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Do you think people with Down Syndrome look funny?

SoraMayhem

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Just a question.. Why do we even Pity them?? It is truly bc we undersand the hardships and discrimination they exprience -OR- bc they make us feel more "normal" and superior ??

I try to check my privilege as often as I can. Of course I wouldn't say that I truly understand discrimination, because there's no way for me to intimately know that kind of discrimination. That doesn't mean that I automatically feel superior.
 

Darya

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Sometimes I like to dissect humor and look at what makes it work. It seems like what separates the dry/black/mean humor you said you liked (and I like) from making fun of handicaps is creativity. There's nothing witty or unexpected about pointing out that someone has down syndrome or can't walk. So to me it would see these jokes are less about being funny and more about reinforcing the idea that they are better than others for not having an affliction.

I love people with dry sense of humor just as the next person ( maybe even more:) and love to be sarcastic myself, however. I (try) to use my sense of humor towards someone who is "able" to have a " come back" and can make a humorous comment about me and/or my flaws.... It seems that even to be really witty and funny , you require a certain level of intelligence and sharpness, so to make fun or a joke about a person who just looks different, is just a CHEAP HUMOR..
 

Darya

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I try to check my privilege as often as I can. Of course I wouldn't say that I truly understand discrimination, because there's no way for me to intimately know that kind of discrimination. That doesn't mean that I automatically feel superior.

As many stated here, I believe that people who make fun at DS (+ other different looking individuals) maybe insecure and/or have no speical quality ( or they think they dont) themselves ,hence percieving themselves to be "normal" provides them with sense of superiority and power, they otherwise lack....
 

SoraMayhem

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As many stated here, I believe that people who make fun at DS (+ other different looking individuals) maybe insecure and/or have no speical quality ( or they think they dont) themselves ,hence percieving themselves to be "normal" provides them with sense of superiority and power, they otherwise lack....

I agree, I see this quite a bit in certain circles. It's really shameful, imho.
 

Darya

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It would be nice to hear from a brave member ( or a guest) who does in fact make fun of people with DS , in order to have a sample which represents the population more accurately.. :D
 

Redbone

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I don't find them funny in a way that would make me laugh. Their features can be arresting, as in attention-grabbing. When my son was born, he had extremely pronounced epicanthic folds and I felt a brief flash of fear but he had none of the other features. It was unexpected because it wasn't a familial trait I expected to see. So different, yes. Funny, no.

People are often unkind simply because they can be.
 

Orangey

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I don't understand why anyone would need to make fun of DS folks when they could probably find far better material for mean humor at their local Walmart.
 

Thalassa

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I don't understand why anyone would need to make fun of DS folks when they could probably find far better material for mean humor at their local Walmart.

 

Darya

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I don't understand why anyone would need to make fun of DS folks when they could probably find far better material for mean humor at their local Walmart.

Hopefully, these Wallmart folks are able to have a good " come back"! :newwink:
 

Winds of Thor

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No. I think they got the short end of the stick because of things that happened and were completely out of their control, before they had a choice and it saddens me :(.
 

EntangledLight

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i'm more interested in hearing your reason for making this thread. you have said "why", but i'm wondering if anything has happened or may be on your mind other than what you've said--if not, disregard this, it's not a "why are you making moral highground threads"/attack, just genuine curiosity.

as far as answering your question... no i don't think they're "funny" in the way that i get some sort of enjoyment out of the condition they were born into. i think the reason others enter into that sort of behavior has more to do with how they view themselves more than it does with whatever fault they find in others--it's just masked behind fault in others in order to keep certain truths from being brought into conscious awareness. at least that's what i get from the reading i get from the people who do this sort of thing... although, you may have a point in the "learned-behavior-department".

when it comes down to it... what are you going to do in situations like that? i'd personally like to take them aside and physically hurt them until their little "shield" comes down and then start in with the mental and emotional pain they cause others, but laws are frown on that sort of thing; plus you risk detriment to yourself. or, you can speak to them about the real damage they're doing, but then you'll come off as some walking PSA-announcement/"after-school-special" which anyone immature enough to act in this way to begin with... well, whatever you say will go straight over their heads anyhow.

i personally think they're cute, not like in a "dog is cute" way, but as in a "child is cute" way; they are innocent and they are pure. my girlfriend is in nursing school and had an odd form of clinicals in which she took kids with downs syndrome bowling. she said she's never met a person who could enjoy life as much as those kids did--everything was wonderful to them... then i look at myself and in comparison, i'm lacking severly in ways in which they excell, such as enjoying my own existence.

they're cute in a good way, they're funny-looking in a non-offensive way, and i like Psuedo feel more uncomfortable with how i can potentially make them and their family feel more so than any discomfort i feel upon seeing them.
 

