Date of Award

Spring 4-16-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

First Advisor

Susan Talbert

Second Advisor

Tiffany King

Third Advisor

Julie Kubala

Abstract

This thesis focuses on emotions to analyze personal narratives of queer disabled sex to understand how queer disabled people talk about sex with the goal of identifying their constructions of their sexualities and sexual practices. By analyzing how the role of discourses on disability affect how these narrators and their partners feel about disabled sex, this thesis explores how sex can be used to combat negative emotions fueled by dominant ableist discourses that cause shame and self-disgust. This thesis explores how some of these narrators employ what I call a cross-crip praxis of lust, where they describe experiencing a radical liberation from shame about their disabled bodies and increased sexual pleasure as they create alternative sexual cultures. These narrators offer insights into how the possibilities for sex and pleasure can be expanded for us all through their stories of a DIY sexuality, where creativity and agency constitute fulfilling sexual experiences.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/22673615

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