Book chapter
Doing Gender, Doing Disability: How Disabled Young Adults Approach Gender in Response to Ableism
Disabilities and the Life Course, pp 89-105
31 Jul 2023
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Gender and disability are intimately connected as embodied experiences that young people navigate interactionally. Disabilities scholars have theorized that men and women with chronic health conditions face uniquely gendered challenges. Theories of gender and disability centered on youth continue to gain prominence as the population of children and young adults with chronic health conditions grows. This study draws on data from 22 in-depth interviews with young adults diagnosed with chronic health conditions in childhood in the United States. Women, men, and gender nonbinary individuals report that doing disability in interactions in childhood meant doing gender in expected feminine ways. Specifically, interviewees described increased empathy, a deep understanding of their own emotions, and the ability to use adversity to connect with and benefit others as expectations. Interviewees employed or resisted doing gender in ways that reflected individuals' gender locations. Women and nonbinary individuals saw feminine performance as a sign of weakness, often resisting demonstrating it in interactions. On the other hand, feminine performance reportedly impacted men in the sample in positive ways. This study takes a life course approach to illuminate how the ableist expectations expressed to disabled children are gendered and impact how disabled young adults negotiate an ableist world.
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Details
- Title
- Doing Gender, Doing Disability: How Disabled Young Adults Approach Gender in Response to Ableism
- Creators
- Hillary Steinberg - Drexel University, A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
- Publication Details
- Disabilities and the Life Course, pp 89-105
- Publisher
- Emerald Publishing Limited
- Number of pages
- 17
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001170112200006
- Other Identifier
- 991021863010204721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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- Web of Science research areas
- Rehabilitation
- Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
- Sociology