Credit: Holly Norris

Unintentionally capitalizing off of American Apparel’s using models for modeling escándalo, Holly Norris’ “American Able” project turns the spotlight on a demographic completely ignored by mainstream advertising: the disabled. While those of us with dark skin or zaftig physiques may feel under-represented, people with disabilities simply don’t exist in the eyes of mass media. Via

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  • Holly Norris

In a society where sexuality is created and performed over and over within popular culture, the invisibility of women with disabilities in many ways denies them the right to sexuality, particularly within a public context.
Too often, the pervasive influence of imagery in mass media goes unexamined, consumed en masse by the public. However, this imagery has real, oppressive effects on people who are continuously ‘othered’ by society.

You can’t see them in any of these awesome parody ads, but model Jes Sachse has some mighty big balls. My only critique is that she looks a bit too “thinky” to pull off the classic dead-shark stare of your typical American Apparel model.

5 replies on “American Able”

  2. This is stupid. Just because you’re female you don’t necessarily have a “right to sexuality” at least no more than a fat dude like me does. There’s a reason American Apparel doesn’t show disabled women in their ads, it’s the same reason I ain’t gunna get hired as a male stripper any time soon- we ain’t pretty. The critique of this “pervasive influence of imagery” is nothing more than “mass media” giving the masses what they want- hotness. You ain’t gunna sell undies with Mongolina posing for you.

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