Day: March 5, 2023

Disability Representation in Comic Book Heroes and Villains

The representation of disability in comic books has been a complex and often problematic issue. Historically, disability has been portrayed through a medical model that focuses on individual impairments and frames disability as a personal tragedy or limitation. However, in recent years, a social model of disability has emerged that recognizes disability as a result of societal barriers and discrimination. This essay will explore the representation of disability in comic book heroes and villains through the lens of the social model of disability.

Heroes and Villains and Disability Future

Claudia Alick, a guest lecturer in Dr. Maya Dworsky-Rocha’s “Medicine, Body and Culture” class at Brandeis University on March 2, 2023, delivered a lecture on “Heroes and Villains and Disability Futures.” The lecture focused on Alick’s ideas on disability justice and cross movement solidarity. The topics covered included disabled rights vs. disabled justice, cross disability solidarity, ugly laws, how we identify as members of the disability community, crip theory, ableism, access intimacy, and disabled heroes and villains in fiction.

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