disability in gender and politics

7/28/2019 Disability in Gender and Politics

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THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA

Disability as a Key Pillar in Gender Theory

Kimberlee Graham-Knight

V00219136

June 28, 2013

Dr. Janni Aragon

POLI 335


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Any examination of gender in a political context is incomplete without unpacking ethnicity, sexual

orientation, and class. But none of these three is complete without including disability. Disability issues

are almost universally linked to gender issues, because any difficulty an able-bodied woman faces is

exacerbated by disability. Everything is magnified. Access to reproductive technologies is complicated

by the mother or the offspring having a disability. Society's physical standards of beauty are impossible

to meet for many women with disabilities. Workplace politics are magnified when a worker is disabled.

Violence is more prevalent. And challenges of women who are queer or indigenous, or a combination

of the two, become even more acute when disability is also a consideration.

In fact, gender presents a useful framework with which to address disability. The study of gender and

disability began in earnest in 1983 with the founding of the Disabled Women's Network Canada

(DAWN), who proudly used the word 'feminist' in [their] literature, and have strived to be inclusive of

all women with disabilities.1Over the next decade, the group tackled many of the issues historically

related to gender, through the lens of disability. We decided to tackle violence against women with

disabilities, access to the women's movement and services, the provision of role-models for young girls

with disabilities, as well as issues related to self-image and parenting. We resolved to conduct outreach

to all women with disabilities, to provide information about our concerns, and finally, to be 'a voice for

disabled women in Canada.'2

In DAWN's seminal publication, the 1993 Summer issue ofCanadian Women's Studies entitled

Women and Disability, concerns such as reproductive health, the right to bear children, bodily

autonomy, and public perception of disability are brought more clearly into focus by looking at them

1 Pat Israel and Fran Odette, The Disabled Women's Movement: 1983 to 1993, Canadian Women's Studies vol 13 n 4(1993): 7.

2 Israel and Odette, The Disabled Women's Movement, 6.


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through the lenses of disability and gender simultaneously. It notes, Prior to this [publication],

disabled women's issues were ignored by both the disability rights movement and the women's rights

movement. Many feminists did not seem to regard women with disabilities as women at all, while the

disability rights movement failed to acknowledge that many of our issues were different from the issues

affecting men with disability.3

Disability in turn provides a new paradigm to more fully understand gender. It brings new light to

gender issues that have been studied for decades. It shows clearly that gender is an essential area of

study for the 21st century, because many issues around disability are also gendered. It is this symbiotic

relationship between disability studies and gender studies that will be investigated here, and both

disciplines will only benefit from this analysis.

Perhaps the most traditionally gendered issue is abortion. It is also the most controversial and

polarizing of all of the concerns related to gender. In her book,Abortion and Life, Jennifer

Baumgardner provides fresh insights that advance the debate past the antiquated pro-life versus pro-

choice battle.4While Baumgardner never waivers from her commitment to protect women's right to

choose abortion, instead of pushing the traditional pro-choice agenda, which emphasizes a woman's

personal freedom at any cost, she offers a new paradigm, which finds commonality between pro-life

and pro-choice, even suggesting a series of principles to be followed if a pro-lifer chooses to call

herself a feminist.5

But perhaps Baumgartner's most relevant point to people with disabilities is the rise of pro-voice

3 Israel and Odette, The Disabled Women's Movement, 6.4 Jennifer Baumgardner,Abortion and Life (New York: Akhasic, 2008), 49.

5 Baumgardner,Abortion and Life, 63.


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activism, where the experiences of women who have had abortions are made central to the debate. This

idea places the highest value on the truths of people who have had first-hand experiences with the

procedure, and allows for a wide range of opinions without judgement or categorization of the accounts

as pro-life or pro-choice. Baumgardner describes the experience of one woman who had an abortion.

