Inclusivity in the media has become a huge talking point, especially over the past few years. Representation is everything, and where some programmes and films have shown great strides in being more inclusive of the Deaf community, there’s still work to be done.
The media, whether it be TV, online or in the papers, shapes people’s self-image and plays a huge role in societal norms. Inclusivity is crucial in making people feel seen and heard and breaking down misconceptions and prejudices.
Because Deafness is often viewed as a ‘hidden disability’, it can lead to misunderstanding deafness and Deaf people. As a result, many Deaf people face discrimination within families, social groups, education, employment and access to services.
The media has a big role to play in breaking down some of the stigma and misunderstanding that’s sadly still associated with deafness, to help make every area of society more inclusive. Here, we take a closer look at the issues and the responsibilities of media in portraying deafness in a genuine, authentic and sensitive way.
Examples of positive inclusivity of the Deaf community
A recent example of positive inclusivity for the Deaf community is the 2021 season of BBC 1’s Strictly Come Dancing. The series saw Deaf actress, Rose Ayling-Ellis make Strictly history when she competed and won as the first ever Deaf contestant.
All the contestants and staff working on the show took part in Deaf awareness training, including learning some basic British Sign Language (BSL), to ensure they could communicate with Rose in and around the set.
Another great example of inclusivity and positive representation of Deafness was in the Marvel film, Eternals. The character Makkari was the first Deaf hero in the MCU, played by Deaf American actress Lauren Ridloff. Throughout the film, she uses ASL (American Sign Language) to communicate with the other Eternals characters, and her co-stars (including Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani) learned ASL to ensure it was as accurate as possible in the film.
The release of Eternals triggered a huge spike in people looking to learn sign language for themselves which is a huge step in the right direction for the world becoming more inclusive.
Examples of negative inclusivity of the Deaf community
Love Island aired its first episode of season eight at the start of June, with over 2.4 million people tuning in. This year, the show introduced the first Deaf contestant, Tasha Ghouri, who has used a cochlear implant in her right ear since the age of five.
Despite Love Island perpetuating the idea that it shows love in all forms, some viewers felt this was more a form of tokenism than of genuine inclusivity. The problem here did not lie with Tasha herself, but with the show’s inability to cater for Deaf or Hard of Hearing viewers. A key example is how the producers failed to use subtitles for Deaf viewers watching the show live.
The social media commentary from viewers over the course of the series also highlighted the ignorance of some when it comes to understanding deafness. For example, some Twitter users appeared to be suggesting that Tasha was ‘faking’ her deafness because she ‘could speak so well’ with the other islanders, which shows a lack of awareness about the issue, and how deafness is portrayed by the media.
Some viewers were also confused when Tasha could overhear other islanders speaking or couldn’t understand why she wasn’t using BSL. Again, this showed that too many people still believe that a person can be Deaf only if they use BSL, rather than seeing deafness as a spectrum, with varying degrees of severity from Hard of Hearing to profoundly Deaf.
Why is inclusivity so important?
When people and communities are included and represented in the media, their worth is recognised and respected. Unfortunately, members of the Deaf community continue to face discrimination and prejudice across the media, and in life in general. These often stem from a lack of knowledge and education.
There is an ongoing battle to achieve equality for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing to ensure they have the same opportunities as everyone else, including access to education, employment, public services, media content and everything else in life that most people take for granted.
This idea is exemplified by the way Deaf people refer to themselves as a ‘community’, rather than ‘group’ or ‘population’, reflecting its values of togetherness and inclusivity that are central to the Deaf community.
So, how do we break down the barriers?
The solution is simple, and it falls on all media outlets to do more to promote inclusivity of Deaf people if there is to be real change in the way the Deaf community is viewed. Not only do we need to see more Deaf representation, but it needs to be genuine, authentic and ideally developed by deaf creators, rather than simple ‘tokenism’ to tick a box for diversity.
