Telethons: Spectacle, Disability and the Business of Charity

Abbreviations	vii
Editor’s Note	ix
Introduction	xiii
1.	Charity Professionals: Ambivalent Generosity
and the New Business of Philanthropy	1
2.	Neither Public nor Private: Telethons in the US Health and
Welfare System	16
3.	The Hidden Politics of Telethons: Where Volunteerism,
Government, and Business Meet	32
4.	“They’ve Got a Good Thing with Us and We’ve Got
a Good Thing with Them”: Telethons and Cause-Related Marketing 43
5.	Givers and Takers: Conspicuous Contribution and a Distinctly
American Moral Community	59
6.	Dignity Thieves: Greed, Generosity, and Objects of Charity	71
7.	Suffering as Spectacle: Pity, Pathos, and Ideology	84
8.	“Look at Us We’re Walking”: Cure-Seekers, Invalids,
and Overcomers	102
9.	American and Un-American Bodies: Searching
for Fitness through Technology and Sport	121
10.	Smashing Icons: Gender, Sexuality, and Disability	137
11.	“Heaven’s Special Child”: The Making of Poster Children	154
12.	Family Burdens: Parents, Children, and Disability	172
13.	Jerry’s Kids Grow Up: Disability Rights Activists and Telethons	187
Conclusion: The End of Telethons and Challenges
for Disability Rights