[W]hen she would raise the issue of the lack of emotional resources for women, she was confronted

with blank faces [from NARAL Pro-choice California]. It was, she says, as if admitting that she was

struggling with her feelings meant she wasn't really pro-choice.6

A similar dichotomy exists in the disability movement. Either a disabled person is completely helpless

and in need of constant aid, such as in BC's welfare system, or she is superhuman and capable of

surmounting any obstacle without any assistance at all, such as with the public perception of Terry

Fox.7 Disabled people must be either pathetic or heroic; abortion activists must either be baby killers or

woman haters. The reality is, almost everyone is somewhere in the middle. And that's where pro-voice

comes in. By allowing women and people with disabilities alike to tell their nuanced storiessome of

success, some of losswe remove the necessity for everyone to fit in neat categories. Perhaps a

disabled person is fine most of the time, then has an episode and cannot function for a while. Perhaps a

woman who had an abortion is confident in her decision, but still has moments of mourning for her

unborn child. All of these experiences are valuable to the discussion, and should be respected, not

pigeonholed.

The issue of abortion underscores a more fundamental one: the right of women to have control over our

own bodies. This has serious implications for women with disabilities, because we are often forced to

ask other people for the things we need, or are simply denied our basic needs altogether. In a 1993

6 Baumgardner,Abortion and Life, 50.

7 Women and Disability, introduction.


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study of 25 disabled women, the subjects

were interviewed regarding their experiences with both the women's movement and the disability

rights movement. Many women expressed frustration and isolation in their attempts to organize

within these two movements. The notion that "difference is equated with inequality" captured

many of the women's feelings of exclusion. Thus, one's "physical difference" can be and has been

seen as a tool to be used against us in numerous ways. Although conferences are "accessible,"

access only goes so far. Often, we are obliged to use washrooms with little or no privacy or to travel

miles to find the closest accessible one. Most workshops are held in locations that we can get to,

but there may be one workshop that piques our interest which is on a split level, with no elevator

access. Inclusion means more than making minimal provisions for those of us living on the

"fringes."8

All of these concerns were still very much at issue when organizing for the Canadian Disability Studies

Association Congress 2013 at the University of Victoria. Concerns such as proximity of accessible

bathrooms, clear and visible paths between rooms where lectures were happening, adequate time to go

from one place on campus to another, and easy transportation between venues were discussed at length

with Congress organizers, and while certain considerations had clearly been thought of by the University,

a surprising number were not until we from the CDSA brought them forward. And this is 20 years after

the Women and Disability issue ofCanadian Women's Studies was printed.

An issue that follows closely behind abortion and bodily autonomy is the right of women to choose to

be parents, whether or not the man is involved. But if women are disabled, the choice is greatly

complicated. The right to parent can be called into question when the mother is disabled, as explained

by Ruth Bieber-Schut in her article Visually Impaired Women as Mothers in Canadian Women's

8 Israel and Odette, The Disabled Women's Movement, 8.


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Studies.9 Bieber-Schut, after finding herself overwhelmed by being a blind new mother, was lucky to

find a support group for blind parents in her city. Still she found the resources for her were scarce,

because the prenatal classes were just that, too little. We got to see pregnancy, lab our and delivery, but

suddenly, there we were -- the mother of a child and you were supposed to know what to do. Somehow it

was supposed to be all natural and normal, never mind that you couldn't see and that you'd never had a

baby before. You were simply a mother and your instincts were supposed to take over.10 This tension

between the right to become a mother and the real-world difficulty of actually doing sois acutely felt

by disabled women. The resources simply aren't there. And even when they are, it is too arduous to access

them while living as a disabled mother.11

Apart from unrealistic expectations of motherhood, it is generally accepted that modern media presents

unattainable standards of beauty for Canadian women. We are bombarded with ridiculous, computer-

enhanced images, often depicting women in sexually explicit ways. Disabled women are even more

aware of our inability to meet these standards, especially if we use mobility aids like canes or crutches

or wheelchairs, or if we have a gait that is outside of normal, or if our appearance otherwise belies our

disability. In our culture, the body is something to be vanquished, to be beaten into submission, to be

squished into a tiny box that is acceptable in public. Sharon Dale Stone provides an orientation to the

tension felt by disabled women between society's ideals and the reality of our bodies. [W]e are not

encouraged in our culture to pay attention to whatever aches and pains we may suffer. Rather, we are

encouraged to ignore them and go about our business[.]12 So the public persona must be different than

any private struggle at all times. Stone later recounts that even men in wheelchairs are expected to act