Darya

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i'm more interested in hearing your reason for making this thread. you have said "why", but i'm wondering if anything has happened or may be on your mind other than what you've said--if not, disregard this, it's not a "why are you making moral highground threads"/attack, just genuine curiosity.

as far as answering your question... no i don't think they're "funny" in the way that i get some sort of enjoyment out of the condition they were born into. i think the reason others enter into that sort of behavior has more to do with how they view themselves more than it does with whatever fault they find in others--it's just masked behind fault in others in order to keep certain truths from being brought into conscious awareness. at least that's what i get from the reading i get from the people who do this sort of thing... although, you may have a point in the "learned-behavior-department".

when it comes down to it... what are you going to do in situations like that? i'd personally like to take them aside and physically hurt them until their little "shield" comes down and then start in with the mental and emotional pain they cause others, but laws are frown on that sort of thing; plus you risk detriment to yourself. or, you can speak to them about the real damage they're doing, but then you'll come off as some walking PSA-announcement/"after-school-special" which anyone immature enough to act in this way to begin with... well, whatever you say will go straight over their heads anyhow. i personally think they're cute, not like in a "dog is cute" way, but as in a "child is cute" way; they are innocent and they are pure. my girlfriend is in nursing school and had an odd form of clinicals in which she took kids with downs syndrome bowling. she said she's never met a person who could enjoy life as much as those kids did--everything was wonderful to them... then i look at myself and in comparison, i'm lacking severly in ways in which they excell, such as enjoying my own existence. they're cute in a good way, they're funny-looking in a non-offensive way, and i like Psuedo feel more uncomfortable with how i can potentially make them and their family feel more so than any discomfort i feel upon seeing them.

This thread was created "only" to obtain members' honest and sincere comments regarding their reaction when they see a person with with DS..... I have " tried" my best to be as unbiased as possible, yet its likely that due to my past expriences having a sister with DS,.... I might have demonstrated signs of negativity ( Not attack as I requested for all to post their comments) towards those who do make fun or percieve people with DS as inferior for various reasons have been stated...

Based on your comments ... you also appear to be amongst almost all participants in this thread this far, who seem to be somewhat "against" the idea of mocking people with DS ,..so I was just wondering if that's the case, the primary reason for your concern about the reason for the creation of this thread ( eventhough its a legitamate question)? I would refuse to have "after school lectures" to the adult members of this forum about the negative psychological and spritual,.... impact mocking people with DS, since it is neither my intention, nor my position to do so..
 

Gish

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EntangledLight

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[MENTION=15833]Darya[/MENTION]

i meant more along the lines of "has something f***ed up happened lately?", but yeah, textual conversation leaves a lot out, specifically tone and body language. i tried to get that across that i didn't think you were making a "moral high ground thread", although it might have been easier to see it that way had i said what i just have. :smile:

edit: and ten points to whoever can decipher what i just typed.

2nd edit: [MENTION=15833]Darya[/MENTION] ... yeah i don't think you'll be getting a better response out of Gish by the way... that might be the extent of what's possible.
 

Darya

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No Nothing F%$$ up has happend recenlty... At least nothing relevant to this particular thread:wink:


Edit: thanks for your warning about Gish:) although i welcome any response..
 
Last edited:

UniqueMixture

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I am honestly usually surprised because it is infrequent that I encounter a person with down syndrome. Then I feel perhaps a bit guilty
 

Rasofy

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So I was wondering ,how do you guys ( honestly) react when you see a person with Down Syndrome ? (i.e on media, in person,..etc)??
Mildly annoyed. They should have been aborted. I don't think they look funny.
 

Philosorapteuse

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Of course they do, and humans are programmed to that which looks genetically damaged in a way that is completely natural. It's not even about "social acceptability" it's about something innate.

However, people can be socialized to respond with kindness to people with visible illnesses.

I don't stare at people with DS because they're so common, and its so easy to spot with the facial features that it's something I've easily identified and noticed with very little shock or concern since early childhood. I don't think it's been a big deal to me since I was a small child; just like anything in life, once it's been accepted as something that happens in life which I can classify, then it affects me a lot less, unless it impacts me personally.

I think people with DS are just people, but I've honestly always been uncomfortable around people who fall within the mental retardation spectrum for some reason, though people with severe mental illness don't have this effect on me at all unless they're dangerous.

Yes. This. Put better than I would have done. I'd never dream of staring or mocking - what a horrible way to behave. People are people, they deserve my respect and my decency. But even though I believe this, I still often feel deeply uncomfortable around people with serious mental handicaps, in a way that I don't around any other group I can think of. I always have done, since I was a kid. I just find it really difficult for some reason. Something deep-seated - it feels as though it's instinctive or primal. I don't know why. It's irrational and unfair, and I really hate that I react this way because I think it's awful. But taking care not to show it doesn't seem to have any effect on the inner reaction. I wish I knew how to change that. :(
 

Red Herring

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They look noticeably different but aren't that rare. So I usually go "what's that? Oh, DS, okay, whatever" within a second or two.

BUT...

... despite all my parent's efforts to the contrary and although I could and probably would passionately argue to the contrary in any debate, I secretly measure my own (and to a certain extend also other people's ) subjective "worth" by intellect. And I have trouble imagining how anybody could live a life worth living without advanced reasoning skills and the ability to engage in complex thought. Careful, I am not saying this is a requirement for a worthy life, not at all, I am saying I have a hard time imagining myself in the shoes of somebody who is so different in that regard. I have no problem at all with just about any kind of physical disability or deformation because to me the body is mainly an unimportant shell. Mental disability however somehow strikes a chord with me and can scare me a bit for that reason.

So while I do not pay much extra attention to people with mental disabilities (as individuals) when I see them they sometimes do trigger a whole chain of thought that can go on for several minutes (about the role of intellect in people's lifes, what makes us human, subjective and objective aspects of quality of life, my own subjective values, the pros and cons of those standards, what I would do if I had a child with a mental disability, what I would do and how guilty I would feel if it turned out I couldn't emotionally connect to them enough because of the lacking mental connection, etc.) So yes, they can trigger uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.

And, as others have said, whenever somebody looks different and (though very shortly) attracts my attention for that reason ...green hair, bunny costume, two noses, you name it...I try to neither stare nor look away :D
 
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