Theorising disabled people’s sexual, intimate, and erotic lives

Abstract

This chapter contemplates a smorgasbord of approaches to theorising the sexual, intimate and erotic lives of disabled people. Throughout, the chapter purposefully centres the sexual stories of disabled people co-constructed through the author’s own sociological research. It begins, then, by situating Critical Disability Studies as a politicised, ethical and transdisciplinary foundation from which to explore disabled sexualities. Next, the chapter considers the material makings of sexual bodies and selves, drawing upon the impacts of biological essentialism as a reductionism that routinely Others disabled people’s sexual lives, bodies and identities. Following this, the chapter “imagines otherwise” through queer theory and crip theory, questioning their ability to forge a more radical sexual politics of disability that speaks to the everyday lived lives of disabled people. In the final section, the author draws upon more recent developments to disability theory, namely posthuman disability studies and DisHuman studies; see also dishuman.com). The chapter concludes by questioning whether critical social theories, as currently constructed, can adequately theorise the lived, embodied and material realities of disabled people’s sexual, intimate and erotic lives. (sexuality, body, erotic, intimate)