Blog Post #4 Disabled People in the Media

 

How the Lack of Representation of Disabled People Affected My Perceptions


https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Florenjavier%2F5767961559&psig=AOvVaw3L7kqGpPeJckfwj7A0y3nP&ust=1696526281633000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBAQjRxqFwoTCPDr4YTz3IEDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE



    Shows that depict disabled people in a harmful manner have existed since the beginning of entertainment. As we know, the media deeply influences people, which has created a negative connotation around disabilities. We must recognize the issues with depicting disabled people as helpless and "victims" of their disabilities and acknowledge the silencing effects of placing able-bodied actors in the roles of disabled characters. 
    Furthermore, when people are constantly exposed to negative attitudes toward disabled people in the media, they tend to begin to believe the negative comments. For example, as a child, I was first exposed to mental disabilities through the movie "The Goonies." While this movie did provide representation by casting a disabled actor, the character was written as a hideous monster. This movie and others exposed me to harmful stereotypes at a very early stage of development.
    As I became older, I continued to be exposed to harmful depictions of people with disabilities through media, such as Glee and Sia's infamously controversial music video. Both of these examples were made to provide visibility to people with disabilities. However, Kevin McHale, who plays Artie in Glee, and Maddie Ziegler, who stars in the Sia music video, are non-disabled actors. When they were cast in their perspective roles instead of people with actual experience with the disabilities represented, they deprived disabled individuals of the opportunity to achieve accurate representation. 
    Now, as an adult, I have started to acknowledge the harmful stereotypes I continue to carry. I understand the media's effect on my perspective of people with disabilities, and I will continue to work on disbanding those preconceived ideals that I developed as a young, naive child. However, we as a society should work to minimize children's exposure to such media and work to educate children on disabilities. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog Post #9 I Want To Be A B*tch Like AOC

Image
  I Want To Be A B*tch like AOC     In a video of a House of Representatives meeting in 2020, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addresses a fellow representative for calling her a "fucking bitch." The powerful statements that AOC makes in the video inspire women across America. It is a sad reality that most independent, headstrong women in America have experienced similar situations that AOC did with Rep. Ted Yoho.      AOC's reaction to the situation, by refusing to ignore the statements made by the men around her, set an example for me and other like-minded young women. I have been treated the same way that AOC was by men my whole life. I was called a b*tch for the first time as a middle schooler after answering the teacher's question correctly when the boy could not. After that, I have been insulted by men countless times. I used to take it as an insult and get upset, but now I try to see the insults as compliments. I know that the abuses are coming fro...
Read more

Blog Post #2 Using Feminism to Mask Racisim

Image
  Am I guilty of using feminism as a cop-out for being racist? https://www.flickr.com/photos/annaustin/24731134021/in/photostream/       The concept of feminism acting as a mask for racism, although not a new idea, was reintroduced to me within the readings and lessons this week.       After reading the first chapter of "Media Disparity: A Gender Battleground" by Tracy Everbach, I realized how twisted feminism and gender disparity were and still are. Everbach's analysis of "Women's (mis) Representation in Media" highlighted the importance of the feminist movement and reinforced why I consider myself a feminist.     However, I then read ahead of the class readings and stumbled upon the "Trust Me I'm Not A Racist" chapter of the textbook. This chapter, with its discussion of Amy Schumer's blatant displays of racism excused by her supposed feminist moral compass, forced me to reflect on my tendencies.      Although I am ...
Read more

Blog Post #7 How Representation of Gay People Affected Me

  How Representation of Gay People Affected Me https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/8991169921097269195/3321463780228017276      As a child growing up in the era of the legalization of gay marriage, I was completely oblivious to the major societal changes happening around me. I distinctly remember finding out what it meant to be gay from the Macklemore song, Same Love. I did not have any immediate influences in my life that were part of the LGBT community so it wasn't really ever at the forefront of my thoughts. My parents, although accepting of the community now, somewhat hid the existence of gay people from my sister and me for most of my childhood.      As a result of a childhood of ignorance, when I got older and became friends with gay people in middle and high school, I had to learn about the injustices the gay community had faced and was facing at the time from my peers. Although they taught me a lot, my friends were finding their own...
Read more