No one wants to criticize the USA, or God forbid say they’re behind on the times, but I’ll be say it: The United States is no longer the leader in boldly putting forth disability imagery into the mass media. The United Kingdom has become the ballsy leader, and the recent Debenhams fashion campaign (a British department store) exemplifies my point beautifully. Several non-mainstream models were chosen to model for the new Ben de Lisi line (Principles).
Shannon Murray, 32, a longtime paraplegic from a diving accident at age 14, was the gorgeous disabled model chosen for the campaign. She’s been modeling since she won a modeling contest at VisABLE, a modeling agency in the UK that represents people with disabilities, in 1994. The Debenhams campaign is also using two plus-size models (size 10 and size 14; although the lanky size 10 model sure looks skinnier), and a petite model that’s 5’4 in height. It’s so refreshing to see “real life” models being used in a big time fashion ad, and not just a transformative “campaign” like the one Dove launched in 2006.
The USA used to be the leader…in the 1990’s; a woefully long time ago. I keep waiting for the pendulum to swing back, but it’s been over a decade and people with actual disabilities are still rarely ever seen in the American mass media (reality shows on TLC don’t count). Back in the day we had the Shot, a high-profile modeling agency for people with disabilities based in NYC, but they’ve long closed.
It just seems the Brits working in the media industry have no fear (and that‘s why we love them!). They don’t think someone with a disability will completely ruin whatever they’re featured in. If they did, the hit series How to Look Good Naked wouldn’t have done a 3-part series on women with disabilities, and they sure as Hell wouldn’t be premiering Dancing on Wheels, a variation of Dancing with the Stars, only with wheelchair-users paired up with a British celebrity, this Spring.
I’d be ecstatic beyond words if What Not to Wear featured a woman in a wheelchair, but could Stacy and Clinton even handle it I wonder? Probs…but their producers couldn’t. And while we’re at it, why hasn’t Project Runway had an “adapted fashion” challenge yet?!
That's it. They're just all scardy cats.
- How to look good naked from your wheelchair
- BBC to debut groundbreaking wheelchair dancing reality show
- Adapted fashion reviews on ModCloth clothing, exclusively on Disaboom
