To me, Disability Studies is a term used to describe the study of disability in terms of social, political, medical, economic, and educational structures. Disability Studies focuses on analyzing and education oneself on what it is to be a part of the disability community and the discrimination, segregation, and marginalization that they receive. Alice Wong writes, “Disability is sociopolitical, cultural, and biological.” (xxii) in the introduction of Disability Visibility. Disability is so much more than that though, as she later writes, “Disability is pain, struggle, brilliance, abundance, and joy.” (xxii). I feel like my definition of Disability Studies has come to a more full understanding over the last few weeks and I hope it will continue to do so.
As we move forward with this class, I hope to address many things. I feel as if I have more questions every time I leave the classroom. When I really think about it, the main things I am interested in are international. How do we compare in our societal and political treatment of the disabled community with other countries? How might we do better on Western Washington University’s campus for our peers who identify as disabled? I would also like to talk about lack of resources for children, like the kids in Gaza who are made disabled as a result of war and do not have access to what they need. I am from Palestine and every day I see and speak about people who have become disabled as a result of war and their fight to survive, now on a different level, as Israel continues to deny them the medical attention and supplies they need to survive. In terms of that, I also wonder about international law. I do know that there is an international law of war that protects the disabled community from targeted violence. Are there other laws like this? How well is this law maintained, especially considering we cannot always physically see or observe another person’s disability?
The first topic that really connected with me was sexuality in terms of Disability Studies. I had not really thought about the sex life and/or sexuality and what that entails for people from the disability community. In society’s eyes, they are undesirable and unwanted, they are not sexual beings. Humans are sexual beings, we crave love and physical affection from those we think highly of, members of the disabled community or human first and therefore have the same urges and experiences that others do, whether society is willing to admit that or not. I really connected with the documentary Sins Invalid because of the message it had. People of all colors, sexuality, creative method, and disability were on a stage taking back what is rightfully theres. They took back their sexuality and tore down the misconceptions that society gives us. The way everyone put their feelings, thoughts, and souls into their art made it feel so vulnerable and so incredibly touching. I want to continue to push past misconceptions created by society, to educate others, and push the boundaries down so that we can have more open discussions about sexuality in our communities, to normalize disability in terms of sexuality and embrace it instead of the ideas that society has put in our heads.
The second topic that I connected with was race. I have spent a lot of this class making connections to my experience as a marginalized person due to my race. I have been able to see similar ways that I, as an Arab, have been discriminated against that is very similar to the discrimination that the disability community faces. Later, we did a reading from Keywords for Disability Studies where I read the chapter on race. I learned about the problems of connecting race and disability and why making these comparisons can be very detrimental for the disability community and their goals. The book says, “The act of correlating race and disability is often fraught with violent and oppressive overtones.” (145). I’ve learned a lot about why I shouldn’t make this comparisons and how detrimental it can be, that these overtones will be assumed about the disability community if we keep making these connections and that can hinder their goal. In the end, I think this society requires deeper understanding of the terms ‘race’ and ‘disability’ in order to be able to compare and contrast without risk of misconceptions. Without creating these definitions, how can we move past these overreaching comparisons that create negative assumptions and make it difficult to work with race and disability in context of each other. Sometimes, we need to start at the basics in order to be able to move forward.
The third topic I took particular interest in was community. As a marginalized person of color living in the United States, I’ve had my fair share of imposter syndrome. I did not feel like I belonged anywhere, no one around me had many shared experiences or understanding for my culture, faith, or race. Throughout this class so far, we have been exposed to this feeling of belonging. Through the documentary, Sins Invalid, and the book, Disability Visibility, we have been able to see the power community holds and how big of a difference it makes to surround yourself with people that can empathize and understand your struggles, pain, and joy. In Disability Visibility it says, “Members of many marginalized groups have this shared experience touchstone, this sense of unexpected and vivid belonging.” (272). I found my community at Western and I remember that overwhelming feeling of belonging, of finding my family. I have come to notice that we do not have many safe spaces for people with disabilities to create communities and find empathy, comfort, and belonging with each other. I want to learn more about how we can create and use these spaces to best help the people within our community. Everyone deserves this feeling of belonging, a community to fall back upon and as a school, as a country, and in this world we need to put more emphasis and effort on creating these safe places for communities to develop and thrive in order to be a happy and productive society.
Works Cited
Adams, Rachel, and Benjamin Reiss. Keywords for Disability Studies. NYU Press, 2015.
Wong, Alice. Disability Visibility. Crown Books for Young Readers, 2020.
