Introduction
Diane Driedger
I. Who We Are on the Edges
Must Disability Always Be Visible? The Meaning of Disability for Women
Sharon Dale Stone
A Longer Journey of Reflexivity: Becoming a Domesticated Academic
Laura Hockman
“Self-Portrait with Bandaged Breast (After Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear)”
Diane Driedger
Proliferation
Diane Driedger
Medication Reaction
Diane Driedger
Radiation
Diane Driedger
Living on the Edges
Charlotte Caron and Gail Christy
Cry Not Crazy Lady
Marie Annharte Baker
“Post-Kelly Re: Constructed Reality”
Kelly-Jo Dorvault
Arthritic Dreams ii
Renee Norman
Feminism, Disability and Transcendence of the Body
Susan Wendell
“Untitled Painting”
Anjali Dookeran
Black Thread Around
Marie Annharte Baker
II. Naming the Edges: Barriers
Margins Are Not For Cowards
Cheryl Gibson
“Me, Myself and I”
Winsom
Triple Jeopardy: Native Women with Disabilities
Doreen Demas
Coming Out of Two Closets
Jane Field
Performing My Leaky Body
Julie Devaney
To Be Or Not to Be? Whose Question Is It, Anyway? Two Women with Disabilities Discuss the Right to Assisted Suicide
Tanis Doe and Barbara Ladouceur
A Delicate Balance: Chronic Conditions and Workspace
Nancy E. Hansen
Living Poorly: Disabled Women on Income Support
Sally A. Kimpson
Disability Diss Away
Marie Annharte Baker
The Geography of Oppression
Joy Asham
III. Violence on the Edges
An Intersectional Perspective on Violence: A New Response
Maria Barile
undr the dislexic tree
Alexandra Pasian
“Have You Experienced Violence or Abuse?”: Talking with Girls and Young Women with Disabilities
Michelle Owen
When Bad Things Happen: Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Other Mistreatments Against Manitoba Women with Intellectual Disabilities
The Association for Community Living-Manitoba
“Untitled Woodcut”
Anjali Dookeran
Lions
Joanna M. Weston
IV. With Us on the Edges: Relationships and Sexuality
New Reproductive Technology: My Personal and Political Dichotomy
Maria Barile
Deaf-Mute?
Jancis M. Andrews
Disability and Relationships
Tracy Odell
Marriage-able? Cultural Perspectives of Women with Disabilities of South Asian Origin
Lynda Nancoo
“The Critical Woman and the Space Cadet”
Carrie R. Cardwell
“You think I want to make fuck with you”: Travelling with a Disability or Two
Milana Todoroff
Access-Sex Series
Kyla Harris and Sarah Murray
V. Challenging the Edges
When the Body Protests: New Forms of Activism
Diane Driedger
Creating Community Across Disability and Difference
Carla Rice, Hilde Zitzelsberger, Wendy Porch and Esther Ignagni
Walking a Woman’s Path: Women with Intellectual Disabilities
The Women’s Group, Community Living-Winnipeg
The First Step Is To Be Noticed
Dianne Pothier
Art, Sticks and Politics
Nancy E. Hansen and Diane Driedger
“Untitled Drawing”
Anjali Dookeran
The Freedom Tour Documentary: An Experiment in Inclusive Filmaking
Josée Boulanger, Susie Wieszmann and Valerie Wolbert
The Disabled Women’s Movement: From Where Have We Come?
Pat Israel and Fran Odette
Leadership, Partnership and Networking: A Way Forward for the DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada
Bonnie Brayton
Contributor Notes
InannaWebmaster –
Herizons, Fall 2012
Reviewed by Connie Jeske Crane
“This is not an easy book to read. Throughout this “vehicle for women with disabilities to share experiences” you hit bald and un- comfortable truths—women with disabilities face disproportionate rates of violence, sexual abuse, poverty and unfair treatment at work and in medical settings.
A memorable contributor, Aboriginal writer Joy Asham, relates nurses’ “terrible rudeness” to her after she had a nasty scooter spill on an icy road in Thunder Bay, Ontario. “I never received care when I was in hospital, couldn’t even get a nurse to tighten my sling. My doctor would come every day, but that was for five minutes. The rest of the time … I was subjected to such terrible rudeness that all I could think of was going home and hiding, pain, sickness or not.” Asham says one nurse told her, “Comb your hair right now!! If it isn’t combed by the time I get back, I will take my scissors and cut it all off!”
This volume, which editor Diane Driedger says is the first Canadian work of its kind, reveals common themes (being outside the norm, countless challenges and barriers) and the experience of women living with a range of disabilities, including multiple sclerosis, Chrohn’s disease, bipolar disorder, dyslexia, blindness and hoarding. The writers also varied in their religious affiliation, economic status, age, cultural background and profes- sion. They include women who are Christian and Muslim, gay and straight. They are gradu- ate students, writers, actors, researchers, office workers and Aboriginal senior citizens who ride red scooters called Babe.
Thanks to some great writers (Julie Devaney and Joy Asham, to name just two), the collection brims with wisdom, candour and strength. But the best thing Driedger does is highlight our responsibility towards activism. Asham writes, “It is not just the responsibility of those who are victims to work toward positive change in a culture or work environment. Nor does it rest solely on the shoulders of the perpetrator. It is the job of peers to educate their own, to bring forth the welcoming of voices from the affected masses so that they may be heard.”