Exploring the Intersection Between Disability and Overweightness in Physical Education Among Females With Visual Impairments

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to adopt an explicitly intersectional approach to examine the experiences of women identifying as having a visual impairment and as being overweight or obese in integrated physical education (PE). Method: An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) research approach was used, and six women (ages 25–34) with visual impairments who identified as being overweight or obese acted as participants. The sources of data included semistructured audiotaped telephone interviews and reflective interview notes. Data were analyzed thematically using a three-step analytic process informed by IPA. Results: Based on the data analysis, three inter-related themes emerged. The first theme, restricted/reluctant participation, described participants’ experiences with PE activity restrictions and the influence of visual impairment and overweight or obesity on these restrictions. The second theme, teacher discrimination, described participants’ recollection of discriminatory practices by physical educators that were influenced by perceptions of inability. Finally, the third theme, isolation, teasing and surveillance issues, described challenging social instances and how those instances were influenced by body size and disability status. Conclusions: Using an IPA approach, three themes emerged that exposed central experiences that were informed by the participants’ identities as individuals with visual impairments and being overweight or obese. Through the lens of intersectionality, these themes contribute to our understanding of how these identities interacted to contribute to disadvantaging experiences in PE.

KEYWORDS:

• Blindness
• physical activity
• intersectionality
• obesity

Notes

¹ A person-first approach to disability language, informed by a rights-based approach to understanding disability, is deliberately used in this paper to be respectful and demonstrate support for social inclusion and disability rights (Peers, Spencer-Cavaliere, & Eales, 2014). However, disability language within the participants’ narratives were left uncensored to respect each participant’s conceptualizations toward disability.

² Throughout this article, the term integrated was specifically utilized, rather than inclusive, to emphasize placements in which participants received PE with students without disabilities (Haegele & Zhu, 2017) without suggesting that these placements inherently contributed to positive subjective experiences (Spencer-Cavaliere & Watkinson, 2010).