A Chinese mother has carried her son on her back for 35 years in order to give him a more enriched life. Xiong Mingqiang was born with a deformity that has caused his head to grow disproportionately large for his 80-centimeters-tall (31.5 inches) body, making him unable to stand. His mother chose to carry him in a bamboo basket, so he says he’s more familiar with the back of her shoulders than her face. For decades, Wen Qizhen hauled him up stairs and slopes with her hands on her knees for more strength and her body bent forward for balance. She’s transported her son to village fairs and other events and taken him to visit friends and relatives in order to widen his view of the world. “Because I’m dying to see what’s there outside. If I had sealed myself up in home without learning, I would even be mentally disabled,” said Xiong to China Daily. But Wen, who says she was advised by neighbors to abandon Xiong for his sake and hers, says any mother would have done the same thing. [China Daily via Impact Lab]

Do we really need yet another modeling reality TV show clogging the airwaves? I was seriously disturbed when I heard about BBC America’s new reality TV series, “Britain’s Missing Top Model.” The show gives disabled models a chance to compete for a spread in Marie Claire UK. The premise of the show seems cruel and unusual to the core—to boost the acceptance of disabled women in an industry that is based solely on physical perfection. Can you say “pleading for rejection and humiliation”? This merciless irony plays out in the show over and over again. A photographer says of contestant Rebecca, a 27-year-old with a prosthetic leg, “Rebecca’s disability didn’t cause me any problems. It was just the fact she’s not really in shape.” So, aside from learning to model with a prosthetic leg, Rebecca must also be crazy thin? And it gets worse. In a scene where a contestant with a stump models lacy lingerie in a store window, a young man comments, “She’s beautiful, so she’s got nothing to hide.” But a middle-aged woman adds, “But if it’s to sell something like lingerie I think people are going to be troubled.”

I recently met David through my blog. He was charming, witty and funny. After a bit of friendly Twirting (flirting via Twitter, the equivalent of computer footsie), he said he thought I was pretty funny too and even admitted to being a bit intimidated when I told him how strong my physical disability, Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome, had made my arms. This bone and muscular disorder has resulted in more than 26 surgeries to correct joint contractures, scoliosis and to straighten my leg muscles. You’d be amazed how strong my arms could get just from using a walker for 20+ years. They’re like giant muscles of steel, only smaller and dotted with cute freckles.

Well, this was a first, so feeling a bit bold, I asked him to guest-post from the male perspective on a question that has nagged me since my days in high school when I’d look at other girls and how the guys easily flocked to them. The question: Why are guys so reluctant to date – at the very least, approach – a woman with a disability? 

Would a guy date a woman with a disability?

That’s not the sort of question guys are expecting to hear amidst the typical flurry of getting-to-know-you questions. But it’s nonetheless an important – even critical – one for me. It’s at the top of my list, actually. It’s a question I’ve been asking myself since high school when my peers so easily began to couple-off, and I watched from the sidelines. It all seemed so natural and effortless for them, yet I couldn’t help but feel as though the Dating Gods had forgotten to “cc” me on their Dating 101 memo. I’m sure the memo talked about the basics: courting, flirting, maybe even some tips for hiding those tiny flaws and insecurities on the first date.

But what about those not-so-tiny flaws? What about those insecurities you can’t simply hide with a cute jacket or a thick layer of Maybelline foundation?

Um, wow. I am kind of speechless. The New York Daily News reports that a new modeling show has come to town, this one called Britain’s Missing Top Model. The U.K. show features models with various disabilities, like missing limbs, partial paralysis, and hearing loss. The show wants to challenge society’s traditional notions of beauty, which sounds great to me, but I also know that none of these women are going to be bigger than a size four, so that’s a standard of beauty no one is really willing to face yet either. Anyway, Marie Claire U.K. editor Marie O’Riordan serves as a judge for Missing Top Model, and says, “I do believe the program could help challenge our attitudes to disability. I want to see the winner shake up the fashion industry. These young women shouldn’t be invisible to the fashion world just because they are disabled.” Can we just ask one question? What is the deal with the title? “Missing” Model? What does that mean? [The NY Daily News]