Governing Paralympians: A Media Discourse Analysis of Disability and Gender in China

This paper uses Foucauldian-influenced discourse analysis to explore the governance of disability and gender in Chinese print media during the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics. Drawing on 38 articles published in China Daily, a state-affiliated newspaper, this study examines the media representations of Paralympians and, more importantly, the ways in which gendered and disabled subject positions are constituted, negotiated, and regulated. The analysis illustrates how ableism and sexism persist in representations of Paralympians under the guise of neoliberal governance and heterosexual assumptions. In addition, Chinese para-athletes are particularly disciplined by normative, state-sanctioned gender ideals within a prevailing atmosphere of nationalism. Overall, this study offers a critique of discursive strategies of inclusionism in Chinese media practices at the intersection of gender and disability.