Beyond the Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Disability, Femininity and Representation in Visual Culture

Abstract

Visual culture plays a significant role in shaping societal expectations of gender, beauty, and identity, yet disabled women have historically been misrepresented, marginalised,  or  rendered invisible  within  dominant  visual  narratives.  This dissertation examines how disability and femininity intersect within visual culture, with a particular focus on the misrepresentation of neurodivergent women through the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. While feminist theory and disability studies have critiqued structures of power and representation, disabled women have often been excluded from intersectional analysis, leaving ableist and gendered stereotypes unchallenged. Drawing on feminist theory, disability studies, and feminist disability studies, this research employs visual and textual analysis to examine film, art, and media. Through the use of case studies, this dissertation argues that mainstream visual culture frequently aestheticises or instrumentalises disabled femininity, while alternative, disability-led practices offer more ethical forms of representation. By centring  authorship,  lived  experience,  and self-representation,  this  research highlights the importance of challenging ableist and patriarchal visual frameworks in order to create more inclusive and meaningful representations of disabled women.