The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability

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Synopsis
Who should be identified as disabled? Is disability biomedical, social or both? What causes disability and what could "cure" it? Are scientific efforts to eliminate disabling physical conditions morally justified? Susan Wendell has lived with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) since 1985. In The Rejected Body, she connects her own experience of illness to feminist theory and the literature of disability. The Rejected Body argues that feminist theorizing has been skewed toward non-disabled experience, and that the knowledge of people with disabilities must be integrated into feminist ethics, discussions of bodily life, and the criticism of the cognitive and social authority of medicine. Wendell provides a remarkable look at how cultural attitudes towards the body contribute to the stigma of disability and to widespread unwillingness to accept and provide for the body's inevitable weakness.
Copyright:
1996

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
202 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780415910477
Publisher:
N/A
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Susan Wendell
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Disability-Related, Health, Mind and Body, Social Studies
Submitted By:
Janice A. Moran
Proofread By:
Lisa Belville
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

5 out of 5

By on

Wendell does a great job at defining disability. She presents her information and critiques in a linear fashion, and the reader doesn't get bogged down with heavy material. Wendell's explanations of medicine and philosophy are such that the reader does not need a background in these fields. This book is ground-breaking in the field of feminist and disability theory.