OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS NOW!
Deadline: 04 March 2025
Shape the story of gender and disability. Enter This is Gender today!
Cripping the Lens: Seeing Gender Differently
This is Gender 2025 invites the creative community to delve into the complex, lived realities at the intersection of gender and disability. We encourage submissions that explore disability as the product of social, institutional, architectural and representational systems that invoke different forms of participation of people with physical and cognitive differences in society.
Disability is a deeply gendered experience, shaped by both the bodyminds we inhabit and the systems that seek to govern them. Cis women, cis men, transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse individuals all experience disability differently, confronting policies and institutions that both reflect and enforce gender norms and stereotypes, as well as gendered power dynamics. The intersection of identity, embodiment, and these structures defines how we move through the world.
Please submit your images under one of the listed sub-categories:
1, Systems: Political and Institutional
- How gender and disability shape interactions with systems like healthcare, education, and employment
- How policies either reinforce barriers or empower disabled individuals and communities across genders
- What the fight for more equal systems looks like
2, Environment and Space: Public and Private
- How gender and disability influence the experiences of public and private spaces
- How accessibility or the design of spaces challenge or reinforce power dynamics
- How we create/ recreate space to centre inclusivity and accessibility.
3, Social Relations: Care and Communities
- How gender and disability intersect in experiences of care and caregiving
- How created communities and rights movements challenge societal norms of gender and disability and provide new spaces for self-empowerment and joy
- The ways gender and disability shape social expectations around relationships, family, and/or friendships
4, Bodymind and Embodiment: The Body and Senses
- How the body, through the lens of disability and gender, shapes conceptions of the ‘self’
- The way materiality or sensation of the body intersects with gender identity
- How emotions, intuition, or physical sensations guide understandings of gender and disability
5, World-building: Imagining Potential Futures
- What a future world looks like when gender and disability are central to its design and culture
- What futures are possible when we dismantle ableism and gender norms and stereotypes altogether? What new systems, spaces, and relationships could emerge?
Why enter?
Unlock global recognition and amplify your voice as part of a movement for change. By submitting your work, you’ll gain access to expert critique, international exposure, and exciting opportunities to connect with a global network of creatives—while helping to shape new perspectives and understanding on the intersection of disability and gender. Winning images will receive a £500 cash prize!
Benefits for All Who Enter
| Benefits | Winning | Shortlisted | Longlisted | Every entrant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expert Review: Have your work critiqued by a panel of global experts | ||||
| TiG Collection: Feature in our prestigious collection of hand-selected creatives working in representing gender | ||||
| Artist Database: Feature in our artist database that connects organisations to talented creatives around the world | ||||
| Accredited Recognition: Earn GH5050 certified acclaim | ||||
| Artist Network: Join our global creative community and receive opportunities, updates and insights | ||||
| Join the movement: Be part of a positive change in representational practices in the global health sector | ||||
| Online Exhibition: Feature in online exhibitions and virtual thematic online stories | ||||
| International press exposure: Potential to reach a global audience | ||||
| Feature in GH5050 reports and outputs: Potentially feature in GH5050 reports and outputs and reach our engaged, global audience | ||||
| Cash Prize: Win £500 award |
Eligibility criteria
All visual media forms are welcome (including photography, fine art, collage and digital art). We’re particularly interested in amplifying the voices and experiences of people with disabilities and welcome a variety of visual media and perspectives from a diverse range of geographical regions and gender identities. Check here for media entry requirements.
Judging criteria
A panel of international experts in disability representation, visual culture, gender and global health will decide winners across two categories:
Visual merit and creativity:
- Strong visual impact.
- Thoughtful, considered composition and framing.
- Use of colour (or intentional lack of colour) and creativity.
Storytelling and perspective:
- Clear link to gender and/or disability.
- Impactful story behind the image.
- Unique perspective on the subject.
How to enter
Each contestant may submit up to three individual submissions under one of the 5 sub-categories accompanied by the following elements:
- A brief narrative on the significance of the image to the themes of the competition
- Where and when the submission was created
- Short artist biography
- Acceptance of the This is Gender Terms and Conditions
Please read the terms and conditions in the link carefully before completing the entry.
If this form is inaccessible for any reason, please contact This is Gender curator, Imogen at imogen.bakelmun@globalhealth5050.org. If there’s anything we haven’t considered, let us know how we can make the process accessible to you.
We are proud to present this competition in partnership with CREA and Rising Flame, whose invaluable contributions and shared commitment to advancing gender equality and disability justice have made this initiative possible.
