GSFS 303

GENDER AND DISABILITY

Yolanda Muñoz, Ph.D.

Email: yolanda.munoz@mcgill.ca

Overview
This course aims to give an introduction to disability as a category of analysis in Gender Studies. At the same
time, the objective is to analyse able-body privilege and understand the social forces behind ableism that
prevent the full implementation of the human rights approach to disability.

Disability is a social experience of normalized exclusion and segregation that still many people consider only a
“medical” and “personal” issue. However, the worldwide struggle initiated through the United Nations Decade
for Disabled Persons (1983-1992) has created a growing consciousness of disabilities not as incurable illnesses or
and individual “problem”, but as a relationship between the body and the symbolic value that each culture gives
to the tasks that a person’s body is supposed to perform throughout life. This struggle promoted the adoption of
the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities on December 2006, which in turn helped build and
international movement for full implementation of the Convention and the promotion of a culture of human
rights.

Persons with disabilities represent one of the largest discriminated groups in the world, and the World Health
Organization estimates that one in seven persons live with a disability, that is one billion persons. With the
arrival of massive use of the Internet and other technologies, more and more persons with disabilities are
gaining critical battles for social inclusion. This goal is pursued through advocating for the construction of
inclusive environments, i.e., a wider scope of material and cultural conditions that enable persons with physical,
sensorial, psychosocial or intellectual disabilities to take their own decisions, live in the community and fully
exert their citizenship.

Since the beginning of the 1990’s, women with disabilities around the world have tried to raise consciousness in
their able-bodied counterparts about multiple forms of discrimination experienced when women do not fit with
the ideal of “functional” and “beautiful” body and mind imposed by different societies. This course proposes to
explore how disability would deepen and add complexity to Gender Studies by including this category on the
reflections on how gender and body functions intersect with other aspects of identity, interacting with various
systems of privilege and oppression. The fresh approach of Disability Justice allows to better understand deeply
rooted ableist practices, and the course will explore this perspective as a possibility for social action.

GSFS 303 – Gender and Disability – Fall 2020

September 14
What is ableism and how it intersects with other systems of privilege and oppression?

Mandatory visioning:
Stella Young: “I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much” TedTalk: https://youtu.be/8K9Gg164Bsw

Recommended readings:
Evans, Elizabeth. “Disability and intersectionality: patterns of ableism in the women’s movement”. In Evans,
Elizabeth, and Lépinard Éléonore, eds. 2020. Intersectionality in Feminist and Queer Movements: Confronting
Privileges (version First edition.) First ed. Routledge Advances in Feminist Studies and Intersectionality.
Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. PP. 143-161

Nario-Redmond, Michelle R. 2020. Ableism: The Causes and Consequences of Disability Prejudice. Contemporary
Social Issues. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons (“Introduction” pp. 1-34)

Wolbring, Gregor. 2008. "The Politics of Ableism." Development 51 (2) (06): 252-258.
https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/oclc/6895704634

September 21st
The moral, the medical, the human rights and the disability justice approaches to disability – a historical view of
the construction of normalcy and stigma

Mandatory reading: Clare, Eli. Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure. Durham: Duke University Press,
2017. Chapter 1. muse.jhu.edu/book/70980.

Recommended reading: Davis, Lennard J. “Constructing Normalcy. The Bell Curve, the Novel and the Invention of
the Disabled Body in the Nineteenth Century.” The Disability Studies Reader. Ed. Lennard J. Davis. New York –
London: Routledge, Second Edition: 2006 [1997]. 3-16

September 28
Feminist Disability Studies – Building bridges between movements

(Choose one of the following):

Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory”. In Smith, Bonnie G. and
Hutchison, Beth (Eds.) 2004. Gendering Disability. New Brunswick, New Jersey & London: Rutdgers University
Press, 2004. pp. 73-103

Bê, Ana. “Feminism and disability. A cartography of multiplicity” in Watson, N. (Ed.), Vehmas, S. (Ed.). 2020.
Routledge Handbook of Disability Studies. London: Routledge, pp. 421-435 https://doi-
org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.4324/9780429430817

GSFS 303 – Gender and Disability – Fall 2020

October 5
Disability or Crip Studies? – Questioning compulsory able-bodiedness and neurotypicality

Choose one of the following:

Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Anna Stenning and Nick Chown. “Introduction”. In Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Hanna,
Nick Chown, and Anna Stenning, eds. 2020. Neurodiversity Studies : A New Critical Paradigm. Routledge
Advances in Sociology, 285. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429322297.

McRuer, Robert. “Compulsory Able-bodiedness and Queer/Disabled Existence.” The Disability Studies Reader.
2nd ed., edited by Lennard J. Davis, New York, Routledge, 2006, pp. 88-99.

October 19
Gender roles, racism and disability

Holcomb, L. “Black and Crazy: The Antinomian Black Male in North American Consciousness”. In Brian, Kathleen
M, and James W. Trent, eds. (2017). Phallacies : Historical Intersections of Disability and Masculinity. New York,
NY: Oxford University Press. https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/oclc/993623925

October 26
The hegemony of the visual in feminist studies: a critical Disability Studies Perspective.

Choose one of the following:

Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. Staring: How We Look. Oxford University Press, USA, 2009. P. 186-196

Grealy, Lucy and Kleege, Georgina “Tyranny of the Visual” in Mintz, Susannah B. Unruly Bodies: Life Writing by
Women with Disabilities. The University of North Carolina Press, 2009. Project MUSE. muse.jhu.edu/book/44055

November 2
Feminist theory and audism

Choose one of the following:

Brueggemann, Brenda Jo and Susan Burch. Women and Deafness: Double Visions. Gallaudet University Press,
2006. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/book/10669.

