Standing up for equal treatment
By Alex on Jun 18, 2008 in Ponderings
I spotted this logo recently for an NPO that supports the handicapped. The Stand Up initiative.
But something isn’t right here. I think the name and the logo are a bit of a slap in the face for the very people the initiative claims to support.
Do people in wheelchairs want to be told to stand up? Do the blind want to be told to open their eyes? Do people with physical or mental challenges want to be told to be different in order to be ‘normal’? No matter how good their intentions, surely these people are not conveying a positive message…
My personal experience after having talked to/worked for/ been together with a lot of people with handicaps or disabilites is, that they are sometimes less sensitive or have more humour than people without disabilities (that try to advocate the rights of people with disabilities) do. Of course they want their rights defended and respected, but sometimes they do not consider certain things as a violation or discrimination that I would if I were in their place.
A good example of both taking action to more rights for people with disab. and also looking at it with a lot of humour is a cool guy from New Zealand with his webpage: http://walkingisoverrated.com/.
Also, as I have a lot of friends with a disability, I will try and ask them about the StandUp Logo and about what they think when they see the logo.
Sandra | Aug 18, 2008 | Reply
You’re right, it’s an absurd way to represent disabled people, especially those with limited mobility. I might borrow the image for my blog if that’s okay, see what other New Zealanders have to say!
Red | Aug 18, 2008 | Reply
Oh yikes! What exactly does this organization DO?
Penny | Aug 18, 2008 | Reply
This seems to have sparked off a debate. To answer Penny’s question, the initiative [http://www.stand-up-initiative.de/] is German and was founded by an Iranian born German called Hamoun Kamai. He has been paralyzed from the neck downwards since a car accident in 2004.
Below the slogan on his blog he says “Even people who can’t walk can get things moving” /make progress/move things forward - the word play on the last part is difficult to translate.
Hamoun seems to be catching the eye of specialist media, but it’s still low profile. But I can only assume the logo and the name is all his own work.
Admin | Aug 18, 2008 | Reply