Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Debating 'Inspiration Porn'

Fascinating read from the BBC over whether recent Super Bowl ads featuring individuals with disabilities is inspirational or simply offensive. Unfortunately the BBC doesn't quite understand people first language. 

Two big Super Bowl advertisements have touched off the latest debate about whether disabled people can be "inspirational" for doing everyday things - or if the tag is condescending.


During the American football festivities earlier this month, Paralympian Amy Purdy ran, snowboarded and danced for Toyota, while Microsoft showed off how its technology helps a six-year-old boy with prosthetic legs. And those certainly aren't the only attention-grabbing videos featuring disabled people. BBC Trending recently covered the story of Madison Tevlin's rendition of "All of Me" which has now been watched more than 6m times.
The term "inspiration porn"
 was brought to the mainstream by the late Australian comedian Stella Young, and Trending radio brought together two disabled bloggers to debate the adjective. Is it OK to be "inspired" by disabled people - and is the "inspiring" tag encouraging or offensive?

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