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Disability, embodiment and ableism: stories of resistance.

Authors :
Loja, Ema
Costa, Maria Emília
Hughes, Bill
Menezes, Isabel
Source :
Disability & Society; Mar2013, Vol. 28 Issue 2, p190-203, 14p
Publication Year :
2013

Abstract

Non-disabled responses to visible impairment embody either social invisibility or over-attentiveness. The subjective and inter-subjective experiences of impaired bodies and intersubjective encounters within society are important aspects of disablement and the construction of a disabled identity. Impairment is read by and influences the social structure of ableism. This paper attempts to understand how ableist discourses about impaired bodies have impacted on and been resisted by disabled people and how embodiment is related to identity. In pursuit of these aims, a qualitative study was conducted with seven people who have visible physical impairments. The results indicate that disabled embodiment is produced and experienced within an ableist context that mobilizes the charitable gaze and the medical model to signify impaired bodies at the expense of the recognition of disabled identity. In order to deconstruct ableism and to recognize and respect the value of the disabled identity, a politics of recognition is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
09687599
Volume :
28
Issue :
2
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Disability & Society
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
104311101
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.705057