I am not your metaphor: frames and counter-frames in the representation of disability
Abstract
When it comes to disability, powerful ideas are articulated in and circulated through the media. Through framing analysis, this study examines how the media portray disability and people with disabilities in a sample of Flemish print news and entertainment magazines. The study aims to understand the dominant and alternative frames related to disability by scrutinising which aspects of reality are selected, rejected, emphasised or modified in the production of a media text. Participatory analysis of articles from 16 Belgian magazines over one year (n = 184) reveals a number of frames and counter-frames. Results indicate that the media tend to perpetuate and reinforce the stigma of those categorised as disabled as ‘Other’ and disability as one of the most frightful obstructions in one’s life, while counter-frames underlining the notion of persons with disabilities being different but not ‘abnormal’ are relatively absent. Points of interestThis study offers insights into dominant and alternative frames related to disability in the Flemish print media. Frames can be described as the angles or perspectives from which a media story is told.Media texts from different media magazines were analysed by means of a framing analysis.The research reported here was ‘inclusive’ research, thereby combining and equally valuing experiential knowledge as well as academic knowledge from different contexts and disciplines.In this article, an inventory of dominant frames was developed, together wit…
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Media portrayals of people with disabilities have historically been absent, stereotyped, harmful or inaccurate rather than reflecting authentic, lived experiences.
“Yet, media portrayals of PwD have historically been absent, stereotyped, harmful or inaccurate rather than reflecting authentic, lived experiences [34, 49, 88, 114, 117].”
From Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation (2026) · cites this paper as [49]
People with disabilities are frequently absent or negatively stereotyped in media.
“Yet, PwD are frequently absent or negatively stereotyped in media [34, 49, 103, 120] -portraying them as objects of pity, charity, or humor [49, 88], or as super-heroes overcoming insurmountable barriers [34, 100, 120].”
From Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation (2026) · cites this paper as [49]
Media portrayals of people with disabilities often portray them as objects of pity, charity, or humor.
“Yet, PwD are frequently absent or negatively stereotyped in media [34, 49, 103, 120] -portraying them as objects of pity, charity, or humor [49, 88], or as super-heroes overcoming insurmountable barriers [34, 100, 120].”
From Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation (2026) · cites this paper as [49]
These framings typically reflect how disability is perceived by others rather than capturing the lived experiences of people with disabilities, resulting in inauthentic or incomplete depictions.
“These framings typically reflect how disability is perceived by others rather than capturing the lived experiences of PwD, resulting in inauthentic or incomplete depictions [49].”
From Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation (2026) · cites this paper as [49]
Cited by
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Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation
Thieme, A., Faia Marques, R., Grayson, M., Balachandar, S., Tyler Cassidy, C., Choksi, M. Z., Longden, C., Huda, R. S., Ileve Kalovwe, N., Mallon, C., et al. (2026) · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3772318.3790768 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Yet, PwD are frequently absent or negatively stereotyped in media [34, 49, 103, 120] – portraying them as objects of pity, charity, or humor [49, 88], or as super-heroes overcoming insurmountable barriers [34, 100, 120].”
- Authors
- Goethals, T., Mortelmans, D., Van den Bulck, H., Van den Heurck, W., & Van Hove, G.
- Affiliations
- Ghent University (BE)
- University of Antwerp (BE)
- Department of Communication, Drexel University
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Department of Special Needs Education, Disability Studies and Inclusive Education, Ghent University
- Corresponding author
- Goethals, Tina
- Venue
- Disability & Society
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-11-05
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 746-764
- ISSN
- 0267-4645 (ISSN-L)
- 0968-7599
- 1360-0508
- OpenAlex
- W3094636269
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 3.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Disability & Society (publishedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- the Department of Equal Opportunities of the Flemish Government
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Disability Rights and Representation
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Inclusion and Disability in Education and Sport
- Social Sciences › Communication › Media Studies and Communication
- Keywords
- disability representation, media framing, counter-frames, stigma, print media, entertainment magazines, news magazines, Flemish media, inclusive research, disability studies
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