9 Ruth Bieber-Schut, Visually Impaired Women as Mothers, Canadian Women's Studies vol 13 n 4 (1993): 63-66.

10 Bieber-Schut, Visually Impaired Women as Mothers, 63.

11 Bieber-Schut, Visually Impaired Women as Mothers, 64.12 Sharon Dale Stone, Must Disability Always be Visible? The Meaning of Disability for Women, Canadian Women's

Studies vol 13 n 4 (1993): 11.


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able-bodied. She wonders how this is possibleare they meant to put cloaks over their chairs?but

acknowledges this kind of ableism, where disabled people can only fit into popular culture if they try to

act and look like able-bodied people, is extremely destructive, especially to disabled women.

13

The workplace can be a minefield for many able-bodied women. Allan G. Johnson lists the difficulties

working women face, including that they are

paid less, held to higher or double standards, worked harder, granted little power or respect,

judged on physical attractiveness more than performance or ability, confined by glass ceilings,

not taken seriously, harassed, given little support or mentoring, allowed little space or privacy,

excluded from informal networks, patronized, expected to do housekeeping chores from taking

notes to getting coffee, treated as weaker and less intelligent, often denied credit for ideas

appropriated by men, and treated without recognition of the family roles that also claim their time

and energy in a society that makes few such demands on men.14

While disabled women face all of these challenges, they have the added pressure of securing work that

will accommodate their needs. Rebekah Garriock, in an opinion piece in the May 28, 2013, Globe and

Mail, writes about learning to hold a pencil and eventually making it through a Bachelor of Business

Administration after a childhood bout with viral meningitis. She always wanted to work, because for a

person in my circumstances, a 'real' job is an affirmation that I belong, that I can contribute and that I

am normal.15

For Garriock, applying for work is an ongoing challenge. While she got a nine-month contract right out

13 Stone, Must Disability Always be Visible? The Meaning of Disability for Women, Canadian Women's Studies vol 13 n

4 (1993): 12.14 Allan G. Johnson, The Gender Knot: Unraveling our Patriarchal Legacy (Philadelphia: Temple University, 2005), 3.

15 Rebekah Garriock, My Wheelchair Job Search, Globe and Mail(May 28, 2013).


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of school, she now must navigate the difficult job market. When I arrive with a myriad of other

applicants, [you can imagine] the reactions I get when I ask: Is the office wheelchair-accessible? Is the

building ramped? Is there a door opener to get into the building? Will your handicapped washroom

accommodate an electric wheelchair? Is anyone allergic to dogs?16 She even applied as Disability

Coordinator at a college, and was told they werent ready to accommodate my special needs as part of

the interview process, which spoke volumes about their diversity readiness.17In applying for jobs, she

must continually ask myself whether or not to mention in these letters that I am disabled, because I

know that stating that fact will most likely push me to the bottom of the list. 18She must, in essence,

continually ask herself whether being open about her disability will benefit her.

For queer women with disabilities, the experience of going public with one's disability or sexual

orientation can feel like coming out of two closets. According to Jane Field, it is very important for

dykes and gay men with disabilities to be 'out' in terms of both their disability and their sexual

orientation.

19

She sums up perfectly the social stigma around being disabled, and the power in being out

about it and not ashamed:

Why wouldn't I want people to to know that I have a disability, that I accept it as part of who I am

and that I am proud of who I am? Why wouldn't I want anyone to know that I confront physical and

attitudinal barriers every day of my life and that I identify with strong individuals who are part of

the disability rights movement? And why would I deny myself the opportunity to be part of

consumer - driven groups like the DisAbled Women's Network?

