MIT Assistive Technology Design

X AMBASSADORS 

Perhaps you’ve heard the term “inspiration porn” used to describe popular media portrayals of individuals with disabilities. Essentially, the phrase critiques the tendency to refer to individuals as “inspirational” solely on the basis of their disability. I think this quote (full article in the link) sums up the sentiment nicely:

It’s not that deaf and disabled people don’t have to battle with all kinds of barriers in life – of course we do. It’s the fact that society seems to seems to forget that it’s often the world around us – physical barriers, communication issues, or attitudes – that are far more “disabling” than the disability itself. Non-disabled people may feel inspired by the idea of us “overcoming” or “beating” our disability, but we wouldn’t have much to overcome if society treated us more equally.

On one hand, there is a severe lack of disability portrayal in the mainstream; on the other, depictions that focus solely on disability as inspiration fail to advance inclusion by neglecting all the other dimensions that make an individual unique.

Enter X Ambassadors. (Pause for 4 minute jam session.)

Notice that the video doesn’t lionize its cast members; the introduction is provided by a woman who states, “I want to be expected to do what everyone else is expected to do.” The footage is pretty mundane, by music video standards. People are lifting weights, hiking, and playing the key board in a rock band, all of which are things that I do in my own life. (Ok, minus the rock band.) I think that’s why it feels so deeply successful to me: I watch the video and manage to see myself.

What if that was the standard formula for inclusion?

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2015 at 3:24 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.