When Robert McRuer and Abby Wilkerson speak of homonormativity, they mean a cultural philosophy in which gay people do not criticize heterosexual lifestyle, but try to live in a heterosexual manner—depoliticizing and privatizing gay issues. They believe that queer disability studies and activism can resist this lifestyle through critiquing the ways in which queer bodies and disabled bodies alike are placated and tolerated in society, but not viewed as valuable. Through activism, the queer identity (and perhaps the disabled identity) can retain their political agency (a part of their very identity) which homonormative society wishes to take away under various guises [e.g. we’re all disabled in some way! (Read: So it doesn’t matter)]. The Axis Dance Company provides a wonderful example of “desiring disability” in its resistance form. While it is not as outwardly political as many groups, it publically addresses not only the issue which face those with disabilities, but also the beauty that being disabled can bring. The pieces literally cannot be performed without the use of a wheelchair (or several wheelchairs). The point of the pieces is not that disabled bodies are pitiable and should be given normal lives, but that disabled bodies have something incredibly valuable to offer society. In this manner, the Axis Dance Company critiques homonormativity—the disabled dancers are not simply attempting to live as an able-bodied person or giving up on public life for an easier private life in a care home of sorts. The dancers are expressing their gifts that are unique to them through their disabilities.
I believe that this a key part to being publically proud to be queer, disabled, etc. Once one is ashamed of a part of themselves or feel like they are a burden to society, they take what are given and are thankful for whatever scraps they have received. Only when one is proud and public can they make what they want for themselves. So the challenge becomes publically exhibiting and even showing off what disability has given (and is giving) to the world—not just in terms of successful people who happened to be disabled, but people whose disabilities have been in some ways a gift to mankind. Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the first examples to come to mind. His musical composition are world famous despite the fact that he was deaf for the last 25 years of his life (during which he wrote the majority of his famous pieces). Many exclaim how amazing it is that a deaf man could write such awe-inspiring music. I argue that he had the ability to write that music because he was deaf. Through his disability, composition became about the vibration created through playing the piano—the music came from organic relations between notes instead of the pitch of the note itself. Despite the non-political nature of Beethoven’s successes, I believe that his work did not fall victim to homonormativity and in fact sets an amazing example for those who are beginning to deal with resistance.
Works Cited:
McRuer, Robert. Wilkerson, Abby L. “Introduction.” QLQ. 9.1 (2003): 1-23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAOTCtW9v0M 10/7/10
http://listverse.com/2010/01/18/top-10-extraordinary-people-with-disabilities/ 10/7/10
Ha! I think it was very nice of you to bring Mr. Beethoven into the plate, given the nature of his work and the impact that it/he has had. I think it is interesting that you suggest to make public successes from disabled bodies and what they have done for society in order to bring disability into a positive social light. It is interesting because we can see then the a general assumption is the opposite, that disabled people do not contribute. The fact that one would need to prove to they are a contribution to the world tells us about what kind of negative image has been put forth in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that Beethoven wouldn't have been able to make the same music, had he been able to hear. I believe that the idea is applicable to any disabled person who has any kind of skill; it will be innately different because they are different. I also think that those differences shape our society in ways that people can't even conceive. When I think of all of the people in my life who are disabled, physically or mentally, I cannot imagine them without that disability. I also don't want to. Having disabled people in my life has made living what it is; without those people, I would be a different person, not just them.
ReplyDeleteHow many things would be different in our world if disability was never taken into consideration? I get the feeling that, in reality, everything would be at least slightly different.
I like the connections you're drawing here between McRuer and Wilkerson's article, Axis Dance Company, and other cultural representations of disability. The Beethoven connection is definitely interesting, although ability and disability (and the body itself) were constructed in different ways in 18th century Vienna than the 21st century U.S. Attending to the specificities here would make the connections you're drawing more compelling. Overlal, nice job.
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