For those of you who haven't heard of Kylie Jenner, she's 18 years old and the daughter of Kris and Bruce Jenner--who is now famously known as "Caitlyn" after he decided to become a woman. Kris Jenner is the matriarch of the Kardashian clan, a family best known for their reality shows and generally being otherwise completely useless to the human race. Kylie is very pretty, and she does a lot of modeling work. She is also no stranger to controversy, but this latest one is a bit of a riot.
So Kylie recently did a photo shoot for Interview magazine, which also has a history of controversial covers and photos. Kylie is on the cover of the December issue wearing not too much, in a brief black patent leather strapless body suit with some high heels. That wasn't the big deal. What set a lot of people off was the fact she was sitting and posing in a gold wheelchair. Here's the cover photo:
Wheelchair users everywhere took to Twitter, Facebook, email, pen and paper, and comment sections to say how offended they were about the photos. Long story short, they felt it was an insult to the disabled to show able-bodied Kylie in that kind of outfit supposedly debasing herself with a designer wheelchair as a prop. Here are some of the comments:
Emily Smith Beitiks, associate director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability added to CNN. “People with disabilities are already seen as powerless, and this just reinforces that. I think she’s literally being objectified made to look like a sex doll, and this wheelchair is an added element of passivity they’re adding on.”
Kayla Whaley, editor of the blog Disability in Kidlit, told CNN she would like to see a formal apology. “I’m constantly infantilized because of my wheelchair, denied even the idea of sexuality and agency let alone desirability,” Whaley later tweeted. “But Kylie? She gets paid and praised to wear the shallowest possible illusion of my disability for a few hours. The wheelchair is a prop to her. It’s my mobility, my freedom, my agency, my identity, my reality. A reality I’m often despised for.”
What the hell?!? OK, I get that a lot of wheelchair users out there are in worse shape than me, both physically and (clearly) mentally/emotionally. But now I'm curious why my experience with an electric scooter and power wheelchair have been so different. I've never been "infantilized," and I've certainly never been "denied the idea of sexuality." People look me in the eye all the time. When I travel for work, I dress in pretty/sexy professional dresses - usually from White House | Black Market, and pointy-toed flats. I even did a photo shoot with a formal strapless gown and sexy jeans IN MY POWER CHAIR, and ON PURPOSE. Here's one of those photos:
I hate to break it to all the people commenting on the Interview cover, but I'm definitely not feeling infantilized, and I don't lack for attention from men just because I'm in my scooter at a conference. Why? Because of how I choose to present myself and the attitude/confidence I put forward. All women have self-image issues regardless of whether or not they're in a wheelchair, and I completely understand that a mobility device exacerbates those issues for a lot of people. But YOU have control over the image you present! You can't control how people perceive you, but you can sure empower yourself to make that chair appear invisible to the people you're with. And to the lady who said the wheelchair was her identity? There are so many things wrong with that. I choose to make damn sure my MS and my power chair are NOT my identity. My identity is my family, my motherhood, my knowledge and skills, my personality...not the physical manifestation of an effing disease.
Here's what Interview had to say. “At Interview, we are proud of our tradition of working with great artists and empowering them to realize their distinct and often bold visions,” the magazine told E! News on Tuesday. “The Kylie Jenner cover by Steven Klein, which references the British artist Allen Jones, is a part of this tradition, placing Kylie in a variety of positions of power and control and exploring her image as an object of vast media scrutiny.” They continued, “Our intention was to create a powerful set of pictures that get people thinking about image and creative expression, including the set with the wheelchair. But our intention was certainly not to offend anyone.”
A huge inspiration for me has been a TV show (since cancelled) on The Sundance Channel called Push Girls. It's a reality show that follows the lives of five gorgeous women in Los Angeles...who are all paraplegics in wheelchairs. Here's a shot of the cast:
I know, right? They're freakin' gorgeous! And physically they're all in worse shape than I am because they can't feel or move their legs at all. They date, they work, and the most "spirited" of the bunch clearly has no problem finding a hook-up. I actually interviewed one of them - Mia - for my new book proposal, and I'm tempted to call her to ask what she thinks of the cover. Something tells me Mia would wonder what the big freakin' deal is.
Not only am I not offended by the cover, but I like it. I couldn't care less about Kylie Jenner, but given my own experiences working to dress and feel sexy in an electric scooter, I think it's pretty cool to see this as maybe a way of breaking the stereotype of women in wheelchairs. How many times have we seen models role playing for a photo shoot? But you never read about teachers or wild animal experts or boardroom executives complaining that they don't really do those things! Grrr! Mind you, it takes a lot of work to offend me, but if you're taking this photo as a slam to the wheelchair bound, then you need to lighten up. And maybe take some inspiration and buy a pair of heels you'll never walk in, but will make you feel pretty damn hot :).
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