What is Inspiration Porn? Understanding Objectification

Have you heard of inspiration porn? It was coined by comedian, writer, and disability activist Stella Young in 2014. You can watch her nine-minute TEDtalk here. It presents the idea that disability is not a bad thing, and it doesn’t make you exceptional. It refers to instances when non-disabled people objectify people with impairments by holding them up as models of inspiration only because they are disabled. That the disability itself, and only the disability is inspiring. Ges uses his body and mind to the best of his ability. Don’t we all? That’s not extraordinary. That’s how his mind and body work. Period. His existence is not my inspiration, or yours.

Disability Provides Certain Opportunities

And yet, over my son’s 25 years with me, I’ve watched people, including me, have extraordinary experiences because of their relationship with him. But the inspiration they feel isn’t because of him. It’s not the fact that he’s taking up physical space where they are. What is it? I think it’s the gifts of a hostile, unwelcoming world. When Ges himself encounters difficulty doing up a button, navigating a verbal conversation, or sorting out a problem at work, he has to develop particular character traits to make his body and mind work in those situations. Particularly patience and persistence. He has extraordinary capacities that have translated into incredible grit and determination in tough cross-country races and remarkable good humour in classrooms and workplaces.

Moving Beyond Inspiration Porn: What Actually Builds Character

Ecological psychologists call it an affordance: an opportunity for action that an environment or object offers an individual. Like a stream through an ecosystem affords the opportunity for particular plants to grow alongside it, Ges’s character develops because of the friction between how his mind and body work and the social environment he’s in. He becomes more patient, more persistent. And his response to how his mind and body work is what others take inspiration from. Not his impairments then, but what sense he has made of them.

Spring Training with Challenger Baseball

Real Examples: How Inspiration Porn Distorts Genuine Achievement

I think people noticed that about him. And they saw how places didn’t fit for him. The playground at Highlands Elementary and him not being able to keep up led students to create Club G. The lack of competition opportunities for Ges in high school sport moved his coaches and community to create space for athletes like him. The creation of something new—the club, the competition opportunities—was what inspired them.

The change they created inspired and energized them. Yes, they needed the presence of Ges, but they needed him in a particular way and it was the interaction of those elements that created change.

The Next Post: Toward Meaningful Inclusion

In my next post, I’ll talk about inclusion and why we’re all missing out when we devalue and exclude disability. It’s a choice that costs us all.

P.s. Thanks for all your surgery well-wishes. Healing is going well, but won’t be complete for months yet.