Taking a Feminist Disability Studies Approach to Fundamental British Values

Abstract

In this article, Fundamental British Values (FBV) are understood as a token attempt toward societal inclusion and empowerment of all citizens. Rather than providing meaningful routes for all individuals to be included in British citizenship, FBV are built on foundations of “inclusionism”—the inclusion of marginalized identity groups in society, on the premise that existing social structures are not threatened. Disabled women’s responses to sociocultural stereotypes surrounding disability and gender are interpreted through a feminist disability studies lens. Empirical data, gathered within a larger research project which examined disabled women’s responses to the representation of disabled women in Anglo-American advertising, are drawn on and connections are made between the growing trend of promoting diversity in advertising, and superficial approaches to diversity and empowerment of all citizens, enacted in FBV. Two key themes underpin this critical discussion: participant resistance to “pity” narratives surrounding the portrayal of disabled women in advertising and disabled women’s navigation of “belonging” in exclusionary environments.