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The Rejected Body by Susan Wendell
Apr. 18th, 2010 07:09 pmThe Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability by Susan Wendell
1996
206 pages
Routledge Publishers
If you are at all interested in Disability Studies (DS), read this book. I felt like I had a kind, clear teacher and friend leading me by the hand through basic and advanced concepts in DS, especially relating to feminism and ethics. It is the most accessible and worthwhile academic text I've ever read-- I don't have a good track record for reading non-fiction books or textbooks, and I was riveted to this book. Partly this is because The Rejected Body speaks so directly to my own life experience as a person with a chronic illness. Susan Wendell also has a chronic illness, ME/CFS, which is what led her into DS from Women's Studies.
The chapters are as follows:
Introduction: she tells you what she's going to tell you, talks a bit about her own illness experience and finding disability identity, and--making me fall in love with her--clarifies her language use by, in part, defining scare quotes and why/how she uses them.
1. Who Is Disabled? Defining Disability
2. The Social Construction of Disability
3. Disability as Difference
4. The Flight from the Rejected Body
5. The Cognitive and Social Authority of Medicine
6. Disability and Feminist Ethics
7. Feminism, Disability, and Transcendence of the Body
My favorite parts:
*The pace of life as part of the social construction of disability. Those of us who need to think or move more slowly are thus disabled by society.
*Her use of the word "phemonenological". OK I just barely know what that means from my one philosophy class in college, but, swoon. I have been thinking about embodiment lately, brain-body duality vs. integration, and chapter 7 really gave me some grist for this mill. I am going to re-read it shortly, especially the section on pain. Basically, feminists have argued against mind-body duality for very good reasons: because it's been used against women's bodies. We've been invested in "Our Bodies, Ourselves". But for bodies that are suffering and in pain, there are reasons to want to transcend the body, and there is room within feminist frameworks to develop this. *mind explosion*
*The illusion of control. For PWD, we know that we do not have control of our bodies, and it is sheer luck that determines what happens, a lot of the time. Will I be in less or more pain today? Will I get some new illness? I have basically no control over these things, and I know it. And yet the society I live in is incredibly invested in the illusion of control to the point where it is part of the mythology of my country and my people, I think. As Wendell points out, this puts me at odds with the people around me, even in casual social situations where people talk about small health problems or things to do with their bodies. It's a disconnect.
There were so many other things that I am probably forgetting. I wanted to underline everything. I will definitely read this book again. I read it slowly to give myself time to process everything I was reading, but overall it's a fairly short and accessible book, just densely packed with great information and ideas.
Incidentally, one book she cites fairly often is Cheri Register's Living with Chronic Illness. My review of Register's book, post is from 2008. Most of her other citations are books/works I'm unfamiliar with.
P.S. I would love to discuss this book with people!
1996
206 pages
Routledge Publishers
If you are at all interested in Disability Studies (DS), read this book. I felt like I had a kind, clear teacher and friend leading me by the hand through basic and advanced concepts in DS, especially relating to feminism and ethics. It is the most accessible and worthwhile academic text I've ever read-- I don't have a good track record for reading non-fiction books or textbooks, and I was riveted to this book. Partly this is because The Rejected Body speaks so directly to my own life experience as a person with a chronic illness. Susan Wendell also has a chronic illness, ME/CFS, which is what led her into DS from Women's Studies.
The chapters are as follows:
Introduction: she tells you what she's going to tell you, talks a bit about her own illness experience and finding disability identity, and--making me fall in love with her--clarifies her language use by, in part, defining scare quotes and why/how she uses them.
1. Who Is Disabled? Defining Disability
2. The Social Construction of Disability
3. Disability as Difference
4. The Flight from the Rejected Body
5. The Cognitive and Social Authority of Medicine
6. Disability and Feminist Ethics
7. Feminism, Disability, and Transcendence of the Body
My favorite parts:
*The pace of life as part of the social construction of disability. Those of us who need to think or move more slowly are thus disabled by society.
*Her use of the word "phemonenological". OK I just barely know what that means from my one philosophy class in college, but, swoon. I have been thinking about embodiment lately, brain-body duality vs. integration, and chapter 7 really gave me some grist for this mill. I am going to re-read it shortly, especially the section on pain. Basically, feminists have argued against mind-body duality for very good reasons: because it's been used against women's bodies. We've been invested in "Our Bodies, Ourselves". But for bodies that are suffering and in pain, there are reasons to want to transcend the body, and there is room within feminist frameworks to develop this. *mind explosion*
*The illusion of control. For PWD, we know that we do not have control of our bodies, and it is sheer luck that determines what happens, a lot of the time. Will I be in less or more pain today? Will I get some new illness? I have basically no control over these things, and I know it. And yet the society I live in is incredibly invested in the illusion of control to the point where it is part of the mythology of my country and my people, I think. As Wendell points out, this puts me at odds with the people around me, even in casual social situations where people talk about small health problems or things to do with their bodies. It's a disconnect.
There were so many other things that I am probably forgetting. I wanted to underline everything. I will definitely read this book again. I read it slowly to give myself time to process everything I was reading, but overall it's a fairly short and accessible book, just densely packed with great information and ideas.
Incidentally, one book she cites fairly often is Cheri Register's Living with Chronic Illness. My review of Register's book, post is from 2008. Most of her other citations are books/works I'm unfamiliar with.
P.S. I would love to discuss this book with people!
