What do you do when you don't see yourself on the page? Why representation matters
Natalie MacDonald
Senior News Editor, Special Projects Lead - APAC @ LinkedIn | Currently on parental leave
Welcome back to #FoodForThought, a newsletter serving up food for your brain — exploring news headlines and trending conversations in diversity, inclusion and belonging. Below, you’ll find insights from new LinkedIn News Live series #InclusionMatters and what’s on the minds of LinkedIn members in D&I. Hit subscribe above to be notified of future editions and share your thoughts in the comments.
What do you do when you don’t see yourself on the page? Or in the movies? Or really anywhere at all? Well, if you’re disability writer Hannah Diviney, you launch a petition for Disney to create a disabled princess.
“I grew up not seeing anyone who looked like me in the movies and TV. I watched the books, I read the games, I played with the toys available on the shelves as a kid,” Diviney tells Inclusion Matters — a LinkedIn Live series discussing diversity, inclusion and belonging issues.
“When you don’t see yourself, it creates this sort of vacuum or hole of invisibility, which can be really damaging. Instead of the future being blank pages because it’s filled with possibility and excitement, it’s blank pages because you literally don’t know what goes there, if anything at all.”
The petition, which currently has over 60,000 signatures (“the only way I can possibly conceptualise that is concert venue size”) is not only valuable in helping disabled children to “see themselves as the hero of their own stories, forming friendships and falling in love,” but also to teach tolerance, empathy and sew the seeds for allyship, says Diviney.
It’s also what prompted Diviney and Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks to collaborate on Missing Perspectives: a media startup that views lived experience as its bread and butter work — encouraging people, particularly young women who don’t necessarily see themselves as journalists, to share their stories.
“The only person who’s lived like you — as cliche and cheesy as it sounds — is you. Everybody has a story, that’s the most important thing I think we own. And everybody has a right to tell it,” says Diviney.
It’s this idea of unique experience that paralympian Matt Levy leans into. The swimmer, author and change analyst uses his life and career lessons to help support others in swimming and beyond, telling LinkedIn News that seeing the young generation come through and being able to mentor young athletes is the achievement he’s “most proud of”.
July marks Disability Pride Month. When asked about his message to others, Levy said, “Be yourself.”
“Be genuine, be open and honest with who you are. We’re all different. We all walk different paths in life, but if we can all learn something from each other, we’ll all be that much better for it.”
What's something you wish workmates knew about your story? How is your industry or workplace supporting better representation? Join the conversation in the comments below.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Join us at 2pm on Wednesday, July 13 for episode 4 of Inclusion Matters. We'll be talking about disability in the workplace with National Seniors Australia CEO John McCallum, Experis Australia Recruitment Resourcer Chipo Riva and many more. Click the image above or HERE to RSVP and receive a notification when the show starts.
Trending conversations
If people with diabetes aren’t questioned about their productivity at work, why are those with mental health issues still facing exclusion in the workplace? That’s just one of conversations professionals on LinkedIn are sharing this week in diversity, inclusion and belonging.
CLICK the play button below to see what professionals are talking about and join the conversation in the comments.
Something for you
Each week, I try and end on something to make you smile and think. This week, I’m bringing you some tips from Australian Network on Disability CEO Corene Strauss on creating inlusive meetings, in the hope that you can adopt these practices and make someone else smile.
Reporting by: Natalie MacDonald, Isha Chitnis, Misa Han, Abhiraj Ganguli
Photo credit: Getty Images
Director at Our Magical Friends Holdings Pty Ltd and Our Pixie Friends Pty Ltd
2yThank you for this Natalie. We agree that it is really important for people to accept everyone, regardless of differences/ similarities. Our Pixie Friends was started by our young CEO, Siobhan Wilson. She is now 13, but at the age of 6 she realised she wasn't the only person with a range of medical conditions. She decided she would start a business helping other kids realise they are not alone, and encouraging all kids to be kind and inclusive. After experiencing social isolation, she decided the inclusive mindset is best established in the early years and fostered throughout life. She created numerous pixies who all have medical conditions and used alliteration in a fun way to identify the pixies in a way that children can identify with e.g. Sakaela the Sneezy Pixie; Minksy the Meltdown Pixie and Wilferina the Wheelie Pixie. Her characters help boost children's self esteem by accepting themselves just the way they are, build resilience and encourage acceptance and tolerance of everyone. If young children can develop this mindset of acceptance and inclusion, hopefully they will maintain it as they grow, and in the future we can all be seen as unique individuals. respected and accepted just the way we are.
Marketer & Social Media Strategist | Custom Training | Empowering Regional & Rural Communities | BCMS, MMkt, CPM
2yThank you this was an incredibly thought provoking article
Head of Customer @ Chirp | Author | Social Impact
2ySally Hill
Disability Activist
2yI wonder; do we matter at all? Does society really care about us? Does society at large really understand us or just THINKS it does? Have Cerebral Palsy, use crutches and a mobility scooter. Just recently I heard that requirements for housing to be accessible have been scrapped, by the same Minister who attended a Select Committee hearing I fronted to talk about access to public buildings. And as for abuse of Mobility carparks..... Another issue is euthanasia. Seems that assisted dying is an easier option for disabled than assisted living. I'll leave it here.
Volunteer
2yI love everything about disabilities and I like to be apart of inclusive practices my first step was understanding why I felt this way at times disencouragment myself but if we can all work together at some time this can surcumb what was once thought as beautiful now I can only dream of the ability we have now to communicate and overcome what can take I lifetime of love and kindness and generosity. Thank you Natasha MacDonald I learnt from all of your messages