How Media Prevents Us From Truly Empathizing With Disabled Characters
By Alaina Leary
I’ve never been the target audience for a television show, a movie, or a novel. I’m white — but I’m also a woman, queer, and disabled. Growing up with a disabled mother, we didn’t have a lot of money. Needless to say, I’m not the viewer that marketers are typically spending money on to reach. In fact, it’s been documented that marketers and creators systematically fail to target disabled people, because they don’t believe there’s any money to be made from our community. Because of this, media isn’t generally made with disability — or any diverse experiences — at the forefront of anyone’s minds. (Or wallets.)
As a kid and a teen, I don’t think I ever saw “me” in a character — at least not fully. There have been characters I’ve strongly related to: Luna Lovegood, Poussey Washington, Lorelai Gilmore, Blue Sargent. But I never get to say that I relate to a character, and they’re also disabled, just like me — and that matters.
It matters because a lack of disabled representation further “others” people like me — from our friends, family, coworkers, professors, peers — creating a distance and gaps in understanding between disabled people and everyone else. According to proponents of the We Need Diverse Books movement, representation acts in two ways. It offers a…
