Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
a pervert because he was wanting to go out with a blind girl, and I was like “so
how does that make him a pervert?” (Theresa 36-41 years)
This being said, a high proportion of blind women who participated in this study also
reported experience of domestic abuse. It seems that men with controlling tendencies
or abusive behaviors may pursue a blind woman as they consider her to be easily con-
trolled(ClaireJennings,PersonalcommunicationwithHazelMcFarlane,January2002).
AlthoughJennydidnotexplicitlydiscussdomesticabuse,shewasconsciousofthisele-
ment in social space:
I'm always suspicious of people who pester us. You do get folk who will come
and chat you up … chatting up the wee blind bird…. Sometimes you tend to at-
tract folk that think “Oh! Well this is one, I can do her a favor and ask her out
and manipulate her.” (Jenny 36-41 years)
In social space, disabled women, perhaps more so than nondisabled women, have to
be able to decipher the difference between genuine individuals and those with ulterior
motives, something that may be particularly problematic for some women who may
have experienced sexual rejection in the past and may be flattered by sexual attention
and the prospect of a relationship. The very presence of disabled women on the social
sceneisslowlyshiftingthesocialterrain.Nolongerastightlyconstrainedbysocialreg-
ulationanddomesticdictate,disabledwomenaremakingandshapingpublicandprivate
space on their own terms (Creswell 1997; Hansen 2009).
Conclusion
Social and cultural attitudes toward disabled people and disabled women in particular,
remainlargelyunchanged.Theablebodyisaprivilegedbodyanddisabilityisperceived
as naturally absent. Many women are dealing with entrenched social attitudes and per-
ceptions of normality, traditional gender roles, sexuality (or the lack thereof), on a daily
basis. Indeed, the very presence of disabled women is often framed as unnatural or dis-
ruptive. These spaces have evolved with little or any consideration of disability except
as an add-on or afterthought. Caught up in a legacy of limitation, abnormality, and lack
of expectation many disabled women have had few if any opportunities to be in social
spaces or public spaces to claim even the most traditional female roles of partner, wife,
or mother. However, even in the face of strong negative social pressures, disabled wo-
men are reclaiming, rebuilding, and reshaping these spaces to fit their needs in positive
ways that suit them.
