Is part of ageism actually ableism?

Ageism is a widely used term that is not (yet) well understood. We propose a redefinition of ageism and to separate it from ableism. We believe this to be important as remedies may depend on whether someone is experiencing ageism or ableism. While focusing the discussion on older workers as a sub-group of older people who (can) experience ageism, we assess the usefulness of critical (feminist) disability studies for ageism research. We hope that redefining ageism and analytically separating it from ableism (without suggesting that both concepts should be studied independently from one another) will provide guidance for researchers who study ageism and will allow for more specific policy guidance on how to solve difficulties experienced by older workers.

Toward a New Madwoman Theory

Psychoanalytic criticism has often relied on pathography in order to cast women writers such as Sylvia Plath as “crazed” authors who “suffered” from mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. The critics have used and appropriated these authors’ impairments in order to explain their writing abilities and productivity, arguing that their works were only possible through their mental differences. Particularly in Plath’s case, critics have psychoanalyzed her works using diagnostic language, pathologizing her using the language of the medical model of disability. The article argues that these readings are driven by patriarchal norms and institutions and are a product of an attempt to control and diminish the voices of disabled women. Using a framework of feminist disability studies articulated as madwoman theory, the argument is that scholars of literature should refrain from using diagnostic terminology to describe fictitious characters and their real-life authors. The article interrogates ableist readings of Sylvia Plath and negotiates a madwoman theory analysis of her works, including The Bell Jar and the bee poems in Ariel. A madwoman theory analysis privileges the voices of disabled women writers over critics’ ableist readings. Further, the article argues that analyzing writing about lived experiences with disability enables a future in which the voices of disabled women are privileged over these diagnostic categories.

Taking a Feminist Disability Studies Approach to Fundamental British Values

In this article, Fundamental British Values (FBV) are understood as a token attempt toward societal inclusion and empowerment of all citizens. Rather than providing meaningful routes for all individuals to be included in British citizenship, FBV are built on foundations of “inclusionism”—the inclusion of marginalized identity groups in society, on the premise that existing social structures are not threatened. Disabled women’s responses to sociocultural stereotypes surrounding disability and gender are interpreted through a feminist disability studies lens. Empirical data, gathered within a larger research project which examined disabled women’s responses to the representation of disabled women in Anglo-American advertising, are drawn on and connections are made between the growing trend of promoting diversity in advertising, and superficial approaches to diversity and empowerment of all citizens, enacted in FBV. Two key themes underpin this critical discussion: participant resistance to “pity” narratives surrounding the portrayal of disabled women in advertising and disabled women’s navigation of “belonging” in exclusionary environments.

Feminist disability studies vs discrimination of women with disabilities

Tomasz Kasprzak, Feminist disability studies vs discrimination of women with disabilities. Interdisciplinary Contexts of Special Pedagogy, no. 24, Poznań 2019.Pp. 127-138. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. ISSN 2300-391X. DOI: https://doi. org/10.14746/ikps.2019.24.07 Disabled women are often treated as if they were deprived of feelings or desires.They are exposed to discrimination not only because of disability, but also because of gender (multiple discrimination). Feminist disability studies are an interdisciplinary field of research into the socio-political situation of women with disabilities.

Novos diálogos dos estudos feministas da deficiência

Resumo: O objetivo deste estudo foi o de caracterizar a produção recente dos estudos feministas da deficiência (Feminist disability studies), com o foco na intersecção entre gênero e deficiência. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão da literatura internacional na qual foram incluídos artigos publicados nos últimos cinco anos em revistas disponíveis no portal de periódicos da CAPES. Os artigos analisados ressaltam que os modelos de compreensão da deficiência têm efeitos sociais e políticos nas formas de se pensar em questões como a corporeidade, a sexualidade, o cuidado e a interdependência. Além disso, as produções estudadas apontam que a inclusão da deficiência como categoria de análise a ser considerada nos estudos e práticas sociais tem um potencial analítico e político.