Disability and Sexual Inclusion

2014/09/23 by Tracy De Boer
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Disability Rights and Representation #Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy

paper · doi:10.1111/hypa.12118

openalex publication_date 2014/09/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Many disabled people face some form of exclusion or discrimination. One of the most damaging, yet pervasive, types of exclusion is sexual exclusion. Various factors hinder sexual opportunities for disabled persons, such as social attitudes around body image, gender, and sexuality. In this paper, I engage with Sheila Jeffreys's paper, “Disability and the Male Sex Right,” wherein she argues that discourse around sexual rights for disabled people is a veiled way of promoting male dominance over women. Though Jeffreys raises many pertinent issues, she assumes that when a disabled man seeks commercial sex, he does so as an act of domination or violence. I argue that when a disabled man seeks commercial sex, he is seeking the goods of sex, such as connection, intimacy, and pleasure.

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