Helen Keller and the Burden of Wonder
Contact us if these videos are not relevant.
Contact us if these videos are not relevant.
View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Helen Keller, the deafblind activist, was labeled the "Eighth Wonder." This essay reveals she actively managed her public image, resisting passive objectification despite the label.
Area Of Science
- Humanities
- Disability Studies
- Cultural Studies
Background
- Helen Keller (1880-1968) was a deafblind author and activist.
- She was widely publicized as the "Eighth Wonder of the World."
Purpose Of The Study
- To examine the concept of "wonder" in relation to Helen Keller's life and public perception.
- To analyze the power dynamics inherent in labeling someone a "wonder."
Main Methods
- Analysis of Helen Keller's autobiography, "The World I Live In" (1908).
- Examination of Conrad Hilton's autobiography, "Be My Guest" (1957).
- Exploration of popular media portrayals of Helen Keller.
Main Results
- The label "wonder" implies an unequal power dynamic between the observer and the observed.
- Helen Keller was not a passive subject but an active agent in "wonder-making."
- Keller navigated the burden of her "wonder" status while resisting its limiting effects.
Conclusions
- Helen Keller actively shaped her public persona, challenging the passive "wonder" narrative.
- Her experience highlights the complexities of fame, disability, and agency.
Contact us if these videos are not relevant.
Contact us if these videos are not relevant.
Related Concept Videos
Karen Horney's psychoanalytic theories emphasize the potential for self-realization and the importance of addressing social and cultural, rather than biological, factors in personality development. She challenged traditional Freudian views, particularly Freud's concept of "penis envy," which she argued stemmed from cultural influences rather than inherent biological differences. Horney believed that any sense of inferiority in women was a result of societal conditioning, such as...
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross significantly advanced psychology's understanding of the process of dying with her influential book, On Death and Dying (1969). She focused on studying terminally ill individuals and outlined five stages commonly experienced when coping with death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
In denial, individuals reject the reality of their condition, often thinking, "This isn't true; I feel fine," as a way to protect themselves from...
Gestalt psychology, founded by Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler, emphasizes the importance of understanding perception as an organized whole. Developed as a counter to Wilhelm Wundt's structuralism, this approach posits that our perceptions are more than just the sum of sensory parts; they are comprehensive wholes where the relationships between parts define the perception. The principle "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" encapsulates this view,...
According to Charles Cooley, we base our image on what we think other people see (Cooley 1902). We imagine how we must appear to others, then react to this speculation. We don certain clothes, prepare our hair in a particular manner, wear makeup, use cologne, and the like—all with the notion that our presentation of ourselves is going to affect how others perceive us. We expect a certain reaction, and, if lucky, we get the one we desire and feel good about it. But more than that, Cooley...
When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...
A schema is a mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts (Bartlett, 1932). There are many different types of schemata, and they all have one thing in common: schemata are a method of organizing information that allows the brain to work more efficiently. When a schema is activated, the brain makes immediate assumptions about the person or object being observed.
When people learn new information, they adjust their schemata through two processes: assimilation and...