The Embodiment of Disability. How Ableist Expectations Render Visual Practices

Abstract

How can the self-portraiture of people with disabilities render visible ableist expectations? The paper investigates the visual practices of people with disabilities on social media. An anthropological approach to selfies is deployed to understand the self-representations of people with disabilities: The conditions of ‘showing oneself’ are researched, as the relation of the body, the others, and the normative environment. A visual analysis of instagram posts gives insights into how people with disabilities distance themselves from stigmatizing experiences and embody themselves in social relationships. Despite risking stigmatization, the images potentially transform the viewer’s gaze on disabled bodies and visualize disability experiences.