SMA News Forums Forums Awareness and Advocacy Disability in Media Performative Activism vs. Real Activism

  • Performative Activism vs. Real Activism

    Posted by alyssa-silva on March 30, 2022 at 1:39 pm

    It’s no doubt that companies and brands are beginning to make an effort toward more diversity and inclusion in their marketing efforts. I work in the fashion industry and see this through the rise of adaptive clothing, disabled models in ad campaigns, fashion show runways, and so on.

    But sometimes I wonder if it’s performative. For example, when a brand includes a disabled model but their line of clothing is inaccessible, I question their motives. The fashion industry is just one example of performative activism that I rambled off. Another example that comes to mind is when disabled characters aren’t played by disabled actors in the media.

    Of course, I think we’re heading in the right direction. I never saw disability representation until the last few years. But sometimes things don’t add up, and it really does make you wonder about tokenism. Are brands doing this for their own personal gain or are they genuinely interested in inclusion and disability representation?

    What are your thoughts?

    alyssa-silva replied 2 years, 7 months ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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