Disability Imagery: A Bastion of Social Change
Faculty Mentors: Liz DePoy and Stephen Gilson
Abstract/ Summary
In the visual and material culture of the 21st century, image is power. This inquiry used thematic analysis to examine the meanings of disability imagery on a continuum from tragedy to an inevitable and celebrated part of human diversity and provocateur of social change. Five themes emerged: disability as tragic (exclusion, isolation, fear); disability as inspiration porn (disabled people are brave or special just for living); close but not quite (some positive imagery segregation and impairment are foregrounded); and celebration of disability as human diversity (the goal for change).
This paper has been withdrawn.