Is Disability Still An Afterthought in Popular Culture?

Disability - is it part of the mainstream consciousness when it comes to the idea of diversity? There has been a huge shift in the awareness of privilege that many in society have due to many characteristics. The persecution that many groups have faced, and continue to face has been brought into sharp focus.

So where does disability sit in this picture of awareness and the need to be represented in popular culture? Facebook and Bitmoji both have released Cartoon Avatars, customisable to represent you. One of our board members Danielle Farrel set about creating her own and then realised a wheelchair was not an option. All the options represented characters as able bodied, with no disability options at all.

Despite all the other customisation options and stickers, not a single one related to disability. We made a two minute animated video about it click the link to watch it on our YouTube channel

https://youtu.be/q1oGQouluPQ

Danielle has also written a blog about it, you an see it on her website -

https://youroptionsunderst.wixsite.com/y-o-u/post/what-facebook-avatars-tell-us-about-ableism

Here is a link to the petition on Change, at the time of writing after over a month, still less than 10,000 people have signed this, no sign of a response from Bimoji or Facebook to correct this.

http://chng.it/PfrfYvfQYy

Hidden, ignored, these are not words we should tolerate in any area of life. Until we stop accepting this, inclusion of disability is likely to remain an afterthought, rather than core to our sense of an equal inclusive society.

Share the video, sign the petition, ask a friend if they noticed about this issue, help pressure for change and accountability.