4.4 Disability and queerness

Disability and queerness intersect in complex ways, challenging societal norms about bodies, identities, and desires. This topic explores how disability justice and crip theory resist ableism and compulsory able-bodiedness, reclaiming non-normative experiences as valid and valuable.

Queercrip and mad studies further examine the shared marginalization of queer and disabled communities. The notes delve into issues of desexualization, accessibility, and neurodiversity, highlighting how disability identity and embodiment shape unique lived experiences.

Disability Theory and Activism

Crip Theory and Disability Justice

Top images from around the web for Crip Theory and Disability Justice

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  From Crip Camp to a national Disability Benefit, it’s time Canada had a disability awakening View original

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  9.10. Restorative Justice – SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System View original

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  Intersectionality: What is it, and why do I need to know? | Queerspace Magazine View original

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  From Crip Camp to a national Disability Benefit, it’s time Canada had a disability awakening View original

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  9.10. Restorative Justice – SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System View original

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Top images from around the web for Crip Theory and Disability Justice

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  From Crip Camp to a national Disability Benefit, it’s time Canada had a disability awakening View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  9.10. Restorative Justice – SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Intersectionality: What is it, and why do I need to know? | Queerspace Magazine View original

  Is this image relevant?

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  From Crip Camp to a national Disability Benefit, it’s time Canada had a disability awakening View original

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• 

  9.10. Restorative Justice – SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System View original

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• Crip theory challenges dominant narratives about disability and normative bodies, embracing non-normative ways of being
• Focuses on the lived experiences of disabled individuals and the ways in which disability is socially constructed
• Disability justice is a framework that recognizes the intersectionality of oppression faced by disabled individuals, especially those with multiple marginalized identities (queer, BIPOC)
• Advocates for collective access, interdependence, and liberation for all disabled people

Queercrip and Mad Studies

• Queercrip explores the intersections of queerness and disability, challenging normative assumptions about bodies, desires, and identities
• Recognizes the shared experiences of marginalization and resistance among queer and disabled communities
• Mad studies critically examines mental health and madness, challenging the medicalization and pathologization of mental differences
• Reclaims mad identities and experiences as valid and valuable, resisting the stigma and oppression faced by those labeled as mentally ill

Ableism and Norms

Ableism and Compulsory Able-bodiedness

• Ableism is the systemic discrimination and oppression of disabled individuals, based on the belief that able-bodied and neurotypical individuals are superior
• Manifests in physical, social, and institutional barriers that exclude and marginalize disabled people (inaccessible buildings, lack of accommodations)
• Compulsory able-bodiedness is the expectation that all individuals must strive to maintain an able body and mind, and that disability is inherently negative
• Enforces a narrow standard of normalcy and perpetuates the stigmatization of disability

Desexualization and Accessibility

• Disabled individuals, especially those with visible disabilities, are often desexualized and assumed to be asexual or undesirable
• Stems from ableist assumptions about the capabilities and desires of disabled bodies, and the privileging of able-bodied sexuality
• Accessibility refers to the design of products, environments, and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design
• Lack of accessibility is a form of ableist discrimination that excludes disabled individuals from full participation in society (inaccessible public transportation, lack of ramps or elevators)

Disability Identity and Experience

Neurodiversity and Embodiment

• Neurodiversity is the concept that neurological differences (autism, ADHD, dyslexia) are natural variations in human cognition, rather than disorders or deficits
• Challenges the medicalization of neurodivergence and advocates for the acceptance and accommodation of neurological differences in society
• Embodiment refers to the lived experience of disability as an integral part of one's identity and sense of self
• Recognizes that disabled individuals have unique ways of inhabiting and experiencing the world through their bodies and minds, which are valuable and worthy of respect
• Challenges the notion that disability is a tragedy or a problem to be fixed, and instead embraces disability as a natural part of human diversity (deaf culture, wheelchair users)