Disability Rhetoric

Summary:

The author begins by explaining how the world sees sex: a paradox of too much or too little, of joyful or shameful, of scientific or pleasurable, of normal or not. After giving cultural context, they elaborate on how disability and sex are at play. Disabled folks don’t have access to sexual education which only amplifies a negative stigmas both within and outside of the disabled community. They then go on to explain why sex and disability are such a tricky intersection (quote number 2) and how it stems from a cultural anxiety regarding sex and the body. They break down the Deleuzian model and emphasis the importance of navigating desire opposed to embodiment. The author reinvents the widespread understanding of what sex/sexuality is. Lastly, they explain the relation to queer and disability studies in action. The closing of the chapter summarizes the issues of how sex and disability is viewed and where we can advocate going in the future.

Quotes:

“…disabled people, like everyone else, understand their sexualities in multiple different ways, which do not fit easily with the convenient models of social management” (Shildrick pg. 164)
“If those who count themselves as nondisabled have laregly disavowed the conjunction of disability and sexuality, experiencing what can only be regarded as the “yuck factor” when faced with the realities of sexual desire in all their anomalous forms, then we might conclude that it is because sexuality is always a site of deep-seated anxieties about normative forms of embodied being” (Shildrick pg. 165)
“…understandings of disability and sex have encouraged scholars and activists to confront questions of embodiment, and more specifically, the circulation of desire” (Shildrick pg. 165) *so good*
“…the term “queer” goes much further in being explicitly defined as against all forms of normativity” (Shildrick pg. 166)

Reflection:

I loved this chapter (I know that isn’t great analysis, but I just have to start with that). It went well in tangent with some of the queer theory work I’ve been reading. The author emphasized the need to tear down stereotyped preconceptions of sex (both within and outside the disability community). They provided alternative definitions of sex and embodiment, which I see as a powerful tool for advocacy. In addition to explaining the tangible intersections of sex and disability, they dove into the heady complexities of challenging everything we’ve been taught. I also appreciated the type of language the author used; very plain, with lots of examples.