By William Lee Adams, Time Magazine:

The series premiere on July 1 drew half a million viewers in the U.K., driving BBC Three ratings up by 25 per cent for the 9 p.m. time slot. That popularity will doubtless spur more debate over the show and its impact.

Liz Carr, a comic who uses a wheelchair and hosts a BBC radio show on disability called Ouch!, applauds the series for presenting disabled women as beautiful and sexual, as opposed to broken and damaged. Still, she questions if reality TV is the proper platform to confront stereotypes. “I’m not sure that seeing disabled women prance around in lingerie and having their bodies objectified is the best way to change representation,” she says.

True to reality TV form, the eight women live together in a crowded London penthouse, and, as the competition heats up, their claws come out. But their conflicts and insecurities, which often revolve around their disabilities, often reflect issues within the disabled community.

Sophie, a 23-year old paraplegic and art student, resents the deaf contestants because they lack an obvious physical impairment. “As soon as she has the interpreter there, she’s the same as any able-bodied person,” she says of Kellie, a former Miss Deaf U.K. The deaf contestants have cause for their own resentment. When rushing to a ‘go-see’ — modelspeak for a job interview — the other contestants neglect to tell the two deaf mutes, who are nearly left behind.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 7:47 am and is filed under deaf/hard of hearing, physical disabilities, public attitudes, television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.