Morality Work among the Transabled

Abstract

In the present article, I address the process of moral stigma resistance using an accounts studies framework. Specifically, I delineate and illustrate the concept of morality work. I demonstrate morality work empirically through a qualitative analysis of 17 years (1994–2011) of blog posts, archived content, and links to and from Transabled.org. Transabled.org is a website, blog, support group, and interaction forum for people with body integrity identity disorder (BIID)—a highly stigmatizing condition of incorrectly abled embodiment. Detractors accuse people with BIID of deep moral failings, including sexual perversion, dishonesty, greed, and attention seeking. In turn, persons with BIID neutralize claims of immorality through medicalization and biologization, and locate themselves on a moral high ground with a discourse of authenticity. In deconstructing transabled bloggers’ moral battle, I examine the process underlying deviant accounts.

Acknowledgments

I thank James Chouinard, Sarah Gatson, Tony Love, Alesha Istvan, and members of the Social Psychology group at Texas A&M University for comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. I also sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers for their patient and thoughtful critiques.

Notes

¹BIID is not currently listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders but is being considered for inclusion in the upcoming DSM-V (First and Fisher 2012).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jenny L. Davis

JENNY L. DAVIS is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at James Madison University and blogger for Cyborgology.org.