The Normative Discourse on Sexuality and Disability and its Impact on Disabled Individuals' Experience of Sexuality: a Queer and Crip Analysis

Abstract

The diploma thesis investigates if and how ableism and heteronormativity impact the sexuality of disabled individuals, workers' perception and management of disabled people's sexuality, and the relationship of disabled people and staff members within three facilities offering residential services and occupational activities to disabled people. Semi-structured interviews, an in-person meeting, and an online survey were used to access the opinions and experiences of nine disabled people and eight care workers. Acquired data was analyzed through a thematic analysis. Disabled individuals' testimonies have shown that both ableism and heteronormativity affect their sexual lives. Moreover, heteronormativity affects the understanding of valid sexual expressions and behaviors from the perspective of both disabled people and employees, resulting, for example, in phallocentric understanding of sexual acts, the marginalization and the stigmatization of same-sex desires and sexualities. Furthermore, ableism influences workers' perception of disabled people (dehumanized and under constant supervision) and interacts with heteronormativity in the construction of employees' sexual norms. Finally, employees also control and regulate the sexual lives of disabled individuals. Findings are discussed through a framework...