ABLEISM? Common disability Tropes in media. Inspiration Porn, Toxic Positivity, Curing Disability.

Ableism is a significant problem especially in the media, they write characters that are either miraculously cured or are portrayed as tragic, they use disabled people as inspiration whilst treating them as one dimensional or they continue the narrative that the only way to be happy as a disabled or chronically ill person is to push through your condition and act almost like it doesn’t exist. These things are all problematic and don’t help real life disabled people to accept and love themselves and do nothing to educate the public on what having a disability is like!  

I talk about the problems I see with these types of portrayals of disabled characters and reel people by the media but there are lots more issues to address that I didn’t get to in this video, like able bodied actors playing disabled characters, a clear lack of disabled writers, producers, directors etc to accurately portray life with a disability and the over prevalence of disabilities that are faked and sported by the Villan of the story! 

Have you noticed any other common ableist tropes in the media? (let me know in the comments) 

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About Me: 

My name is Elinor, I am a 22-year-old sociology student who has been living with ME/CFS for 6 years. I also have anxiety and depression as co-morbid conditions!  I started making YouTube Videos consistently about my experience with chronic illness and mental health struggles in June 2020 and I’m aiming to hit 1,000 subscribers this year! I also love fashion, connecting with people in the community and being creative!!