Compulsory Able-Bodiedness and Queer/Disabled Existence

Abstract

When lesbian existence is imagined as a marginal alternative to the centrality of heterosexuality , it reinforces the notion that heterosexuality is naturally dominant. In this essay , Robert McRuer applies Adrienne Rich 's idea about lesbian identity to disability studies . If thinking about lesbian existence reveals " compulsory heterosexuality, " so too can we analyze "compulsory able-bodiedness " from the perspective of disability . Queer and feminist theorists have long critiqued the definition of heterosexuality as "normal relations between sexes" and insisted that homosexuality is subordinated because of the standard of normalcy. Disability studies also draws on critiques of normalcy , as demonstrated by Lennard Davis , and McRuer suggests that able-bodiedness is seen as even more " natural " than heterosexuality. Because ablebodiedness is considered a " normal" requirement for life in the industrial capitalist system , having an " able body " becomes compulsory . Like heterosexuality , able-bodied identity is defined by its repeated performances , and McRuer points out that many cultural institutions are dedicated to showcasing these bodily performances . There is a constant need to affirm able-bodied identity because able-bodied norms are in reality impossible to embody, and even the status of being able -bodied is only a temporary part of a human life . Since both queerness and disability have the potential to disrupt the performance of able-bodied heterosexuality , both must be contained and embodied by queer/disabled figures that "can be tolerated" in popular imagination. McRuer argues that like being "critically queer ," being " severely disabled " can foster a sharp critique of compulsory able-bodiedness . He suggests that the commonly marginalized bodies are the best positioned to refuse the " mere toleration " that keeps those bodies at the margins.