“It is refreshing to actually see someone like me on TV, but it also promotes the idea that disabled girls are inspiring for doing things that other little girls do-which seems to reflect low expectations for the girls with disabilities.
Kathleen Downes, a 20-year-old with cerebral palsy, had mixed feelings. So I asked some women who are themselves physically disabled what they thought. I’m aware that I would come across as a major killjoy if I said anything less than positive about this “ sweet”, “ heartwarming” documentary. Meg and her sister Alina, who both have Down syndrome, play together on a jungle gym.” “Quadriplegic Daleney constantly breaks into a smile as wide as her face, even if she struggles to walk. Vogt goes on to describe the girls doing heroic (read: totally normal) things, like expressing emotion with their faces. “The looks of glee and wonder on their cherubic faces will melt hearts,” writes Adrienne Vogt of The Daily Beast, in one of the more explicitly patronizing articles. calls it “an amazingly special movie.” promises its readers they’ll be “so inspired.” Unsurprisingly, the film’s reception has been almost entirely positive-and also one-note, in many ways condescending. The pageant, cheerfully named Miss You Can Do It, has been the subject of numerous feel-good stories over the years, most recently a documentary that aired Monday night on PBS. Ten years ago, Abbey Curran, the first physically disabled Miss USA contestant, established a beauty pageant for girls like her.