In spring 2020, I was enrolled in Ethnography of Communication - a course which would normally constitute real-world ethnographic studies, though was stymied due to the coronavirus pandemic. While we managed to circumvent the physical restrictions through creative means, the culminating project for myself and another graduate student was an analysis on Venus on Wheels, a book detailing the relationship between an ethnographer (Gelya Frank) and a woman born without arms and legs (Diane DeVries) over the course of 20 years. The book was a mix between ethnographic study and biography, posing essential questions about how identity is communicated in mass culture and of the strength that ethnographers have towards telling stories of the unempowered.

The question of identity - and of giving a voice to the once-voiceless - is something that’s incredibly important in the greater cultural milieu. If we’re to accept the cultivation theory of mass communication (that what you’re exposed to in media will shape your outlook of the world), then providing representation for the unrepresented is keystone for people to have a realistic worldview. The analysis breaks down how handicapped individuals are often misrepresented in media, being shown largely as crippled or otherwise unable to live a ‘normal life’ - but Diane DeVries clearly goes against this incorrect stereotype, experiencing the world fully. It paints disability as a greater contrasting force to the discourse and circumstances in which she lived, rather than the controlling factor in her life. My analysis discusses the broader topics of identity, media representation, and how the culture of any given time period reinforces the perception of self.