2014/03/18 by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie Garland‐Thomson
Social Sciences · #Historical Gender and Feminism Studies
paper · doi:10.18061/dsq.v34i2.4254
openalex publication_date 2014/03/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Perhaps the best opening line in disability studies comes from Georgina Kleege: “Writing this book made me blind.” Following this honorable tradition, I begin my explication of disability studies through my own experience with a similar starting point: “Feminism made me disabled.” Honoring as well the tradition of making theory through narrative, I also follow Helen Keller, who like Kleege situates her knowledge in the local. From these exemplary works of feminist disability studies, I develop an explication of how I grew disability studies and how it grew me. Throughout, I consider the categories of disabled and nondisabled and the ways in which they have developed in disability studies literature broadly. I conclude by asserting the importance of both access and identity and community for disabled people. Keywords: feminist disability studies, disability identity, misfitting, history of disability studies