The Story of My Work: How I Became Disabled

Perhaps the best opening line in disability studies comes from Georgina Kleege: “Writing this book made me blind.” Following this honorable tradition, I begin my explication of disability studies through my own experience with a similar starting point: “Feminism made me disabled.” Honoring as well t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Disability studies quarterly 2014-03, Vol.34 (2)
Main Author: Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
disability identity
feminist disability studies
history of disability studies
misfitting
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Summary:Perhaps the best opening line in disability studies comes from Georgina Kleege: “Writing this book made me blind.” Following this honorable tradition, I begin my explication of disability studies through my own experience with a similar starting point: “Feminism made me disabled.” Honoring as well the tradition of making theory through narrative, I also follow Helen Keller, who like Kleege situates her knowledge in the local. From these exemplary works of feminist disability studies, I develop an explication of how I grew disability studies and how it grew me. Throughout, I consider the categories of disabled and nondisabled and the ways in which they have developed in disability studies literature broadly. I conclude by asserting the importance of both access and identity and community for disabled people. Keywords: feminist disability studies, disability identity, misfitting, history of disability studies
ISSN:1041-5718
2159-8371
DOI:10.18061/dsq.v34i2.4254