UK Disability History Month gives us the opportunity to raise awareness of the lived experiences of disabled people, educate ourselves and become better allies.
We would love to include recommendations throughout UK Disability History Month of media that members of the Queen Mary community would like to share with others. If you have any recommendations that you would like be included, please get in touch with the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team (hr-equality@qmul.ac.uk) with the title, media type and why you are making the recommendation.
Check back to this page regularly as we update it!
Note: These resources have been gathered via suggestions from the Queen Mary community and variety of wider sources: the views shared within individual recommendations do not represent that of Queen Mary.
Library Services have compiled a reading list to mark UK Disability History Month. Do take a look and contact us if you have further recommendations!
When discussing disability in media, it is important to recognise the prevalence of a number of ‘tropes’ and that often a lack of intersectionality is portrayed.
Common negative and stereotypical depictions of disabled people can include the “Disabled Villain“ trope, disability being used as a character quirk, and disabled people being used to provide character growth or to 'inspire' others.
A survey conducted by the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at the UCLA Psychology Department stated that
“according to GLAAD, just 3.5% of characters in broadcast scripted series had disabilities in the 2020-2021 season. Furthermore, actors without disabilities play the majority of all characters with disabilities on-screen. The representation that does exist is misleading. Almost all portrayals of people with disabilities in the media are white, but disability impacts all.”