Inspiration Porn by Brintha Manoharan

Artist Statement

Have you ever seen a movie where a disabled character (most likely played by a non-disabled actor) is seen as a source of inspiration and put on a pedestal for bravery and perseverance for achieving ordinary tasks? Or have you ever had an encounter with a disabled person and thought somewhere along the line of “wow, this person is so inspiring, I shouldn’t have any excuses for not pursuing my goals”?

That’s inspiration porn. I decided to create a satirical art piece as a way to bring attention to the topic of ableism and challenge people to think critically when it comes to the way disabled bodies/minds are perceived in society. 

Inspiration porn is when disabled people are portrayed as inspirational/brave because of their disability and it’s used for the benefit of non-disabled people rather than disabled people themselves. In this case, their disability is the only thing that’s seen and since we are taught to see disability as a limitation, they are put on a pedestal for performing and achieving ordinary tasks. 

In this piece, a non-disabled person is looking for some inspiration porn in hopes to gain a more positive outlook on life. They are on a site called “Inspiration porn”, which has a similar logo design as a popular porn site. This signifies that just like the traditional porn we think of, it objectifies a person by reducing them to a single fact of identity. On the phone, this person is looking at the trending searches for the site and here, there is a list of examples of inspiration porn which have been depicted in mainstream media that we are exposed to everyday. This piece is meant to show the absurdity of inspiration porn and how it’s a product of ableism that continues to devalue the disability community.

-Brintha Manoharan