I, too, would like to talk about international perspectives on disability. I feel like we have gotten the chance to get a glimpse of international views and politics on our own time, but it has never been given the spotlight in a discussion. It would be nice to have one or two about situations like Gaza. Your questions about international law made me wonder if there is even an authority who could enforce protective and assistive laws for disabled people? It would definitely be interesting to find out.
The rest of your essay made me think, “Wow, the U.S is so complicated”. I feel like there are at least ten different narratives being chucked at us every other second. I had not encountered the “disability is non-sexual” narrative until a discussion on eugenics in a seventh grade history class. Even then the discussion had been focused on the Nazi’s application of the eugenic belief that disabled people should not be allowed to reproduce. Basically not that they were non-sexual beings, but that they should be non-sexual beings. Which implies that this narrative about disability being non-sexual might be rooted in Eugenics and not just the “yuck” factor.
We need to talk a bit more about the impact one’s race and/or ethnicity can have on the treatment of disability. I do not think we have acknowledged it fully yet. We have touched upon intersectionality but not specified a lens besides the disability lens to cross-examine society. I guess queerness has been brought up, but I also suspect that Disability theorists feel morally obligated to bring up queer theory.
I found that your essay was very well written. The only way I can see that it could be improved is if you titled each section of essay, but that is a minor inconvenience which is not necessary for the essay to be enjoyed. (and as a side note, I find the lack of bold faced titles in these essays truly disturbing – you don’t need to solely rely on italics all the time people! But I digress.)
It’s interesting to see your perspective on palestine. I tend to have a pro-Israel stance, but I’m not against the Palestinians having their own state and jurisdiction. I thought I would try to refresh myself on some of the information about the conflict there and whether or not what you are saying is actually true. You were correct about the palestinians being denied access to medical services, but it seems like it’s part of a broader, more economic problem of shortages and damages. When you are a part of a violent socio-economic conflict followed by a world crippling pandemic, there are bound to be shortages, and when resources are scarce, people are less inclined towards charity and generosity (which is why generosity and charity is valued in areas like the middle east and not so much in the Western World, at least in my personal view – and also the views of Maysoon Zayid, if I have read into the text correctly.).
It does seem that the people of Palestine are not entirely guiltless in this conflict, nor are the Israelites saints or angels. The conflict is complicated, with many aspects in play. I would love to talk about it more, learn more about your knowledge on the topic. You are probably more informed on the situation than I am, and I am less likely to view Palestine in a favorable light. It would be good to learn more about it. Here’s one of the articles I read to see what info I can get.
(https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20210503_gaza_patients_denied_treatment_since_covid_19_outbreak)
Wait a minute! Did you help run a pro-palestine booth a few years back, before the lock downs? I think I may have talked to you about it if that was the case.
I tend to have a very individualist view of the world, so I’m less inclined to think of myself in terms of group identity. I have a strong appreciation of Western culture and values, as well as those through the East – mainly through my grandmother, who is Japanese and a buddhist. I also tend to live in my head a lot, so sometimes I don’t notice some of the minuti of different groups that I’m not familiar with.
I tend to keep my sexuality to myself. I’m glad you were able to appreciate that aspect of the course, and I’m glad we are able to talk about sexuality openly in some places, but it’s also a deeply personal and emotional experience that I think is potentially dangerous and harmful when exposed to the public. I know some people feel empowered when they are flamboyantly sexual and make it a major part of their identity. I’m not like that. Sexuality is important and valuable, but it’s not the most important thing in my life, and I feel vulnerable when I talk about it, which is why I would only talk about my sexual experiences with people I love and trust. I hope this doesn’t seem like a criticism or a misdirection; I really don’t mean it to be that way. This is my viewpoint on the topic. Sex is fire – a consuming fire that can give you life or take it at a whim. It must be handled with care and respect.
I feel you drawing connections between your personal experiences of the texts and your scholarly/intellectual desire to put these ideas to work in the world. I hope you keep this dichotomy in mind in all your work–for instance, research into international disability-rights policies but also why this matters to you as a reseearcher. I’d love to hear you confront more straightforwardly the misconceptions you see Sins Invalid and others working against. There’s something rhetorical in that conflict that can be very important to name–not just saying that it’s there, but saying how that conflict is resolved within the disability-afferming texts. Thanks for sharing your thoughtful work with us.
If you are interested in supporting races, you can check out https://uktaskforce.org/ . They really focus on real-world problems and offer ways for us to help out. I love that they’re not just talking the talk but actually putting plans into action. It’s like they’re rallying the troops to make a difference, and it’s so motivating to see that kind of passion in a community.