Parinita chats with Sanjana and Aparna about ableism and ageism in media. As fans from dominant groups in both instances (we’re young, able-bodied, and neurotypical), the three of us have massive blind-spots. But we’re trying to educate ourselves, and we’ve learned a lot about disability and age-based discrimination through fandom discussions. We love that fans do such an incredible job in raising awareness about so many issues!
Some of the things that we discuss in this episode include:
- How disability is equated with villainy in fictional universes
- The ableist and exaggerated representations of disability in stories which often reflect harmful tropes
- The problematic impacts of “fixing” disabilities in science fiction and fantasy worlds by using technology or magic
- Some of our favourite characters with disabilities
- The social model of disability and how both fictional worlds like Hogwarts and the TARDIS as well as the real world need more accommodations to make them more accessible to all kinds of people
- The parallels between the disabled community and other marginalised cultures, especially ableism and ageism
- How older characters in Bollywood are used as comic relief
- Our favourite older characters in media
- The trouble with media and culture valuing youth, particularly at the cost of older women
- Ageism in children’s literature and in fandom.
In our What If? sections, we wonder what the experiences of an elderly Hogwarts student would look like. We also age-flip characters to imagine what a young Minerva McGonagall would represent, how fun a hundred-year-old Aang would be, and what would happen if Grandma took some muffins to little Red Riding Hood instead? (We also accidentally discover our calling as Red Riding Hood fanfic writers).
Image via Tumblr: milkystreet on Harry Potter Disability Headcanons
https://harrypotterdisabilityheadca-blog.tumblr.com/post/106930737843/brooms-with-actual-seats-for-people-with