Lady Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has criticized 'virtue signaling' (YouTube.com/The Telegraph)
.
[“Porn” has many meanings and seems to be able to refer to anything we obsess over or fetishize. Disasters, doom-scrolling, torture, music, manga animation, anything that excites interest. But inspiration?]
She added that the reality is there are some disabled people who will struggle to get out of bed in the morning and struggle to work.
“There’s also a lot of non-disabled people [who] will struggle with that.
“As much as I loved the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, I worked on the bid, and I worked on delivery, and I worked on legacy. It was amazing. That has not changed the world for disabled people.”
“Train access hasn’t improved, inspiration porn hasn’t improved, education for disabled children is still a struggle, access to sport facilities is still a struggle.” Source
 |
| Sophia Leone dead in the Age of Selfishness |
Paralympian Baroness Grey-Thompson has said disabled people are not all “heroes,” as she pushed back against the concept of “inspiration porn.”
The 54-year-old wheelchair racing champion said disabled [or otherwise-abled] people were often treated as if they were “brave and marvelous” simply for getting up in the morning.
The Welsh life peer recalled how her wheelchair-user friend who is an accountant was once described as an “inspiration” by a stranger.
She told the Desperately Seeking Wisdom podcast: “I was with a friend a little while ago, who is a wheelchair user as well, and somebody came up to her and they recognized me as an ex-athlete and that was lovely.”
“And they said to my friend, ‘Oh, you’re inspirational as well.’ And she’s an accountant. I’m not sure you generally call accountants ‘inspirational.’”
 |
| Lady Grey-Thompson, who amassed 11 gold medals over 16 years, said this perception “gets a bit complicated” when it comes to sporting figures (Andrew Yates/AFP/The Telegraph). |
.
 |
| Now that's porn I can sit behind! |
“Just because we have an impairment, it doesn’t mean to say we’re heroes.”
The former athlete went on to voice her annoyance with “virtue signaling” and the misconception that the 2012 Paralympics “changed the world” for disabled people.
.jpg) |
| Power sports to politician |
“People say, ‘Oh 2012 changed the world,’ because it makes them feel better.
“Well, it’s almost like we don’t have to do anything else because we had the Paralympics in the UK. And I get really annoyed by that.”
Lady Grey-Thompson said the “reality” is that people don’t know “how hard life can be for disabled people.”
“You know, making trains step-free is going to be expensive and a lot cheaper if they started it 30 years ago. So it’s things like that.
They say magic is unreal, so was this just good timing? Why does she stiffen?
It's a man's world? Pay the toll or Troll says 'no go'
 |
| I may be a superheroine, but not for this chair. |
Sign up to the Front Page newsletter for free: It’s the essential guide to the day’s agenda from The Telegraph -- direct to inboxes seven days a week.
- The Telegraph, 4/5/24: ‘Inspiration porn’ (The Telegraph via MSN)
- Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
