More than Sport: Representations of Ability and Gender by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) of the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the CBC's television coverage of two highlighted Canadian Paralympic athletes who participated at the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games held in Athens, Greece. This analysis focuses on representations of ability and gender to consider the repercussions of these representations for Paralympians, people living with physical difference, and spectators. Methods: Informed by disability studies theory and Garland- Thomson's (2000) work, qualitative research methods were used to analyze segments of CBC's television coverage of two Canadian Paralympians, one male and one female, for dominant and recurring themes. Results: Multiple positive representations of athletes were presented in the data. The dominant theme was the athletic. Though a positive alternative to negative stereotypes of ability this representation is used solely for the female athlete in this case study. The analysis of the male athlete revealed a more nuanced, complex representation. Within this analysis, the asexuality of female athletes with a physical difference is perpetuated and male hegemony within sport is reinforced. Conclusions: Media has a powerful role in the construction of social perceptions of people with physical difference. Based on this analysis, the CBC coverage promoted a more fully human portrayal of the highlighted male Paralympian. However, its representation of the female athlete continued to reinforce ableist assumptions regarding ability and the asexuality of women with a disability. Sport journalism is a powerful medium that constructs representations of people with physical difference. However, critical analyses of these representations are necessary to reinforce those that are positive and realistic representations of people with physical difference.

Informing Future Paralympic Media Approaches: The Perspective of Canadian Paralympic Athletes

“…For example, Trent reflected on the action shots of himself depicted in his portfolio as “a very accurate representation of [his] sport,” displaying the physicality of himself and his teammates. This supports previous findings that argued against media representing Paralympic athletes through a participation lens by choosing to feature athletes, particularly female athletes, in primarily passive positions ( Crow, 2014 ; McPherson et al, 2016 ; Pearson & Misener, 2019 ; Quinn & Yoshida, 2016 ).…”

“…For example, in visual representations of Paralympic athletes, ableism is commonly reinforced by only showing athletes in passive positions (e.g., on the sidelines), favoring images of athletes who use technologies (e.g., wheelchairs or prosthetics), and whose impairment is invisible from representation ( Bruce, 2014 ; Crow, 2014 ; Pearson & Misener, 2019 ). Paralympic media coverage has therefore been dominated by a single perception of the impaired body ( Quinn & Yoshida, 2016 ). This singular type of representation does not reflect the diversity of the Paralympic community as female athletes, athletes of lesser-known sports, and athletes who have higher support needs have historically received less coverage.…”

Extraordinary Normalcy, Ableist Rehabilitation, and Sporting Ablenationalism: The Cultural (Re)Production of Paralympic Disability Narratives

“…A review of Paralympic studies focusing on representation (e.g., Berger, 2008;Beacom et al, 2016;Brooke, 2018;Howe, 2011;Silva & Howe, 2012;Marques et al, 2015;McGillivray et al, 2019;Solves et al, 2019;Ellis, 2009;Kim et al, 2017) demonstrates the widespread application of the supercrip as an analytic concept across a range of media platforms; from television (e.g. Quinn & Yoshida, 2016;Ellis, 2009), to printed media (Beacom et al, 2016;Misener, 2012), to promotion and marketing (Silva & Howe 2012). For the most part, empirical focus has been on newspaper coverage and marketing material as the single site of analysis (see Howe, 2011;Silva & Howe, 2012;McGillivary et al, 2019).…”