Disability

• Define disability

  A mental or physical impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on a persons ability to carry out day to day activities
• How is disability socially constructed

  not caused by an impairment, but is created by the social and environmental barriers which limit opportunities

  Shakespeare (1998): suggests that disability should be seen as a social construction- a problem created by the attitudes of society and not the state of our bodies
• How is disability symbolically annihilated ?

  The media gaze of disability is formed by predominately able-bodied people and almost always represent disability as a problem for the individuals who have the impairments, rather than than something that is created by society
• How many disabled people are there in the UK

  16 million: 11% Children, 23% working age adults, 45% pension age
• Statistics to back up disability being symbolically annihilated

  Ipsos (2024): 32% adults have not seen content with any representation of disability in the last 6 months

  Sancho (2003): a wheelchair is often used as a ‘icon’ of disability
• How does the media use stereotypes to represent disability?

  Shakespeare: disability is a ”lazy short cut” to provide hooks to engage audiences through sympathy or revulsion

  Cumberbatch & Negrine: 3 broad categories of disability stereotypes in cinema- the criminal, the subhuman, and the powerless character
• Barnes 10 media stereotypes of disability

  • Pitiable or pathetic
  • Object of curiosity
  • Object of violence
  • Super cripple
  • Sinister or evil
  • Object of ridicule
  • Own worst enemy
  • Burden
  • Non-sexual
  • Unable to participate in daily life