Paralympic cripvertising: On the gendered self-representations of Paralympic athletes on social media

Authors: Pullen, E., Mora, L. and Silk, M.

Journal: New Media and Society

eISSN: 1461-7315

ISSN: 1461-4448

DOI: 10.1177/14614448231173882

Abstract:

Paralympic athletes are increasingly using social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to (self-)represent and engage audiences in disability counter-narratives that resist dominant disability stereotypes. This is particularly the case at the intersection of gender and sexuality where social media is being harnessed to visibly reclaim gendered and sexualised disabled identities in new and diverse ways. In this article, we advance scholarship on female Paralympic athletes’ self-representational practices through an intersectional visual media analysis of the most popular female British Paralympic athletes’ Instagram pages. We capture a particular trend in Paralympic athletes’ self-representational practices, termed cripvertising, that intersects with gendered heteronormative scripts centred on neoliberal ableism, kinship normativity and consumption (‘branding’) capabilities. We discuss the contradictions and complexities of Paralympians’ self-representations and their role in relation to the subversive, pedagogical and emancipatory potential for shaping new disability media narratives, disabled (online) normativity and representational politics.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/38725/

Source: Scopus

Paralympic cripvertising: On the gendered self-representations of Paralympic athletes on social media (Retracted Article)

Authors: Pullen, E., Mora, L. and Silk, M.

Journal: NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY

eISSN: 1461-7315

ISSN: 1461-4448

DOI: 10.1177/14614448231173882

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/38725/

Source: Web of Science (Lite)

Paralympic cripvertising: On the gendered self-representations of Paralympic athletes on social media

Authors: Pullen, E., Mora, L. and Silk, M.

Journal: New Media & Society

ISSN: 1461-4448

Abstract:

Paralympic athletes are increasingly using social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to (self-)represent and engage audiences in disability counter-narratives that resist dominant disability stereotypes. This is particularly the case at the intersection of gender and sexuality where social media is being harnessed to visibly reclaim gendered and sexualised disabled identities in new and diverse ways. In this article, we advance scholarship on female Paralympic athletes’ self-representational practices through an intersectional visual media analysis of the most popular female British Paralympic athletes’ Instagram pages. We capture a particular trend in Paralympic athletes’ self-representational practices, termed cripvertising, that intersects with gendered heteronormative scripts centred on neoliberal ableism, kinship normativity and consumption (‘branding’) capabilities. We discuss the contradictions and complexities of Paralympians’ self-representations and their role in relation to the subversive, pedagogical and emancipatory potential for shaping new disability media narratives, disabled (online) normativity and representational politics.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/38725/

Source: BURO EPrints