Inspiration Porn: Once You See It, You Can’t Not See It
Why Media Depictions of Disabled People Matter
I talked to a lovely group of stroke survivors in my community a few years ago about a variety of stroke and disability-related issues. I was very impressed with their insights and honoured to be asked to speak to them. I wasn’t surprised when they hadn’t heard of inspiration porn when the subject came up, as I didn’t learn about it until I started blogging about disability. I was a bit surprised, however, when a few group members wanted to talk about the idea with me one-on-one afterward. I’d obviously hit a nerve, and people wanted to know more.
For those not familiar with inspiration porn, here’s some information about why it’s damaging and how to spot it.
Inspiration Porn is a Media Depiction Issue
As I described the nature of inspiration porn to the stroke survivor group, a woman picked up on it right away.
“It’s about how the media depicts the story,” she said. We were talking about a story (a type of story that seems to emerge on an increasingly frequent basis) of a high school football player asking an intellectually disabled classmate to the prom. I’d been asked to talk about activism. I pointed out that the disability activism…
