Paper Summary:

The paper relates that one of the challenging aspects of disability studies is the deconstruction of social roles and identities that many commentators argue is essential to a critical understanding of the nature of disability in our social context. The paper argues, through both scholarly and experiential references, that traditional definitions and templates of disability have limited disability - both physically and figuratively - in much the same way as societal definitions of gender and sexuality have defined and thereby controlled gay/lesbian identity and practice. The paper shows how in both contexts, medical modelling plays an important role in scientifically supporting the marginalization of people with disabilities and gays/lesbians in analogous ways. The paper further discusses how the construction of the normative human identity as able-bodied and heterosexual can be seen to marginalize and thereby control disability and gender difference through a rigid, polarized template that does not reflect the diverse, heterogeneous reality of ability and sexual diversity.

From the Paper:

"One of the challenging aspects of disability studies is the deconstruction of social roles and identities that many commentators argue is essential to a critical understanding of the nature of disability in our social context. As this essay will argue, through both scholarly and experiential references, traditional definitions and templates of disability have limited disability - both physically and figuratively - in much the same way as societal definitions of gender and sexuality have defined and thereby controlled gay/lesbian identity and practice. As will be seen, in both contexts medical modelling..."

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