Among Paralympians, A Lively Conversation About ‘Inspiration Porn’

The phrase’s meaning has been shaped, to a large extent, through the eyes and ears of the beholders, who have propped up the wisdom of Potter Stewart, the Supreme Court justice who defined obscenity by writing, “I know it when I see it.”

Stella Young, an Australian journalist, comedian and activist, wrote the Ramp Up article in 2012, then delivered a TED Talk on the subject in 2014 that was both hilarious and lacerating.

Young, speaking from her wheelchair, described images online of amputees running on prosthetic legs along with the words: “The only disability is a bad attitude.”

Young chose the term “porn” very deliberately, she said, because such images “objectify one group of people for the benefit of another.”

“In this case,” Young added, “we’re objectifying disabled people for the benefit of nondisabled people. The purpose of these images is to inspire you, to motivate you, so that we can look at them and think, ‘Well, however bad my life is, it could be worse. I could be that person.’”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/sports/olympics/inspiration-porn-paralympians-know-it-when-they-see-it.html