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Inspiration Porn
Just Another Example Of Ableism
Stella Young coined the concept of inspiration porn in her essay for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s webzine Ramp Up in 2012 and further explored it in her TEDx talk. She explained her decision to name inspiration porn: “I use the term porn deliberately because one group of people is objectified for the benefit of another group of people.”
What is inspiration porn, and why is it a bad thing. The term inspiration porn refers to the objectification of people with disabilities as sources of inspiration for able-bodied people based on their life circumstances. As with pornography, inspiration porn is perceived as objectifying one group of people for the benefit of another. In this case The person is objectifyng those with disabilities.
The use of inspiration porn may be viewed as an expression of ableism. For example, inspiration porn might feature a photo of a child with a disability doing something ordinary, with captions that target able-bodied individuals, such as “your excuse is invalid”, or “before you quit, try.”
It is not necessarily bad to be an inspiration to others. However, when we are inspired solely because somebody with a disability is doing an ordinary task, we are objectifying them and using their circumstances for our own benefit.
