Media Influence On Society's Perception Of Disability

In Nancy Mairs’ article for The New York Times, “Disability”, published in 1987, she expresses her distaste with the media's representation of handicapped people. Mairs, who struggled with multiple sclerosis herself, clearly and sharply conveys this disgust by stating, “I’m not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of a chronic incurable degenerative disease.” (Mairs 13), and that she is actually, “the advertisers’ dream: Ms. Great American Consumer. And yet the advertisers, who determine nowadays who will get represented publicly and who will not, deny the existence of me and my kind absolutely”(Mairs 14). Mairs is greatly upset that disabled people are defined by their disabilities and, therefore, are underrepresented in public media. This might lead to one asking themselves, but why are they? And the answer, according to Mairs, is quite simple, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life”(Mairs 14). Mairs concludes by pointing out how this effacement could have dangerous consequences for both disabled people and, as she called everyone else, TAPs (Temporarily Abled Persons) alike. Treating disabilities as an abnormal characteristic (as opposed to viewing them “as a normal characteristic, one that complicates but does not ruin human existence” (Mairs 15)) can cause one of these repercussions, as it makes the

Stella Young has lived with a disability all of her life, but has never let that stand in her way. While speaking at a TED conference in 2014 Young wanted to address an issue that most individuals overlook. This issue is about people with disabilities and the struggle they face every day to feel equal and part of a social norm. Stella speaks from experience and tries to make her audience see a new perspective of how individuals look at others with disabilities. Stella makes it clear that most individuals see people with disabilities as an inspiration which is widely propagated. In order for her audience to understand this view she shows a series of images to appeal both to logos and pathos. Stella wanted to show that we view these images logically

According to Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture, “In a society that equates the body with both self and moral worth, cultural meanings are attached to physical differences, so that the body provides a foundation for oppression based on gender, class, ethnicity, and age—all social characteristics that are deeply embodied.” (Gimlin 141) In the end,

Nonetheless, this is the reality of the disabled in U.S. history, just as discomfort and marginalization exist today. The 20th century contains many examples of how the disabled were abused, from the harsh restrictions for immigrants to the outright murders of disabled babies. Much of the blame for this must be laid at the door of eugenics, an unconscionable “science” seeking to promote human perfection. It is the essence or ultimate expression of the society's plain dislike of the disabled, and the ideologies behind it only further the universal bias against this population. Progress has been made and there is greater awareness today, but it remains arguable that the culture's emphasis on beauty and physical skill only perpetuates the eugenics rationale. Ultimately, the idea of eugenics itself translates to an ongoing and unconscionable marginalization of the disabled, and because the concept reduces disabled human beings to only their

Displayed in the media to this day are people shown with disabilities. These people are wrongly perceived by society as heroes or sensations. Instead of focusing on that, we should focus on how they are able to overcome the disability during their daily lives. A very trusted author and professor of journalism, Charles A Riley, wrote a book called “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change”. After carefully analyzing this text from Everything’s an Argument, it is clear that Riley wants to adjust the way society views people with disabilities. He is against the fact that people with disabilities are not known for who they really are. I agree with Riley’s stance and can feel what he is expressing throughout his text.

Writer, Nancy Mairs, in her essay, “Disability, “she portrays that there is no representation for people with disabilities in media, “especially television” (par 1). She supports this claim by exemplifying that the one time she saw a women with multiple sclerosis it was on a “medical drama” (par 2) that had romanticized the disability, and how that is not the type of representation that people with disabilities deserve since the doctor from the television drama “uses his medical power to strip” the woman from her independence. Mairs’ purpose is to announce to the public that people with disabilities are still people and they do normal people stuff like “talk on the telephone” or “order pizza” (par 4) in order to claim that people with disabilities

In the media today, people with disabilities are perceived as tragic heroes or as medical miracles. They are rarely seen for their intelligence or for their accomplishments excluding their overcoming disability hardships. The textbook, Everything’s an Argument, contains an excerpt from Charles A. Riley II 's book “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change.” Riley, a journalism professor at New York’s Baruch College, uses appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade his audience that their methods of portraying disabled people are in dire need of change.

Society’s ideological constructs and attitudes towards minority groups are created and reinforced through media imagery. Although negative associations that maintain inequities with regard to race, gender and homophobia (Conner & Bejoian, 2006) have been somewhat relieved, disability is still immersed in harmful connotations that restrict and inhibit the life of people with disabilities in our society.

