2026/04/08 by Kristine C. Meneses, Megawati Naibaho · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Asian Studies and History #Disability Rights and Representation #Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre
paper · pdf · doi:10.55476/001c.160245
openalex publication_date 2026/04/08 · openalex created_date 2026/04/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
The historical trajectory of women’s challenges has been intertwined with oppressive patriarchal structures, leading to their marginalization within societal frameworks. Within the scope of this chapter, we endeavour to enrich the feminist theology discourse by delving into the unique circumstances faced by women with disabilities in Southeast Asia. Notably, despite purported advancements, Indonesian women with disabilities continue to confront vulnerability marked by intolerance toward divergence and bodies that deviate from compulsory normality. Aligning with the Catholic Church’s Synodality efforts, the study takes the notion of “missing people” given by Rosi Braidotti to prioritize the narratives of marginalized individuals, the Indonesian women with disabilities. This chapter delves into the lived experiences of select Indonesian women with disabilities within societal and Church frameworks. Their absence and erasure from discourse and praxis are attributed to frameworks of unrecognition and unthought normalized assumptions—dis/ableism. In addition, this chapter will employ Judith Butler’s concept of “frames of recognition” in exploring internalized dis/ableism’s existence, especially in the Catholic church, and re-evaluate the Church’s position by offering a theological reflection from the papal encyclical Fratelli Tutti .