Feminism and Ableism

The readings for Tuesday's class, especially the Rose Marie Garland-Thomson reading I found very interesting. She brings up the clash between feminist studies and disability studies when she talks about how pro-choice could mean that the disabled people might not have been born. It is an interesting question that I have been struggling with. The question of how disabled women and feminists can fight for the same cause, because they are both minorty groups and are both being subjugated by different "gazes", is an intersting one. I think that people need to remember that both disabled people and women are subjected to this gaze. Women and disabled people can be spectables; objects of either the male gaze or the object of the stare. They are both being subjegated so they both have to accept each other's differences and help each other in their fight for equality. Disabled women, like many people who reside in two different minority groups have chances to speak up and their voices are not heard as well. Many times they are forgotten or simply seen as a disabled person because that is the more visible part of them.