Figure 1. Advert found on www.carsforvetrans.org
Interesting research done first by Miller, Jones and Ellis and then 10 years later by Micheal Bender in the advertising for charities of disabled or otherwise afflicted. It was discovered in both studies that people are more likely donate or contribute when the emotions pulled are guilt, sympathy or pity. But in doing so the advertisements promote the visibility of the people depicted as less than, less capable, and undermining their basic civil rights as equals. (Bender 2003) Eliciting negative emotional responses, but higher rates of donation.
It is noted that "The failure of the individual to adapt or immerse themselves generally in society then generally becomes the 'cause.'" (Evans 1999: 274)
This is particularly applicable to my project and how I choose to portray and represent the children I work with. And while I do hope to elicit empathy (more than sympathy), I strive to present the children as they are: children; laughing, playing, crying, goofing, loving children.
Here are some quote I noted that might be useful as a reference:
"Disabled people are missing from mainstream culture. When we do appear, it is in specialized forms" (Morris 1991: 85).
I don't want to exhibit them as characters that illicit sympathy, or as "Characters that a viewer can't take seriously" (Bogden 2012: 126).
'The answer here lies in integration rather than segregation" (Sheppard in Hunt 1966: 63).
"The focus is to look at the ability, not the disability" (Barnes & Mercer, 2003 p.98).
"Disabled people continue to be portrayed as more than or less human, rarely as ordinary people doing ordinary things" (Oliver 1990: 61).
"Imagining disability as ordinary, as the typical rather than the atypical human experience, can promote practices of equality and inclusion that begin to fulfill the promise of a democratic order" (Thomson 2001: 360).
Recognizing opposition in childhood as ordinary, as the typical rather than the atypical childhood experience, can promote practices of inclusion and the idea that their lives, are lives of value. They, as human beings, are also worth existing.
Figure 1: Advert V&A [online]. Available at www.carsforvetrans.org
BARNES, Colin & Mercer Geoff. 2010.
Exploring Disability: A Sociological Introduction Cambridge: Polity Press.
BENDER, Micheal. 2003.
Explorations in Dementia London: Jessica Kingsley.
BOGDON, Roger. 2012.
Picturing Disability: Begger, Freak, Citizen, and other Photography Rhetoric New York, Syracuse: University Press.
EVANS, Jessica. 1999.
Feeble Monsters: Making up Disabled People in Hall, Stuart & Evans, Jessica (eds)1999.
The Visual Culture Reader London: Sage.
HUNT, Paul. 1966.
The Stigma of Disability London: Geoffrey Chapman.
MORRIS, Jenny. 1991.
Pride Against Prejudice London: Women's Press.
OLIVER, Michael. 1990.
The Politics of Disablement London: MacMillan Press.
THOMPSON, Rosemarie. 2001.
'Seeing Disabled' in Longmore, Paul and Umansky Lauri (eds) 2014.
The New Disability History New York: New York University Press.
