I learned a new phrase this week: inspiration porn. The Wikipedia entry describes it as “the portrayal of people with disabilities (or other uncommon life circumstances) as being inspirational to able-bodied people (or other common reference group), on the basis of their life circumstances.”
As is my habit, I watched CBS Sunday Morning this week. There was an interview with Emmy-award-winning performer Kyra Sedgwick, who is currently performing in the Off-Broadway comedy “All of Me” written by Laura Winters. “Sedgwick plays the mother of a young disabled woman who is romantically involved with a disabled man. “
“Correspondent Mo Rocca talks with Sedgwick about the play… and with actors Madison Ferris and Danny J. Gomez who say they like the play for not indulging in what’s been called ‘inspiration porn.'”
Ferris and Gomez both have disabling conditions. “Look at this disabled kid who scored the basket, and everyone picks him up, and it’s like He’s so inspirational!” Or “they have a special skill that NO ONE ELSE CAN DO.”
Also, John Green, interviewed on NOCD, discusses how a lifetime of OCD inspired his novel Turtles All The Way Down. He talks about how the disease is either romanticized as something that gives you secret superpowers or freakish.
How did I miss this?
I’m late to the discussion. Back in 2014, the year she died, Stella Young gave a TEDxSydney talk called “Inspiration porn and the objectification of disability.” The Disability Rights Advocate is attributed with coining the term in 2012.
From here: “The statement ‘the only disability in life is a bad attitude’ puts the responsibility for our oppression squarely at the feet, prosthetic or otherwise, of people with disabilities. It’s victim blaming. It says that we have complete control of the way disability impacts our lives. To that, I have one thing to say. Get stuffed.”
Bugging me
Certain stories in the media have made me uncomfortable for quite a while. I thought I was being a misanthrope. “Perhaps you’ve been scrolling on social media when you come across a short article or video about how a disabled teenager was invited to prom, how ‘bravely’ a disabled person participated in a sport or a job, or how a group of friends got together to do something charitable for a disabled person.
“In their shortest form, they might appear as memes of a disabled person doing an activity with some inspirational quote, or asking ‘What’s your excuse?” — an implied ‘If this person can do it, what’s your excuse for not being able to do it too?'”
NBC Nightly News loves these stories, especially on Saturdays. One in particular I found particularly unsettling. A teen, an assistant on the football team, got to suit up for one game, the last one in his senior year. The opposition made half-hearted efforts to tackle him – talk about taking a dive! – before he scored! The teen and his parent were thrilled, and the news anchor was happy. I found it cringeworthy and patronizing. This does not suggest that the gesture was not offered with good intentions.
Here’s a list of inspiration porn from qi creative.
I have seen remarkable stories, that I don’t believe fall in the category. When Chris Nikicc became the first person with Down’s syndrome EVER to run all the major marathons, I was impressed. Maybe it’s because running all of the big marathons is remarkable in its own right.
The line between inspiration and inspiration porn may seem fuzzy. Read from some of the links and I believe it will make more sense.