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Holy discourse, Batman! It's a book with the word "feminist" and the word "disability" in the title, and it didn't piss me off. For the last couple of years just one has been a bad sign – clearly I wasn't reading the right stuff.
Pretty much what it says on the tin: a compact but thorough unpack of how feminist theory – treating gender as the social construct of biological difference – can illuminate disability theory – treating ability as the social construct of the biological difference between well and disabled bodies. Mostly free of the stuff that has been pinging my discourse bullshit radar for the past few years. There's an entire chapter on body transcendence that I found interesting and thoughtful, not stupid. And actually the best parts, for me, got really down and dirty with why feminist theory and disability theory actually sit very uneasily against each other, because yes yes yes thank you.
I think what makes it so good is that it's the perfect amount of personal. There's a whole section on why discourse shouldn't subsume the reality of bodily suffering. And Wendell tells this joke that's really only okay to laugh at if you've been there. "The good news is that it doesn't kill you. The bad news is that it doesn't kill you." Yeah, pretty much.
Actually, I'd recommend this as an intermediate primer – the introductory chapters are excellent background, and the rest is erudite without being impenetrable. I say that having read a fair amount of feminist theory, but that was several years ago.
Pretty much what it says on the tin: a compact but thorough unpack of how feminist theory – treating gender as the social construct of biological difference – can illuminate disability theory – treating ability as the social construct of the biological difference between well and disabled bodies. Mostly free of the stuff that has been pinging my discourse bullshit radar for the past few years. There's an entire chapter on body transcendence that I found interesting and thoughtful, not stupid. And actually the best parts, for me, got really down and dirty with why feminist theory and disability theory actually sit very uneasily against each other, because yes yes yes thank you.
I think what makes it so good is that it's the perfect amount of personal. There's a whole section on why discourse shouldn't subsume the reality of bodily suffering. And Wendell tells this joke that's really only okay to laugh at if you've been there. "The good news is that it doesn't kill you. The bad news is that it doesn't kill you." Yeah, pretty much.
Actually, I'd recommend this as an intermediate primer – the introductory chapters are excellent background, and the rest is erudite without being impenetrable. I say that having read a fair amount of feminist theory, but that was several years ago.