The (In)validity of <i>Supercrip</i> Representation of Paralympian Athletes

Silva, Carla Filomena; Howe, P. David

doi:10.1177/0193723511433865

Cited by 218 publications

(270 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…This understanding of disability reinforces a cultural Quinn & Yoshida, "More than Sport" CJDS 5.4 (December 2016) 105 preference for able-bodiedness (Titchkosky, 2009). For Canadians with physical difference, such preference generates discrimination and exclusion in daily life (Silva & Howe, 2012). In this paper, the researchers examine the analysis of the CBC's representation of ability during these Games with a specific focus on two successful Canadian Paralympians, one female and one male.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Quinn

Yoshida

2016

CJDS

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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.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Quinn

Yoshida

2016

CJDS

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“…Silva: Mov Sport Sci/Sci Mot 2017, 97, 17-25 than human. In fact, in the lead up to the London 2012 Paralympic Games, a television station in the United Kingdom ran an awareness campaign entitled 'Freaks of Nature' (Silva & Howe, 2012). This campaign was designed to highlight 'supercrip' in Paralympic sports but it did not translate well.…”

Section: Just a Bodymentioning

confidence: 99%

The cyborgification of paralympic sport

Howe

Silva

2017

Mov Sport Sci/Sci Mot

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--Since the turn of the century, the Paralympic movement has gained a high public profile. We will argue that this new high profile is a direct result of the focus of media attention upon new technologies of prosthetic medicine that have helped to create a legion of cyborg bodies that is manifest in the image of the contemporary sporting supercrip. This paper highlights the development of a technocentric ideology that has been embraced within the Paralympic movement. In embracing this ideology, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) began to celebrate the cyborgification of Paralympic bodies. Ultimately, this paper questions whether the advances in technology are actually empowering all disabled athletes or simply those who have the potential to be cyborgs.Key words: cyborg, cyborgification, disability, Paralympics, supercrip, technology Résumé --La cyborgification du sport paralympique. Depuis le début du siècle, le mouvement paralympique a acquis un profil grand public. Nous allons faire valoir, qu'il résulte directement de l'attention médiatique portée aux nouvelles technologies de la prothétique qui ont contribué à créer une légion de corps cyborg qui se manifeste à l'image du supermarché sportif contemporain. Cet article souligne le développement d'une idéologie technocentrique qui a été adoptée dans le mouvement paralympique. En adoptant cette idéologie, le Comité international paralympique (IPC) a commencé à célébrer la cyborgification des organes paralympiques. En fin de compte, cet article se demande si les progrès de la technologie habilitent actuellement tous les athlètes handicapés ou simplement ceux qui ont le potentiel d'être cyborgs.

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“…The stimulus to academic interest led to research across a wide range of aspects of the interconnection between disability and sport including the perceptions and selfperceptions of the disabled athlete (Smith 2013, Howe 2008, Silva and Howe 2012, Purdue and Howe 2012, social inclusion of people with disabilities in sport (Thomas and Smith 2008, Sport and Recreation Alliance 2013, Siperstein et al 2009, Liu 2009), the history of the Paralympic Games (Legg andSteadward 2011, Gold andGold 2007), and the inclusion of young disabled people in sport (Finch 2001, Fitzgerald 2009). Where the literature is more scant is in the area of disabled youth talent identification and how that talent is developed to elite competitive level.…”

Section: Theoretical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%