Identity Stories: Representing Disability, Masculinity and Sensory Impairment in Personal Narrative

• In Event: 2320 - Section on Disability in Society Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 2 Section on Disability in Society Refereed Roundtables

Abstract

This paper presents a case analysis of personal narrative and is part of a larger research project exploring blind and visually impaired men's subjectivities, identities and lived experiences. Analysis focuses on relationships between masculinity, disability and (sensory) impairment and between disability identity and disability as a social-structural experience and is applied using the Listening Guide, a voice-centered relational method of narrative analysis and an interactionist-critical disability theoretical framework. Two main questions are asked (1): What does it mean to be a disabled man in American culture, when masculinity and disability are constructed and represented as opposites? and (2) How are these meanings interpreted and experienced in the context of sensory impairment? The findings reveals a number of meaningful intersections, several of which are presented in this paper, that contribute critical depth and nuance to Disability Studies broadly and to sociology of gender. Likewise, they add breadth to the literature on stigma, identity and impairment, specifically related to how social stigma, dominant culture and interactions in the visual-material environment produce barriers in subjectivity and relationships and inform sense of self, behaviour and actions.

Author

• Tara Fannon, NUIG