Do films accurately portray oppressions faced by those with disabilities? Or do they merely fluff the content to make the audience feel less guilty for society’s behavior? The American Minority Group Model of Disability, a social model, claims that people with disabilities are a minority group, are accorded less status than non-disabled citizens, are subjected to widespread discrimination, and are relentlessly misrepresented and actively stereotyped in the media (Shapiro, 1993; Zola, 1982). This is a statement that is imperative to keep at the forefront when viewing films incorporating characters with disabilities. The films, The Other Sister and I Am Sam are two examples that help unpack these discrepancies.

A few years ago, my sister introduced me to the film ‘Benny and Joon,’ a story about a woman in her twenties with a disability that is more or less undefined throughout the film. She lives with her brother who works full-time but hires several “housekeepers” that he has watch over her at home. She comes off quite content, mainly painting all day and going about her everyday routines. At first, she may just come off as a “stereotypical temperamental artist”(Tibbets) but her painting at a rapid rate, extreme pickiness of food (eating mainly captain crunch and peanut butter smoothies), unique mannerisms, and outbursts suggest that she may be on the spectrum. There are scenes where she puts on a scuba mask and attempts to direct traffic in the middle of the street with a Ping-Pong paddle; an episode that the article ‘The Patronizing “adorable” side of Schizophrenia in Benny and Joon’ addressed could be an indication of schizophrenia or bipolar disorders. The most recent “housekeeper” quits after one of Joon’s “outbursts.” After reading critiques by people with disabilities themselves and other sources, I have begun seeing this movie a new light, introducing a sadly patronizing and demeaning representation of disability and her family/societies inappropriate response to her condition.

The media have a role in shaping a society in which paralyzed people and people without disabilities are equal, and it presents the social status of paralyzed people by reflecting their actual situation in society. In the past, paralyzed people did not have not enough attention because people without disabilities take most of the important roles in the society. In most cases, paralyzed people are always being depicted with certain stereotypes in the society. However, even though there has been a trend of misunderstanding for paralyzed people, there are more shows today that paralyzed people are more and more stronger. The

I choose to do a summary on what I learned from The IRIS Center on the topic “What Do You See? Perceptions of Disability.” I visited the www.IRIS.peabody.vanderbilt.edu web site to view this video. I watched it twice as it was packed full of nuggets of knowledge. It had a great deal of information that really made think and helped me become more informed on people with disabilities. It starts out in the video asking you as the viewer “What do you see.” Our eyes play tricks on us and our minds, I believe. At first I just saw kids and adults with disabilities not knowing much about these photos. But they follow that question with: “What feeling did you have about the photos?” I guess I kind of feel sorry or the people in these pictures. Each person is doing something totally different and most look like they are having fun. The next question was. “What thoughts did you have about the individuals?” I was thinking is this guy, good at playing the guitar with his toes? Pictures of a family and kids doing different things some looked like normal kids and or adults. Vague question but really made me stop and think what did I really think. The

Often, people of all ages, race, and gender catch themselves gazing into mirrors for hours, blaming themselves for the way they look, not realizing that the media is actually the one to blame for many people’s body image. Body image is the way people see themselves, or how they assume other people see them. It is not likely to see a plus sized model in a magazine or a model on the runway with blemishes on her face. A person’s negative perception of their own body is not because they think it is wrong to look and be healthy; it is because the media is telling them that being a size 2 with flawless skin is healthy and beautiful.

Society functions as a constantly changing bubble of ideas and standards. A large issue occurring today is the abuse of inspiration porn within media but created because of societies’ perception of disability. Disability within society is viewing these individuals with disabilities as less human. So through inspiration porn, even though there is a sense of advocacy for disability, it is done in the wrong manner that is rather offensive. Inspiration porn focuses on this undesirable characteristic of a disability and how this individual is overcoming this “impossible feat.” This issue is growing and evolving in many forms through media. Social media has become a breeding ground for utilizing individuals with disabilities as sources of inspiration for a largely non-disabled audience. Broadcasting networks such as ESPN, document athletes’ connections with individuals with disabilities and edit and format their videos to create a tone of inspiration for their consumers. Society itself will conform towards its form of standard to amplify the significance of an individual with a disability because of the disability. Overall, inspiration porn utilizes individuals of disabilities as a source of advertising of a specific form for non-disabled consumers to emote an emotional response. The end goal is to create a new form of advertising that does not utilize disability as a source for inspiration.

This week’s discussion dealt with Individuals and Disabilities. Over the years, people who have a “disability" have been subjected to prejudice and more. And the first way to diminish someone is through language, by using words or labels to identify a person as "less-than," as "the others—not like us," and so forth. Once a person has been identified this way, it makes