Media Representations and Its Role in Identities Negotiations for Minorities: A Study with Wheelchair Users in Brazil

This chapter aims to discuss the relationship between media representation, especially in movies and soap operas, and its impacts on identity negotiations for people belonging to minority groups. A study carried out in Brazil with five wheelchair users is the main point of the discussion. During their interviews, we showed them four short clips in which wheelchair users’ characters were presented. The participants shared some thoughts related to the scenes, talking about aspects such as the lack of accuracy while representing the need to have professional care in their daily routine, and the problem with stereotypical representations. Common narratives in media representations for wheelchair users were highlighted: The role of redeemer, the pity, and the pamphlet-like narratives. These speeches are later analyzed through the lens of Cultural Semiotic Psychology, understanding how the semiotic mediation of signs related to these narratives participates in minorities self-perception as individuals and groups through the process of identity negotiations. During the development of this chapter, vulnerability is presented as a key-concept to understand the experiences of minorities. The vulnerability discourse is tensioned by the participants of the study, showing an ambiguous necessity between reaffirming the need to allow oneself to feel vulnerable and, on the other hand, the claim to overcome vulnerabilities. This tension showed that, despite the advances in the ways minorities are represented, the stereotypical discourses are constantly changing, and sometimes, embracing supposed empowering narratives ends up being oppressive for the people being represented.