Commentary
'Push Girls' takes disabled people out of their usual TV roles
by Haddayr Copley-WoodsHaddayr Copley-Woods is a copywriter and blogger, as well as a source in the Public Insight Network for MPR News.
Disabled people on TV have a very specific job: to make able-bodied people feel good about themselves. We get Very Special Episodes like: Girl with Downs Teaches Bullies a Very Important Lesson, or Brave Boy with Spina Bifida Teaches Football Player to Face His Fears, or Noble Girl with Cerebral Palsy Teaches All of Us to Treasure Every Moment.
These stories reduce the humanity of disabled people to a mere lesson. They tell us: Disabled people do not exist to eat, drink, have kids, pursue dreams, swear, make mistakes, or make a living. They exist solely to teach real people a very important lesson. It's so "inspirational!"
Enter "Push Girls."
Sure, it's reality TV — which can feel like being stuck next to that obnoxious twit at the coffee shop, loudly oversharing about her boring relationship issues. And the pilot spends too much time on what accident or illness disabled the cast members — a topic of fascination to able-bodied people — accompanied by that musical note designed to indicate sinister tidings: "DJGHOOOOOOOM."
But you should watch it anyway, because it goes directly against the Very Special Episode grain.
It does this with lines like Tiphany's: "Yes, I can have sex. Lots and lots of sex." Or the image of Mia, confidently bumping down the front steps of her boyfriend's house on her way to work. Or with Autie dancing in her chair and going grocery shopping. Or with images of gorgeous wheelchairs in leopard prints with tricked-out rims.
More than that, it covers real issues: like trying to live on Social Security. Needing more care than insurance will cover. Looking for a job.
Angela's experience in this is particularly painful for me to watch, because it is so familiar. A professional model before her accident, she calls agent after agent looking for new representation with no luck. One even says baldly: "I can't think of much advertising featuring models in wheelchairs." She hires a photographer to do head shots for her, but he physically recoils when she has leg spasms. He later compares this gorgeous woman's modeling efforts to those of an armless man who wants to pitch.
Angela's deep anger, even while politely, anxiously trying to educate this freaked-out jerk, rang very true to me. It's important for able-bodied people to see scenes like this. For us gimps, it is astounding to see these familiar moments play out on the screen.
So I'm going to keep watching, and I hope you will, too. Also? I really need to learn how to bump my own chair down steps. Seeing the Push Girls do this with such style was . . . dare I say it? Inspirational.
Comments (10)
Sooo...does repeatedly using the long-outdated term "disabled" in your article teach us anything? We have a long way to go before mainstream society gets the message...that being that we are not "disabled people," but "people with disabilities."
Please note the painful difference in your next article. Reading the word "disabled" in an article meant to "empower" people like me is like hearing nails scrape across a chalkboard.
Respectfully, Ms. Tellado, while if I met you I would call you a person with disabilities rather than a disabled person -- as that is your preference -- I believe it is the person-first language that is outdated. I use 'disabled people' quite intentionally and for very specific reasons. My disability is part of my identity. It is part of who I am. I am a disabled person, not a person with disabilities; just as I am a woman, not a person with womanness.
Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg makes a very eloquent argument against person-first language in her recent essay on the topic here, if you are interested:
http://www.journeyswithautism.com/2012/04/25/the-problem-with-person-first-language/
Invisibility can be a serious side effect of paraplegia. This TV show is wonderful if for no other reason than it shows people in wheelchairs, a very rare thing. I wrote to Build a Blackbird back in 1991 (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/210421043/to-build-a-blackbird-young-adult-novel). It won an award but got rejected by publishers. I think it was because the main character, a high school girl who is paralyzed in a car crash, refused to be the brave young cripple and had to learn some very hard lessons before she got on with her life. I sincerely hope Push Girls covers the full range of rebirth these women must face. I look forward to watching.
She sure has a nice place to live being on social security and all...I've been there and done that, no way I could afford anything that nice! I don't know what to think of this show yet...
It's about time the reality world came up with a show like this. I'm so sick and tired Of 'regular' people treating people like me like we're deviated morons who should be separated from society. We deserve to be treated like everybody else. People are afraid to approach people like me purely due to selfish ignorance. Parents need to teach their children not to be afraid of people like us. We're not diseased we're disabled. People need to learn the difference and it starts in our schools. Regardless of if a school has disabled people within it I think all schools should have a class on educating students about people with disabilities. We deserve to be a part of everyday society just like everybody else does in this world. I, being disabled myself can't understand why people in this world are so blinded by people like us. We deserve respect and consideration..
I want to see children with spinabifida have the opportunity to live full productive lives without set backs that society puts on them
I am eagerly anticipating your review of ABC Family's new series "Bunheads"! There are some hot chicks on that show!
We meet patients every day at Gillette Children's who are - like the Push Girls - teaching the world that they don't need or want your pity. They just want you to see them for the people they are - not the chairs they may be in. Join the movement - www.curepity.org
The challenge for this "reality" show will be to NOT exploit the personal lives of the participants--to put the corporate/ratings needs above the participants personal needs. This goes for any so-called reality show. I'd sure like to see "Push Girls" hold reality TV a higher standard that's truly honest without the degrading kitsch.
The challenge for this "reality" show will be to NOT exploit the personal lives of the participants--to put the corporate/ratings needs above the participants personal needs. This goes for any so-called reality show. I'd sure like to see "Push Girls" hold reality TV a higher standard that's truly honest without the degrading kitsch.
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