Inspiration porn


Inspiration porn is the portrayal of people with disabilities as inspirational solely or in part on the basis of their disability. The term was coined in 2012 by disability rights activist Stella Young in an editorial in Australian Broadcasting Corporation's webzine Ramp Up and further explored in her TEDx Talk. She rejected the idea that disabled people's otherwise ordinary activities should be considered extraordinary solely because of disability.
Examples of inspiration porn often involve a photo of a child with a disability taking part in an ordinary activity, with captions like "your excuse is invalid" or "before you quit, try".

Criticism

Criticisms of inspiration porn include that it "others" people who experience disability, that it portrays disability as a burden, and that reducing people who experience disability to inspirations dehumanizes them, and makes them exceptionalist examples.

In popular culture

The 2016 TV show Speechless explored the concept in an episode where it explains inspiration porn as "portrayal of people with disabilities as one-dimensional saints who only exist to warm the hearts and open the minds of able-bodied people."

Academic

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