Shaquille O'Neal accused of bullying DISABLED fan

[stb]

Disgusting!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2615765/Shaquille-ONeal-accused-bullying-DISABLED-fan-removing-Instagram-shot-mocking-mans-selfie.html

[Roy H.]

Random rant, but I hate it when people who have health conditions are automatically assumed to be disabled.  I'm not blaming the OP; it's all over the internet.

However, from a different news story:

Binion, who can drive, is a fan of all four of Detroit's professional sports teams, loves to bowl and fish, and seeks a job in Metro Detroit at a factory because loves working with his hands.

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2014/04/shaquille_oneals_mocking_of_de.html

He's got some physical abnormalities, and the inability to sweat would confine him to air-conditioned jobs, but he's not disabled.

/rant

As for Shaq, it's stupid and immature.  I doubt he meant any real harm, and was just clowning, but mocking others for the way they look is just poor form for somebody with such a large spotlight.

[clover]

Who cares if the poor guy was disabled? It is just as mean to mock someone who is simply garden-variety ugly.

This is one of the lessons we were all supposed to learn by kindergarten.

[Roy H.]

Who cares if the poor guy was disabled? It is just as mean to mock someone who is simply garden-variety ugly.

This is one of the lessons we were all supposed to learn by kindergarten.

The disabled part matters because I think it's just as disrespectful for the media to call an able-bodied person "disabled" because he looks different and has a medical condition as it is for Shaq to make a funny face at him.
 
Shaq is just being a disrespectful clown.  The media is also being disrespectful, stereotyping while trying to cash in on this story.

[Fafnir]

Roy given that your rant is about people conflating disability, his condition certainly seems like a disability based on the article you linked, with disabled I think you're going to be annoyed about it your whole life.

Just two very similar words in both how they're constructed and meaning.

[fairweatherfan]

Random rant, but I hate it when people who have health conditions are automatically assumed to be disabled.  I'm not blaming the OP; it's all over the internet.

However, from a different news story:

Binion, who can drive, is a fan of all four of Detroit's professional sports teams, loves to bowl and fish, and seeks a job in Metro Detroit at a factory because loves working with his hands.

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2014/04/shaquille_oneals_mocking_of_de.html

He's got some physical abnormalities, and the inability to sweat would confine him to air-conditioned jobs, but he's not disabled.

/rant

As for Shaq, it's stupid and immature.  I doubt he meant any real harm, and was just clowning, but mocking others for the way they look is just poor form for somebody with such a large spotlight.

Are you thinking of a broader definition of disabled?  Disabled doesn't mean you can't take care of yourself, just that your physical or mental capacities are diminished relative to typical people in some way, and it keeps you from being able to do some things that others can.  The cosmetic abnormalities probably wouldn't qualify but being unable to sweat definitely would. 

Agree on Shaq though, and this won't be the last time something like this happens if he keeps using social media to clown on how strangers look.

[Roy H.]

Roy given that your rant is about people conflating disability, his condition certainly seems like a disability based on the article you linked, with disabled I think you're going to be annoyed about it your whole life.

Just two very similar words in both how they're constructed and meaning.

"Disability" has become a term of art.  One of the dictionary definitions is "a physical or mental handicap, especially one that prevents a person from living a full, normal life or from holding a gainful job".

I think that's how the term is generally used, and I think it's offensive to slap that descriptor on a guy because he has a condition that makes him look different and prevents him from sweating.  Why can't this guy live a full, normal life?  Why can't he work? 

From the article I provided, he certainly seems capable of both those things.  He's a normal guy who likes fishing and bowling, and who is looking to land a job doing something productive.

I'd just like to see that being celebrated.  I feel like the media is fixating on what he looks like, and is labeling him / demeaning him almost as much as Shaq is.

Now, there's no doubt that he's going to face some challenges (which fits into a secondary definition of disability).  However, the guy seems up to the challenges, and seems to be handling his medical condition with determination and graciousness.

[clover]

Who cares if the poor guy was disabled? It is just as mean to mock someone who is simply garden-variety ugly.

This is one of the lessons we were all supposed to learn by kindergarten.

The disabled part matters because I think it's just as disrespectful for the media to call an able-bodied person "disabled" because he looks different and has a medical condition as it is for Shaq to make a funny face at him.
 
Shaq is just being a disrespectful clown.  The media is also being disrespectful, stereotyping while trying to cash in on this story.

Fair enough.