The work of disabled identities in intimate relationships

Abstract

This article details a thematic analysis of disabled men and women’s accounts of past and present intimate relationships. Drawing upon the sexual stories of 25 disabled people, informants’ intimate relationships are explored as a site of emotional work, and as a site of other forms of (gendered) work. This article critically questions the work carried out by informants and considers the ways in which it was shaped by their lived experiences of gender, sexuality, impairment and disability. The article concludes that the requirement to carry out forms of work within intimate and sexual life constituted a form of psycho-emotional disablism.

Keywords:

• disability
• gender
• sexuality
• intimate
• emotional work

Acknowledgements

The author offers extensive gratitude to all the people who warmly contributed their stories, histories, and experiences without which the research would not have even been possible. In the same vein, the author would like to extend great thanks to RAG members who offered their time, support and commitment. This piece of research looks very different because of their input, influence and expert knowledge.

The author also extends thanks to Dr Karen Throsby and Dr Carol Wolkowitz, both of the University of Warwick, for their assistance and support on many drafts of this paper. The author also extends gratitude to the Economic and Social Science Council, which provided full funding for this work (Award number ES/F009151/1).

Notes

1. The dissemination plan, co-produced with the RAG, is currently being implemented as part of the Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, within the School of Disability Studies, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.

2. Ethical approvals were granted by The University of Warwick Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee. The British Sociological Association’s Statement of Ethical Practice and the Economic and Social Science Research Council’s Research Ethics Framework were also used.

3. All informant names used within this article are pseudonyms.