I don't hide my disability and I don't "overcome" it either. It's just something I live with. I am not

handicapped. Society is handicapped when it shuts out people like me. I am not physically

16 Garriock, My Wheelchair Job Search.

17 Garriock, My Wheelchair Job Search.18 Ibid.

19 Jane Field, Coming Out of Two Closets, Canadian Women's Studies vol 13 n 4 (1993): 18.


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challenged. Tri - athletes and mountain climbers are physically challenged. And I'm certainly no

more differently-abled than anyone is from anyone else. No. I just simply have a disability. I don't

deny it, or hide it. I'm out.

20

She explains the similar circumstances around her being a lesbian, and as a lesbian, I am also 'out.' It

took me a while to come to terms with my sexuality, just as it did for me to accept my disability. I am

proud of being a lesbian and I see my sexuality as a very important part of who I am. I wonder why I

wouldn't want people to know that.21

Like queer women, women who are indigenous, and who also identify as disabled, have a unique set of

challenges. They face all of the barriers of being a woman, plus all of the barriers that come with

disability, and again all of the challenges associated with being native in Canada. Doreen Demas

explains, in her article Triple Jeopardy: Native Women with Disabilities:

People with disabilities are disadvantaged in the areas of education, access, transportation, housing,

employment opportunities, recreation, cultural opportunities, etc. Women with disabilities speak of

double jeopardy. I believe that Native women who have a disability are in a situation of triple

jeopardy. You may be familiar with many of the concerns that Aboriginal people in Canada have --

poor housing conditions, lack of adequate medical care, and substance abuse. When you add

disability and being female to this, you have a situation of extreme disadvantage.22

Because of this extreme disadvantage, scholarly articles by native women with disabilities are virtually

non-existent, and there are almost no prominent women in Canada who identify as native and disabled.

Something needs to happen to bring this into the feminist discourse.

This presents a clear call to action to any gender scholar; the conversation is incomplete without

20 Field, Coming Out of Two Closets, 18.21 Ibid.

22 Doreen Damas, Triple Jeopardy: Native Women with Disabilities, Canadian Women's Studies vol 13 n 4 (1993): 53.


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including disability, because it is a compounding factor in any already marginalized group. In fact, to

ignore disability is to give an incomplete analysis of any political phenomenon.

While there may be a rich and well-developed lexicon for gendered issues, with each issue, including

the ones specifically mentioned here, having its own body of research and way of talking about it that

is pointed enough to have academic integrity, but considered enough to not be offensive. No such group

of words and phrases exist for the study of disability.

A researcher at Oxford coined the term diversabled as a more appropriate word, and has been

working to have it included in the Oxford English dictionary, but it has not yet been included, and no

spellchecker acknowledges the word. There is virtually no vocabulary, so that any essay about

disability contains the word disability and its derivatives repeated way too many times. While gender

studies provides a useful starting place for the study of disability, much, much more work needs to be

done to develop the discipline alongside everything else in political science. And gender studies will

only grow and become even more relevant when disability is a key part of the discussion.


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Bibliography

Baumgardner, Jennifer.Abortion and Life.New York: Akhasic, 2008.

Bieber-Schut, Ruth. Visually Impaired Women as Mothers. Canadian Women's Studies vol 13 n 4

(1993): 63-66.

Damas, Doreen. Triple Jeopardy: Native Women with Disabilities. Canadian Women's Studies vol 13

n 4 (1993): 53-55.

Field, Jane. Coming Out of Two Closets. Canadian Women's Studies vol 13 n 4 (1993): 18-19.

Garriock, Rebekah. My Wheelchair Job Search. Globe and Mail(May 28, 2013).

Israel, Pat and Fran Odette. The Disabled Women's Movement: 1983 to 1993. Canadian Women's

Studies vol 13 n 4 (1993): 6-10.

Johnson, Allan G. The Gender Knot: Unraveling our Patriarchal Legacy. Philadelphia: Temple

University, 2005.

Stone, Sharon Dale. Must Disability Always be Visible? The Meaning of Disability for Women.

Canadian Women's Studies vol 13 n 4 (1993): 11-13.

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