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Ugly Laws: Difference between revisions
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Portland, Oregon, 1881: | Portland, Oregon, 1881: | ||
“Any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object... shall not... expose himself or herself to public view, under the penalty of a fine of $1 for each offense” (Chicago City Code, 1881). | “Any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object... shall not... expose himself or herself to public view, under the penalty of a fine of $1 for each offense” (Chicago City Code, 1881).<ref>https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/07/13/museum-hopes-past-will-help-its-future/</ref> | ||
That dollar was over $30 in today’s money. Other cities went further. Harsher fines, jail time, and forced removal to poorhouses. You could be locked up for the crime of being looked at. | That dollar was over $30 in today’s money. Other cities went further. Harsher fines, jail time, and forced removal to poorhouses. You could be locked up for the crime of being looked at. | ||
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"I have been arrested more than once for just walking outside... People say I frightened children. I didn’t even say a word." | "I have been arrested more than once for just walking outside... People say I frightened children. I didn’t even say a word." | ||
— anonymous interviewee, cited in Susan Schweik, The Ugly Laws | — anonymous interviewee, cited in Susan Schweik, The Ugly Laws | ||
(University of Chicago Press) | (University of Chicago Press)<ref>https://www.english.upenn.edu/sites/www.english.upenn.edu/files/Schweik-Susan_Ugly-Laws_Law-Language.pdf</ref> | ||
==Economic Exclusion: Poverty by Design== | ==Economic Exclusion: Poverty by Design== | ||
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“Employers wanted ‘clean’ and ‘pleasant’ workers. That was the code. That meant beautiful.” | “Employers wanted ‘clean’ and ‘pleasant’ workers. That was the code. That meant beautiful.” | ||
— Early disability advocate testimony, 1940s, cited in Schweik | — Early disability advocate testimony, 1940s, cited in Schweik | ||
==The Law as Visual Filter== | |||
The Ugly Laws were grounded in the obsession with normalcy. Not functional health, but visual conformity. These weren’t about helping people. They were about hiding them. | |||
“These laws were based on a visual ideology... That certain kinds of human bodies simply didn’t belong in view.” | |||
— Schweik, The Ugly Laws (UChicago Press) | |||
They weren’t health policies. They were visual purges. Public space was curated like a showroom. If your face didn’t match the display, you were taken out. | |||