Call for Writers: Representations of Women with Disabilities in Film and TV

It’s rare to see people with disabilities onscreen. On top of that, films and television shows love to tell the stories of heterosexual white men, so it only makes sense that the most prominent characters with disabilities are heterosexual and white. We could create a long list of those representations in film and TV, but we want to focus on representations of women with disabilities for this theme week. We won’t define “disability” for this; we’re looking for your takes on these films, whether it’s focusing on a woman with Alzheimer’s disease, a woman with a physical or developmental disability, or a woman with mental health problems. It’s fine to write scathing reviews, but we hope to find some wonderful representations out there, too. But, as Michael P. Murphy writes:

In movies, on TV or in novels, physically disabled characters are rarely the protagonists. Rather, the disability is the catalyst which propels the main character–generally a photogenic, able-bodied person–to act/react/grow/save/emote/empathize. The token disabled person serves one dramatic purpose: moral impetus for the hero. 

This list of disability tropes from TVtropes.org is also a helpful resource. 

To submit, please e-mail us a brief proposal at btchflcks[@]gmail[dot]com with the subject line “submission.” We accept both original pieces and cross posts, and we respond to queries within a few days.

We like most of our pieces to be between 1,000-2,000 words, preferably with some links and images. Please send your piece in the text of an e-mail, including links to all images, and include a 2-3 sentence bio for placement at the end of your piece. The deadline to receive finished pieces is July 19th at midnight.

Here is a list of some films and TV shows that would fit in with this theme week, but it isn’t exhaustive. Please propose your own ideas, too!