Time magazine reports that the British reality show featuring disabled women competing to become fashion models is drawing big ratings."The series premiere on July 1 drew half a million viewers in the U.K., driving BBC Three ratings up by 25% for the 9 p.m. time slot," Time reports.
The show wants to change how the fashion industry looks at disabled women. A laudable goal but some question if a reality show is right format for that.
Liz Carr, a comic who uses a wheelchair and hosts a BBC radio show on disability called Ouch!, said in the Time article that she "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.
