When someone is inspiring it is because they have achieved something brave or courageous, such as the completion of something physically challenging which has required hard work and discipline. Being called inspirational for going to the shop or for waking up in the morning and doing your daily activities, that would be unusual. However, across the world many disabled people are portrayed as inspirational for simply being able to live with their disability.
Images of disabled people performing activities are often circulated on social media with the intention to motivate the viewer. This insinuates that if a disabled person can ‘overcome’ their disability then a non-disabled person should appreciate their situation and overcome their own barrier, this is known as ‘inspiration porn’.
Inspiration porn stems from society’s view that a person cannot live a normal life with a disability, and that being able to live with an impairment means the individual is overcoming their ‘suffering’.
The term was coined by Comedian and Disability Advocate, Stella Young. Stella said: “We’re objectifying disabled people for the benefit of non-disabled people.”
Inspiration porn has surged through the use of pictures and videos on social media. Stella believed the purpose of this content “is to inspire you, to motivate you, so that we can look at them and think ‘however bad my life is, it could be worse. I could be that person.’”
The question which must be raised is where did the normalisation of inspiration porn emanate from? A lot of it comes from non-disabled people’s perception of disability. Little education and exposure to disability leads to a misunderstanding of what is acceptable. According to the disability charity Scope, 36% of survey respondents do not know any disabled people. One in five non-disabled people believe that disabled people encounter prejudice as a result of their impairment, this is in comparison to one in three disabled people. These statistics depict a polarisation between the views of disabled and non-disabled people on disability.
Richard Kramer, Chief Executive of Sense, says to “stop the harmful stereotype of inspiration porn”, disability needs more representation. He said: “It’s so important to increase awareness… we need better representation of disability across society as a whole, from workplaces to politics, on our TV screens and in books.”
Evidently, the Paralympics has improved general attitudes towards disability. However, with media campaigns relentlessly illustrating athletes as “overcoming disability”, people who are not exposed to disability in their personal life will most likely characterise disabled people as inspirational purely on the basis of living with a disability. Athletes that compete in the Paralympics should be applauded because of their achievements, not because they have conquered the ‘challenge’ of disability.
Andy Stevenson, Sports Reporter and Commentator has covered many sporting events at the Paralympics, he says that “we should not hold back from saying it” on the basis that the achievement is genuinely inspirational. Andy said: “I find the whole thing around inspiration quite fascinating because being called inspirational is not a bad thing per se. I think the problem comes when that goes a little bit over the top, when disabled people are described as inspirational for doing very simple everyday activities.
“In my career I am involved in the Paralympics a lot and clearly Paralympians are often called inspirational… in a lot of cases it is perfectly true and a lot of the Paralympians I have spoken to, I come away inspired.”
Disability Rights UK is the UK’s leading organisation working for disabled people. Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy said: “Disabled people are often applauded when we do something that non-disabled people do. I think it [inspiration porn] is rooted in ableism. The notion that being non-disabled is the gold standard and those that aren’t have somehow fallen short, it praises us for being more like the norm.
“We need people to understand the social model of disability, we need societal leaders and influencers to treat us as equal. Disabled leaders have to speak out about the challenges and the ways society can be made more inclusive.”
The social model of disability suggests that the term ‘disabled’ is socially constructed. The theory disputes that disability is caused by the inaccessible environment that disabled people are surrounded in. If the barriers that discriminate against disabled people were removed, society would then be inclusive for people with disabilities and issues such as inspiration porn would disappear.
Paralympian, Writer and Disability Activist, Elizabeth Wright argues that disabled people are much more than their disability. She said: “I want to talk about disability all the time because I am very passionate about equality, inclusion and access. But at the same time, it’s about being very careful that you are not completely centring your life around disability. It’s not all that I am, and I want people to understand that. Our disabilities are a part of our lives, but they are not everything in our lives… that’s the danger inspiration can create.”
Elizabeth explains until disabled people are “centred” in how disability is displayed in the media, the narratives of inspirational porn will continue to be told. She said: “When you have that, hopefully you start to remove those taboos around disability and what drives inspiration porn. You start to actually see disabled people as the very complex and nuanced human beings that we are.
“The actual barriers that we face in life are the social barriers and the inaccessibility both physical and online that are stopping us from achieving our potential,” she added.
Society succumbing to the habits of inspiration porn deviate the narrative away from the real issues that affect disabled people day-to-day. These obstacles include inaccessible buildings or public spaces, the increased cost of living with a disability and the hardship of seeking employment; these inequalities are what should be trending on social media.
In May 2021, the UK government released a report stating 53.6% of disabled people are currently in employment, this is compared to 81.7% of people who are not disabled. A survey conducted by Disability Rights UK found that 78% of businesses respondents said there were “specific challenges” to employing disabled people.
A government intervention which aims to increase the employment of disabled people would help to remove the myth that disabled people suffer from their impairment. Consequently, the normalisation of disabled people being employed would improve societies awareness of disability. Consistent interaction and exposure to disability in the workplace would instigate non-disabled people to stop regarding disabled people as inspirational exclusively because of their impairment.
The Valuable 500 which drives a “global collective” of CEOs to commit to the inclusion of disability, said in a recent Global Trends Report that an inclusive workforce “starts with people who aren’t yet in employment.” They suggest that businesses should invest by partnering with universities and schools to increase disability employment.
Actor, Presenter and Disability Campaigner, Adam Pearson believes in order to challenge inspiration porn, discussions about disability needs to become mainstream. Adam said: “Disability porn is just an easy way of displaying disability to the wider public.
“People always love a triumph over adversity story, as a disabled bloke I have done alright… but when you make the disability the main factor in all of that, for some reason it becomes the most interesting thing about me. I don’t think what I have done is that remarkable, I just think I have had a lot of opportunities that I have made the most of. If you wouldn’t congratulate a non-disabled person for doing it, then why are you congratulating a disabled person?
“I think if we fixed people’s attitudes towards disability then inspiration porn will organically fade away,” he emphasised.
Martin Sinclair played cerebral palsy football for England, and for Great Britain at the Paralympics. Martin thinks that inspiration porn does have a negative impact on disability, he said: “We need to have those conversations and educate people on issues like inspiration porn and disability as a whole.
“I don’t think disabled people need to change, people without disabilities need to come out of their comfort zone and have those awkward conversations. Disability can happen to anyone at any stage of their lives, so we need to normalise it.”
The remedy for inspiration porn relies heavily on replacing the current narrative of disability in mainstream media, a proactive intervention from government bodies and the dedication to discuss disability in public spheres. Until these areas are addressed, inspiration porn will continue to be a trope in society.
Ned is 19 years old and studies Journalism at university. Ned has bylines in publications such as The Sunday Express, New Valley News and The Real Riviera.
Originally posted 10th January 2022