Do the Games really help to change the way we look at disability?

Will the Paris Paralympic Games live up to their promise? For years, the organizers of the event, which opens Wednesday, August 28, have been trumpeting their ambition to “to make the first Summer Paralympic Games in France a driving force for change in the perception of disability”. Objective displayed by Tony Estanguet: that France, in the aftermath of the event, “be more tolerant and positive” and that she “reduces discrimination” against people with disabilities. This must be “the legacy” Paralympics, according to the boss of Paris 2024.

The refrain is not new. “For 40 years, to counter criticism of the cost and inconveniences associated with the Games, the International Olympic Committee has asked host cities to highlight positive impacts, particularly in terms of diversity, inclusion and sustainable development.”recalls sociologist Sylvain Ferez, lecturer at the University of Montpellier and specialist in Paralympism. “Paris fits perfectly into this agenda.”

The argument is compelling. For 96% of French people, the Paralympics allow them to “to give a more positive image of people with disabilities”according to an Ifop survey for APF France handicap carried out at the end of 2023. They also contribute, for 86% of those surveyed, to “challenging stereotypes” associated with this part of the population, estimated at 7.7 million people. Can we nevertheless advance, like the International Paralympic Committee, that “These Games will really help change the lives of people with disabilities” ? Various works call for caution.

If there is one point that is a consensus, it is that of the unparalleled spotlight that the Paralympics provide. For nearly two weeks, alternating on France 2 and France 3, viewers will be able to spend their days watching paraplegic, amputee, blind or intellectually disabled athletes. An exposure that contrasts with the very low visibility of disability in normal times on television (around 1% of people represented in 2022, according to Arcom).

“There is a massive effect that can also be measured in advertisements in the metro, on TV, with a desire on the part of advertisers to make disabled people visible”enthuses the president of the National Consultative Council for Disabled People, Jérémie Boroy.

“The impact will necessarily be positive, even if it may not be lasting.”

Jérémie Boroy, President of the National Consultative Council for Persons with Disabilities

to franceinfo

“This great visibility will help to dispel the stereotypes about the lack of skills or performance of disabled people”believes Matthieu Annereau, the president of the Association for the consideration of disability in public and private policies. “It can also increase mutual aid: after watching a blind football match, you may be more inclined to approach a visually impaired person.”says this local elected official, himself blind.

In the UK, the London 2012 Games, which are often seen as a model, have served as a catalyst. In a major UK study published in 2020, half of adults surveyed said that the Paralympics, year after year, had challenged their attitudes towards people with disabilities. A third of respondents said they felt more confident in their interactions with them. According to the authors of this study, the Games also helped reduce the feeling of embarrassment felt by some viewers at the sight of bodies that stood out from the ordinary able-bodied norms. The performance of the para-athlete became the centre of attention, beyond their difference.

But what bodies do the Paralympics really show? Heirs to a wheelchair competition for war wounded launched in 1948 in the United Kingdom, the Games still give a predominant place to motor disabilities. More than half of the sports on the program require the use of a manual wheelchair. On the contrary, a whole series of disabilities (hearing, mental, cognitive, etc.) are not represented.

Despite efforts to diversify, the Paralympics are not unrelated to the persistence of certain stereotypes in France. In the collective imagination, as confirmed by Ifop, a disabled person first moves around in a wheelchair and the main difficulties related to disability in everyday life concern physical accessibility. However, most deficiencies are invisible and “less than 5% of people with motor disabilities use a wheelchair”according to government figures.

Athletes with intellectual disabilities represent a tiny minority of Paralympic delegations. The British study cited above highlighted low media coverage of their events and a preference among able-bodied audiences for categories involving physical disabilities, “easier to understand”Mentalities are changing little by little. “We had to wait until the Tokyo Games in 2021 to see French medallists like Charles-Antoine Kouakou and Léa Ferney, who have difficulty speaking, being interviewed on a TV set.”notes academic Sylvain Ferez. “This represented a big step for the world of adapted sport and an extraordinary message that goes against the way we can view people with intellectual disabilities.”

The media representation of para-athletes constitutes another distorting prism. “It is the figure of the ‘heroic’ Paralympic athlete who is gradually dominating the productions. We see powerful, fast, technological athletes who ‘overcome’ their handicap.”observe French researchers in an article published in the journal Science and Motor Skills in 2019. This vision “narrow” of disability “leaves aside the ideal of an inclusive society by promoting only those individuals closest to the dominant model”they add in Social Inclusion in 2020.

Para-athletes themselves deplore these representations. “It doesn’t help that we’re being talked about as superheroes.”reacted French wheelchair basketball player Sofyane Mehiaoui in mid-August, in response to comments made by Teddy Riner on RTL.

“We want to be seen as normal people.”

Sofyane Mehiaoui, leader of the French wheelchair basketball team

on Instagram

This semantic and visual escalation can also affect people with disabilities in ordinary environments. In the United Kingdom, many of them feel that overly exalted representations have “a negative effect” on their perception by the population, as reported in the 2020 British study. “It puts pressure on a disabled person to be amazing and inspiring”one of them testified.

This heroization of athletes reached new heights during the London Games, marked by a British television spot entitled “Meet the supermen”. “The UK has played a lot on technological hybridization, Oscar Pistorius’ carbon prosthetics, post-humans who have become better than humans”believes Sylvain Ferez. “Since then, it is more the diversity of profiles that has been highlighted.” At the same time, in France, a humorous series like Locker rooms has contributed since 2011 to deconstructing these representations by playing on the self-mockery of anti-hero para-athletes.

Changing the way we look at bodies is one thing, changing the way we look at the causes defended by people with disabilities is another. “At the Paralympics, the glorification of performance, courage, self-improvement – ​​all individual values ​​– can contribute to a depoliticization of disability”warns Anne Marcellini, professor of sociology of sport and adapted physical activity at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

“The success of a para-athlete is not only linked to his personal dynamics, but also to a favorable environment from which he has benefited so as not to be put in a situation of handicap”the researcher emphasizes. Not everyone is so lucky.

“Outside of the Games, society, collectively, fails to accommodate the unique needs of people with different abilities.”

Anne Marcellini, associate professor at the University of Lausanne

to franceinfo

“We need to review our thinking software: people with disabilities or deficiencies are only in a situation of disability when they encounter obstacles to their social participation.explains Sylvain Ferez. Disability is a social disadvantage that society must compensate for by creating the conditions for the inclusion of all.”

“At the Paralympics, we could say that there are no disabled people, because the conditions are right for them to participate.”

Sylvain Ferez, sociologist specializing in Paralympism

to franceinfo

The inclusion project remains colossal. Despite some progress made possible by the Paralympics in terms of accessibility, sports practice and awareness among young people, discrimination in hiring remains rife, mainstream schooling is a struggle and many establishments open to the public remain inaccessible, among other examples.

The London Games should serve as a wake-up call. Across the Channel, a decade later, “The living conditions of disabled people have worsened”highlighted three British researchers on the website The Conversation. Even their weekly sports practice rate has declined in the wake of the Paralympics, according to Sport England. Hence this observation made by Spirit of 2012, the structure responsible for perpetuating London’s heritage: “We should be cautious about celebrating the Paralympics unreservedly, especially if the improvement in attitudes gives a clear conscience to the able-bodied, without contributing to the wider changes that need to happen.”