Gendered re-presentations of disability: Equality, empowerment and marginalisation in Paralympic media

The commercial success of the Paralympics, driven by Channel 4's socially progressive coverage, has led to a celebrity Paralympic media culture and new gendered/sexualised media representations of para-athletes. From Pinterest's 'Paralympian Babes' to the Daily Mirror's 'Sexiest Female Paralympians', Paralympic media is challenging the historical marginalisation of gender and sexuality in the representation of disability.

Whilst such examples demonstrate important cultural and social change in disability representation, it raises pressing questions concerning gender equality in the context of disability media content, particularly as representations intersect with other forms of marginal identities such as race and ethnicity. No empirical research to date has explored Paralympic media coverage in relation to gender equality.

This project seeks to address this, providing new knowledge on the gendered/sexualised representations of para-athletes in Paralympic print and online media with a focus on intersectionality, and the implications of this beyond the media on the experiences and negotiation of gendered and sexual identities in the lives of disabled people. This knowledge can be used to refine approaches to disability representation that are gender inclusive, empowering for disabled people, and contribute to greater social inclusion and gendered/sexual well-being.

It aims to further contribute to ensuring Paralympic media coverage - as an important vehicle for the equality and empowerment of disabled people - continues to effect progressive social change.

The project is formed of several integrated qualitative work packages to provide a robust joined-up evidence base. These include: (1) A comprehensive media analysis of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic media content that will aim more fully explore the dominant gendered representations of para-athletes, and, (2) through the use of focus groups/interviews and interviews, to explore the multiple ways dominant gendered representations feed into the perceptions, interpretations, conversations and (re-)negotiation of gendered identities in the everyday lives of disabled people.

A public art exhibition drawn from the findings of focus groups/interviews will elevate the multiple and diverse disabled voices in the project and illuminate the unheard and marginalised issue of gender, sexuality and disability through creative collaboration with disabled artists.

The project builds on previous research in this area and established links with non-academic organisations for ongoing impact on policy and practice, engagement with civil society, and collaborations between academic and non-academic organisations. Importantly, it seeks to more fully and critically explore an emerging disability gender politics and aid the development of an empirical interdisciplinary knowledge base on gender, disability, culture, sport and media studies to address the issue of both gender and disability equality across the humanities.