The world was full of excitement during the Sochi Winter Olympic Games that held its closing ceremonies just a few weeks ago. With plenty of news and media coverage we were constantly getting updated on the medal count for the athletic games during the two week period. Yet, in stark contrast to the original Games however, Paralympic Games that just started last Friday have seem to have very minimal media coverage on their accomplishments.

In this CBCnews article Paralympic athletes express their frustration with the discrepancy between ‘abled’ bodied athletes and the financial support they gain from sponsorships. In the article, David Howe, a former Paralympic athlete himself, frankly draws upon the issue with sponsorships with Paralympians that it is due to their minimal “visibility” in the media field. He explains that their minimal take up in the media is unprofitable for their company.

I believe this variance in the sponsorships due to the degree of the visibility of the Paralypians provides evidence for the tendency of media reinforcing the hegemonic representations of people as able-bodied individuals. The fact they that have little exposure to the media may suggest that they are isolated from representation.  This can indicate that stories of disabled bodies are not readily consumed being the minority and are often unrelatable to the majority audience.

In the same article, wheelchair racer, Chantal Petitclerc, shares her concern when contracting with sponsorships:

“Whenever I had a new sponsor, I would always tell them I don’t want you to sponsor me because I’m in a wheelchair. I want you to sponsor me because I’m a great athlete and I have a great story that can really reflect the values of your company.”

I believe this quote clearly demonstrates the struggles disabled athletes have when being represented in media. What Petitclerc suggests here is how the overall representation and identity of these Paralympians are spotlighted and based around their disability–their disability is seen as their primary identity and them as an Olympic athlete considered secondary.

Take this commercial by P&G for instance. The focus is on the mother’s “tough love” for their disabled children which the ad suggests that it in turn helped in the development of the child’s athletic career. But here they represent the disabled athletes as vulnerable subjects; they require the help and support from their families. They show clips of children being immobile without the assistance from their mothers. If I look at this video cynically and carefully observe the representations of these disabled figures, I can comment that this video may perhaps be degrading for the athletes’ Olympian spirt; it is inadequate in representing the true athletic spirit of combative, competitive soul. In these ways, media representations of Paralympic athletes can be slightly skewed, in that they focus so much on their disabilities and thus lose sight of the athlete as a whole.

So how do we better these representations? This advertisement, #WHATSTHERE, that was produced the official Canadian Paralympic Committee “compels viewers to look past the disabilities of Paralympic athletes — and instead fathom their complete, elite, world-class abilities.” (as indicated in the description box). While the video at first hides the disabilities of the athletes, in the second half of the video it reveals their handicap but maintains a powerful and intense depiction, empowering the Paralympians’ athleticism and individualism. In these ways, I believe that we are advancing towards representations of marginalized subjects in ways outside the hegemonic representations of individuals.