Women with a disability in media and popular culture: existing between the prominent and the recalcitrant forms of femininity

On November 13 the seminar "Women with a disability in media and popular culture: existing between the prominent and the recalcitrant forms of femininity" will take place at Science Communication and Information Centre (Saulėtekio al. 5, Seminar room A119, First Floor) of Vilnius University. The seminar is led by Dr. Deimantė Šėporaitytė.

What are the images of women with a disability that predominate in Lithuanian media, what are the practices and types of representation that disabled women recieve in foreign and Lithuanian popular culture? How do the practices and representations of disabled women contribute to the spreading of gender stereotypes and their critique? And why do some images of disabled women serve as both liberating expressions and ones which promote oppression?

Topics that will be discussed during the seminar include the image categories of women with a disability, positive and negative aspects of the portrayal of disabled women. Images of disabled women shall be contrasted with the representations of femininity currently prevailing in the media.

Deimantė Šėporaitytė is a sociologist, doctor of social sciences, and a lecturer at Vilnius University Gender Studies Centre. Her fields of academic interest include the interaction of disability and gender, life stories of women and men and how they are structured, interpersonal gender relations, qualitative social science methodology, and discourse analysis.