. It was positive all around. I think it should be a kick up the backside to other industries to take the hint and allow more people to function in other industries on a public level. That’s the way of spreading the acceptance.

Only when normal jobs and events are filled with a mix of people, disabled and not, will it be fully integrated. But for a now even a specialised disabled event with public exposure is still a way forward. I hope that in the near future there will be more people acting as role models in fashion, TV, music and other creative, image-conscious industries, and not just sport.

I think Viktoria's message is a positive one. She frequently sports futuristic looking proesthetics and has turned her disability into a unique feature. I think a missing limb is maybe a more acceptable deformity to have. Comedian Adam Hills openly discusses his 'stump' whenever asked on TV and Netflix series Orand is the New Black features a guard who is an amputee, although this is done with CGI, the actpr is completely able-bodied.

However, I think the important thing to remember with this disability is that you can basically still have a completely normal life. You can still be facially beautiful and very talented - almost the only aspect of your life it affects its walking, and with advancements in technology, even that is proving less of a problem. Serious facial disfigurments are definately much less acceptable, and nowhere near as close to be being seen on popular TV.

One show that does feature facial disfigurement is American Horror Story, which features a character called Pepper who has microcephaly, a condition which causes the circumference of the head to be smaller than normal because brain growth has stopped and this can cause a mild disability.

Naommi Grossman (2013) Pepper in AHS: Asylum. [online] Available from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlu2u1np9d4&spfreload=10 [Accessed January 27th 2015]

Looking at real examples of people with this disorder, the makeup is stunningly accurate. Pepper's character is presented as a caring individual with few, if any, signs of mental disorder. Because her character is in an asylum, she also discusses the abuse she has been forced to endure, which could be seen as spreading some awareness to disability. Again, the actress has no disorders herself, but I think its a step in progressing towards seeing more examples ( whether they be real or fake) in the media.