Kylie Jenner has recently outraged thousands by posing in a wheelchair as part of a photo shoot for Interview magazine.
The Interview photographs featuring Jenner dressed in a PVC outfit and staring lifelessly as she sits in a gold plated wheelchair have angered able-bodied and disabled citizens alike with many of them turning to social media to express their fury.
Among them were Kayla Whaley who tweeted a series of statements referring to the offensive images.
https://twitter.com/PunkinOnWheels/status/671722627413610497
Hooboy, do I have Thoughts on that Kylie shoot. Not least of which is the societal context of desexualization of actual disabled people.
— Kayla Whaley (@PunkinOnWheels) December 1, 2015
I'm constantly infantilized because of my wheelchair, denied even the idea of sexuality and agency let alone desirability. But Kylie?
— Kayla Whaley (@PunkinOnWheels) December 1, 2015
Interview magazine has attempted to defend their decision against those accusing them of “ableism” by claiming they were emulating the style of controversial British pop artist Allen Jones.
Interview claim that the idea behind the photographs was to demonstrate the way that Jenner is portrayed by the media and how she exploits this attention for her own gain. An Interview spokesperson stated that the shoot explores “positions of power and control” of “an object of vast media scrutiny.”
Despite their reasoning many remain unconvinced and one Instagram user was adamant that the use of a wheelchair as a prop was a “pretty poor decision.”
As a wheelchair user herself, she was naturally annoyed by the supposedly “arty” theme of the photoshoot which was designed to “illustrate how fame restricts and limits her from things in life.”
The user posted on her Instagram page that the “passive use of something so symbolic and important” demonstrated a lack of understanding and stated:
“Shame nobody with more intelligence and imagination was on hand to explain that wheelchairs are a mobility aid and their entire purpose is to enable and promote independence, not confine and debilitate. “
“Us disableds have a tough enough time as it is proving we are strong, capable people with our own dreams and aspirations without somebody as influential as Kylie perpetuating negative ideas and assumptions.”
Another Instagram post from an account identifying itself as a human activist group labelled the shoot as “wrong and offensive” and slammed Jenner for using “something disabled people need and are constrained by as a prop.”
Someone else reposted the image of Jenner’s shoot alongside an image of wheelchair user Ophelia Brown and urged people to educate themselves on living with a disability before condoning the comparison that Interview magazine made between the restrictions of fame and the restrictions placed on those who are disabled.
She expressed her fury at the images and made a very valid argument in the caption of the pictures, stating:
“Being famous and letting the world get in your life is A CHOICE where as a wheelchair is NOT. In a comment in another post about it I saw someone said it disables her right to do things now being in public. That’s not a good comparison because that’s a sacrifice she was willing to make but for me a disability is a part of life.”
Image by Bandaidknees via Instagram.