Beauty and mental disability
Fabio Comunello
Mental disability is a category that includes many different people, but all of them are usually seen as if they are in need of help. It is clearly right that they can get the best medical care and treatment available, but I also think that they need something else. It seems that a universal law rules man’s thoughts, as well as his actions: «Each being exudes a presence and is inhabited by the capacity for beauty, and especially by the “desire for beauty”» (Cheng, 2007, p. 17). So, the question is: does this count for people with mental disabilities too? I’m afraid not! Following a stereotype, we don’t believe that they can experience beauty, or the ability to desire, share, appreciate and offer it to other people. Therefore, we need to ask ourselves why this happens, and start a small cultural revolution to make beauty the common denominator of every project dedicated to persons with mental disabilities. Maybe it’s not as difficult as we may think…
Keywords
Mental disabilities and beauty, beauty and observation, beauty as a potential project, beauty and context
