Women and Disability: The Experience of Physical Disability Among Women (Women in Society: a Feminist List)

This book describes the experience of physical disability through detailed interviews with women of different ages, races and socio- economic backgrounds, and explores the impact of gender on the process of being or becoming disabled. It considers the significance of physical disability for a woman's self image and its impact on her sexuality, relationships, marriage and childrearing. The extent to which inadequate provision for disability makes a woman dependent is also examined, as is the way in which women with disabilities have been rendered invisible. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-12 The prevalence of disability....Pages 13-27 The social context of disability....Pages 28-41 Invisible women....Pages 42-62 Self-image and sexuality....Pages 63-80 Dependency....Pages 81-97 Employment....Pages 98-120 The financial consequences of disability....Pages 121-141 Discrimination and civil rights....Pages 142-155 Independence and self-determination....Pages 156-170 Back Matter....Pages 171-186 This study on women and disability considers all the different aspects of physically disabled women's experience, from self-image to the financial consequences.