Neuroqueering sexuality: Learning from the life-writings of queer neurodivergent women

Abstract

The mainstream notions of gender and sexuality among neurodivergent individuals lack wisdom and input from those who have the lived experience of the same. Queer phenomenology (2008) proposed by Sarah Ahmed, offers an interpretative framework to understand neurodivergent life by moving beyond the definitions of sexuality as a set of constructed identity formations aligned to normative gender and reproductive practices. Queer phenomenology along with a feminist phenomenological lens can be employed to analyze the narratives of queer neurodivergent women to see how they access and experience their sexualities. In this way, the present paper argues that queer neurodivergent women “neuroqueer” (a term developed by Yergeau) sexuality by actively subverting and disrupting compulsory heterosexual norms.