An advertising aesthetic: Real beauty and visual impairment

Abstract

This paper considers critical responses to disability in twentieth-century AngloAmerican advertisements from which a problematic advertising aesthetic emerges. The aesthetic is used to test the progressiveness of a recent trilogy of Dove advertisements that represents visual impairment. The conclusion is that, while there has been much progress, the ableist advertising aesthetic of decades ago remains an issue in the twenty-first century.More specifically, the Dove advertisements are found to be underpinned by ocularcentrism, despite their apparent appreciation of visual impairment.

“Superdisabilities” vs “disabilities”? Theorizing the role of ableism in (mis)representational mythology of disability in the marketplace

“…These uncovered quantitative imbalances provide further support to calls for an integrative multidimensional analysis to unpack the multiplicity of characteristics that can render one an anomalous embodiment and impact their experiences of significance and normalcy within a given sociocultural construction (Shildrick 2009). In relation to driving PWD inclusion through advertising representation, our findings support calls for greater consideration of the ethical implications of idealized depictions of impairment and types of impairment (Bolt 2014;Briant, Watson and Philo 2013;Worrell 2013).…”

A closer look at opportunities for blind adults: Impacts of stigmatization and ocularcentrism

“…Through ocularcentrism – a social position in which vision dominates – “seeing” is promoted to a position of knowing, while “blindness” is imbued with negative connotations and therefore those who are labeled as “blind” are also affixed with associated negative stereotypes (Bolt, 2005, 2013; Verhaeghe et al, 2016). For example, Bolt (2014, p. 31) describes how advertisements that include blind people, while progressive in terms of inclusion of blind people, perpetuate stigmatization and stereotypes because they “evoke wonder that is grounded in ocularcentrism and worsened by blatant inaccessibility” and use excessively visual language when describing positive experiences. In his exploration of aesthetic blindness , Bolt (2013) describes an ocularcentric social aesthetic wherein blind people experience human disqualification, and ocularcentric epistemology that equates blindness with lack of knowledge and emphasizes seeing as the greatest source of knowing.…”

“…In his exploration of aesthetic blindness , Bolt (2013) describes an ocularcentric social aesthetic wherein blind people experience human disqualification, and ocularcentric epistemology that equates blindness with lack of knowledge and emphasizes seeing as the greatest source of knowing. Ocularcentrism shapes Western beliefs and attitudes about blindness, forming what Bolt (2014, p. 31) describes as the “ableist social aesthetic by which those of us who have visual impairments are stereotyped and stigmatized.” It is under these conditions, of labeling and negative stereotyping, that stigmatization and discrimination occur.…”

‘Mabel is Unstable’: A Feminist Disability Studies Perspective on Early-Twentieth-Century Representations of Disabled Women in Advertisements

“…This message perpetuates oppressive binaries that consistently marginalise people with impairments and further increase prejudicial actions and attitudes (Longmore, 2003). Namely, representations of disability in advertising often fall into the 'ability/disability' category through promoting the de-humanising belief that we are all fixed into socially ascribed identities (Bolt, 2014). If a person 'discloses' an impairment or if an outward 'symbol' of disability is made evident then the common expectation follows that this is the singular and most important feature of their character (Bolt, 2012).…”

“…Textual analysis shows that the sample of advertisements contain a strong juxtaposition of women as paragons of domesticity whilst highlighting their 'feeble' natures. This notion follows the extreme concept that disabled women are either fantastically able, due to courage and infallibility whilst facing 'strife' or as objects of pity who require medical intervention (Bolt, 2014). Through this message, pharmaceutical drugs are portrayed as 'saviours' of modern day life (Smardon, 2007).…”