Disabilities & The Media

    Today, social media profoundly persuades general standards and public opinion. Because of this impact, many media we consume cater to the norms set years before. A perspective that is being pushed to change is the portrayal of athletes with disabilities on social platforms. For decades, Paralympic athletes were not depicted on the same platform as able-bodied ones. Often, media illustrated people with disabilities as supercrips, a stigmatized depiction that emphasizes their success as heroic tales of rising above their impairment. Modifications made can ultimately change the stigma that athletes, and people, with disabilities, are helpless. But this poses the question: how can we make these changes?

    First, there should be an increase in media coverage, not only for the Paralympics but other disabled sports. In the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games, media coverage increased with many platforms, one being Tiktok. Social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and others utilized the right way can increase the popularity of the Paralympics and disabled sports. Another blog, The Conversation, discusses the Tokyo 2020 coverage here and addresses the lack of content for disabled sports. Despite this absence, there have been ads on Channel 4 promoting the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which a viewer said was the highlight of the overall Olympics for them. With this in mind, coverage can be increased by appealing to general audiences. Videos such as 24 hours with athletes depict day-to-day chores for athletes with disabilities and show that they live just like any other able-bodied individuals. Popularity for videos like this skyrocketed when big companies like Vogue and Vanity Fair posted them on social media platforms. Additionally, corporations collaborating with paralympic athletes increase their social media presence. For instance, Mary Fisher, a para-swimmer, details her day in an article on Paralympic.org titled, A Day in the Life of Para-Swimmer Mary Fisher. This would have reached a greater audience if it was a video published by a well-known sports enterprise like Nike or Adidas on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. As a result, a greater audience reached means more coverage for the Paralympics and disabled sports. 

    Second, we must address the stigma when athletes with disabilities are pictured on screens. In The Conversation, they examine if the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics empowers the athletes participating seen here. They mention the lack of representation and the superhuman label put on athletes with disabilities. Although the Paralympics is meant to empower athletes with disabilities, the way it is being promoted says otherwise. When society's low expectations of what individuals with disabilities can do are reinforced on social media platforms, people continue to believe they are helpless or supercrips. Changing this mentality won't happen overnight, however, adjusting the portrayal of athletes with disabilities is the first step. Many of the ads seen promoting the Paralympics show people with disabilities as athletes, by depicting them as humans before athletes, the emphasis on their disability is removed. As mentioned earlier, Channel 4's ad for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics is a prime example of showing athletes with disabilities as humans. The ad opens with the athletes beginning their day at home. Just like able-bodied individuals, they have families to care for, jobs to work, and lives to live outside of being a Paralympian. Debunking the powerless stereotype for athletes with disabilities starts here because, at the end of the day, they were people before becoming an athlete.

    Ultimately, increasing variability in the formats athletes with disabilities are portrayed and showing their day-to-day lives helps destigmatize the supercrip label. With social media influence growing exponentially, it is vital to utilize this to show athletes with disabilities on the same platforms as their able-bodied counterparts. As a society, we are growing more than ever, however, seem to be falling behind in changing our views on people with disabilities. With these transformations, we can further increase media coverage and reinforce the idea that athletes with disabilities are just like us.