Kafer, Alison.Feminist, Queer, Crip. 2013. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Project MUSE.,
https://muse.jhu.edu/. “Slippery Slopes, Cultural Anxiety, and the Case of the Deaf Lesbians”

GSFS 303 – Gender and Disability – Fall 2020

November 9
Invisible disabilities and chronic illness from a gender studies perspective

Wendell, S. 2001. Unhealthy Disabled: Treating Chronic Illnesses as Disabilities. Hypatia, 16 (4), 17-33.
doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2001.tb00751.x

Diamond Shaindl. “Feminist Resistance against the Medicalization of Humanity: Integrating Knowledge about
Psychiatric Oppression and Marginalized People” in Burstow, Bonnie. 2014. Psychiatry Disrupted: Theorizing
Resistance and Crafting The (R)evolution. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press

November 16
Disability and Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Kafer, Alison. 2013. Feminist, Queer, Crip. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013. PP. 47-68. Project
MUSE., https://muse.jhu.edu/.

Ebrahim, Sumayya. “Disability Porn: The Fetishisation and Liberation of Disabled Sex”. In Chappell, Paul, and
Marlene De Beer, eds. 2019. Diverse Voices of Disabled Sexualities in the Global South. Cham, Switzerland:
Palgrave Macmillan. PP. 77-99 https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1057688184

November 23
Representation vs Counter-representation: ableism in cultural production

Mandatory reading:
Houston, Ella. “Featuring Disabled Women in Advertisements. The Commodification of Diversity?” in Ellis, Katie,
Gerard Goggin, Beth A Haller, and Rosemary Curtis, eds. 2020. The Routledge Companion to Disability and
Media. New York, NY: Routledge. Pp. 50-58

Recommended audiovisual materials:

Léduc, Vero. « C’est tombé dans l’oreille d’une Sourde » (court métrage). https://vimeo.com/221645243

Berne, P. (Director). (2013). Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty [Video file]. New Day Films. Available in
Kanopy (access through sign in from McGill Library) https://mcgill.kanopy.com/video/sins-invalid-unashamed-
claim-beauty

November 30
Disability and social movements: everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

(Choose one of the following)

Johnson, Valerie Ann “Bringing Together Feminist Disability Studies and Environmental Justice” in Ray, Sarah
Jaquette, and Jay Sibara, eds. 2017. Disability Studies and the Environmental Humanities: Toward an Eco-Crip

GSFS 303 – Gender and Disability – Fall 2020

Theory. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press pp. 73-93
https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/oclc/985925192

Gurung, Pratima. “Our lives, our story. The journey of the voiceless towards advocacy in Nepal”. In Soldatic,
Karen, and Kelley Johnson, eds. 2020. Global Perspectives on Disability Activism and Advocacy: Our Way.
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351237499.

Native Women’s Association of Canada. “Aboriginal Women and Communicable/Chronic Diseases and
Disabilities. An Issue Paper. Prepared for the National Aboriginal Women’s Summit, June 20-22, 2007. Corner
Brook, NL, 2007. 1-8

December 3rd
Gender, disability and the struggle for independent living: institutionalization, the jail systems and segregated
education

Choose one of the following:

Minkowitz, Tina. “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Liberation from Psychiatric
Oppression” in Burstow, Bonnie. (2014). Psychiatry Disrupted: Theorizing Resistance and Crafting The
(R)evolution. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press

Chris Chapman, Allison C. Carey, and Liat Ben-Moshe. “Reconsidering Confinement: Interlocking Locations and
Logics of Incarceration”. In Ben-Moshe, Liat, and Allison C Carey. 2014. Disability Incarcerated: Imprisonment
and Disability in the United States and Canada. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. pp.

December 7
Disability, Gender and Caregiving

Choose one of the following:

Piepzna-Samarasinha, Leah Lakshmi. 2018. “Care Webs. Experiments in Creating Collective Access”.
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1934092&scope=site.

Liz Crow and Wendy Merchant. “Disabled Mothers of Disabled Children. An activism of our children and
ourselves.” In Berghs, M. (Ed.), Chataika, T. (Ed.), El-Lahib, Y. (Ed.), Dube, K. (Ed.). 2020. The Routledge Handbook
of Disability Activism. London: Routledge, https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.4324/9781351165082

GSFS 303 – Gender and Disability – Fall 2020

Course Requirements:

 Attendance and class participation: Students will be allowed to participate in the Zoom live sessions, or
they may deliver a one-page reading report expressing your views on the class they missed to improve
their grade.
 Students may choose at least one of the required readings listed in the syllabus on a weekly basis.
 Students who facilitate small groups discussions and prepare a report of the results of the debate will
have extra points in their attendance and participation grade.
 Mid-term essay on a topic relevant to the course. Due date: October 19, 2020. You may send your paper
via e-mail or in MyCourses (preferred).
 Final research paper on a topic relevant to the course. Due date: December 7, 2020. You may send your
paper via e-mail or in MyCourses (preferred).
 Please consult the Guidelines for Distance Delivery Teaching for GSFS 303 available in the IGSF website

Evaluation:

 Attendance and participation during the sessions: 20%

 Assignments and participation in the Discussion Board (MyCourses): 10%
 Mid-term paper: 30%
 Final paper: 40%

Academic Integrity

McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and
consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and
Disciplinary Procedures (see http://www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information).

© Instructor-generated course materials (e.g., videos, handouts, notes, summaries, exam questions, etc.) are
protected by law and may not be copied or distributed in any form or in any medium without explicit permission of
the instructor. Note that infringements of copyright can be subject to follow up by the University under the Code
of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.

GSFS 303 – Gender and Disability – Fall 2020