Feminist, Queer, Crip

by Alison Kafer

In Feminist, Queer, Crip Alison Kafer imagines a different future for disability and disabled bodies. Challenging the ways in which ideas about the future and time have been deployed in the service of compulsory able-bodiedness and able-mindedness, Kafer rejects the idea of disability as a pre-determined limit. She juxtaposes theories, movements, and identities such as environmental justice, reproductive justice, cyborg theory, transgender politics, and disability that are typically discussed in isolation and envisions new possibilities for crip futures and feminist/queer/crip alliances. This bold book goes against the grain of normalization and promotes a political framework for a more just world.

Genres: Disability, Feminism, Nonfiction, Queer, Disability Studies, LGBT, Theory

288 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2013

About the author

Alison Kafer is associate professor of feminist studies, and is the author of Feminist, Queer, Crip (Indiana, 2013). Her work has appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, including Disability Studies Quarterly, Feminist Disability Studies, the Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, Sex and Disability, and South Atlantic Quarterly.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid text about disability and especially its intersections with queerness and feminism. Alison Kafer makes several astute points about contemporary society’s offensive use of disabled people as inspiration porn as well as the exclusion of disabled people from certain feminist texts. A main takeaway I derived from this text includes simply thinking more critically about disability and its intersections with issues such as environmental justice, as well as centering disabled people’s voices generally. I liked her application of queer time to issues of disability justice and her commitment to properly politicizing disability instead of undermining the vitality of the disability movement.

My main constructive critique of this book is that sometimes I was like, what is going on right now?? There were certain sections (e.g., the cyborg section) where I felt like the use of jargony academic language obscured some of Kafer’s points. I work in academia and peer review academic publications and even with that mindset I felt confused at times. Perhaps if Kafer had simplified the language in certain sections of this text, she could have made more resounding or clearer arguments or takeaway messages for readers to walk away with.

[Reading on Wheels · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 / 5 stars

I've always had qualms with the social model of disability. For those who don't know, it poses inaccessible areas as disabling and acknowledges the person's 'problem' as an impairment. Yet, as a chronically ill person, I see inaccessibility as what it is, inaccessibility, and my body as the atypical work of modern art it was meant to be.

That's all to say, the political/relational model of disability discussed is definitely the model I prefer. Essentially, it reminds people that inaccessibility is a political issue and highlights other Disabled rights politics as, well, political. It also highlights how disability can impact relationships, via interdependence, cancellations, etc. So Disabled people are disabled, inaccessibility is political, and interdependence is vital to Disabled culture.

It's a rollercoaster of emotions to read and analyze Kafer's work. There's a variety of topics with so many perspectives – queer, disabled, and feminist studies – that all collide in to ideas I've never seen elsewhere.

It's interesting, though, to think on all these issues and critiques of inaccessibility, ableism, and other rampant systemic issues are somewhat trapped in the 'ivory tower of academia'. The dense writing and cerebral language all make it more difficult for the average person to digest the full extent of the analysis and its global impact.

Some things will never leave my mind, after encountering them I feel changed. I feel that about FQC. Especially as someone new to the academic side of disability, this was an amazing place to start.

[Ashton · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, epic, very glad i read this one!! some slightly outdated queer-related language, but overall really solid. built upon discussions I've had and things I've read before, which I love. a lot of this book will absolutely stick with me, really enjoyed a lot of the discussions, will most likely look back at in the future for reference.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book at times felt like a series of close readings with simultaneously too much and not enough analysis. (N.b. Part of my challenge with getting through it was that it was hard to access the footnotes on the Kindle version -- the links weren't going to the specific notes, so I started reading them as chunks and/or skipped some for a few chapters.) I think Kafer's analysis is much more interesting and nuanced in the footnotes, and some of those details and observations would have served the reader better as part of the main text. Overall, I think there were a lot of interesting points, but the work sometimes read like a series of observations disconnected from a larger thesis. (In some chapters, specifically the one around problematizing the relationship between the pro-choice movement/abortion access/ableist language -- and how reproductive justice attempts to counter that, that works, in others it didn't.)

One of my larger critiques was that her use of race analysis at points seemed inauthentic and/or tacked on and/or appropriative, in an aspirationally intersectional feminist way -- though she does repeatedly affirm that she knows disabled POC exist. There also isn't much on neurodivergence, again except in passing/in name. I appreciate the appendixes, which include resources on creating scent-free spaces and the PISSAR checklist for safe and accessible bathrooms, and the footnotes also include a ton of resources and other readings.

Also TW for some outdated gender terminology and cissexist feminist analysis. Gender identity and intersex issues are kind of umbrella-ed into queerness, and I think there is a marked lack of specificity that probably stood out because Kafer is so focused on the specificity of language use in her other analyses.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I loved this book. I also found parts of it really problematic. But I'm an academic reader, and I think that I'm no longer capable of not finding a book of any substance "really problematic" in parts.

[hawk]

intuitive book opening had me open this book to the chapter focussing on the reaction to a Deaf lesbian couple in 2001(*), that made me stop reading Jeanette Winterson back then.

interestingly, the chapter pairs this with Marge Piercy's 'Woman on the Edge of Time'... a book that I really like, but which contains a problematic and unaddressed assumption. with both the 2001 reaction and the novel carrying a common, über ableist, thread(**).

I look forward to reading more of the book... whether in order, or as more 'random' chapters :)

🌟🌟🌟🌟

(* who conceived using sperm from a Deaf friend)
(** that Deafness and disability are undesirable, and it's automatically assumed everyone 'naturally' believes this).

[Rainbow Goth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well-written and raises many important points, some of which I'd never really considered before.

I have always been an advocate of the social model of disability, especially when surrounded by people using the medical model. Explaining why we shouldn't call disabled people "differently abled" has meant that I've had to strongly support the social model. However, that isn't to say it doesn't have its issues, many of which are perfectly summed up in this book.

I also love the overlap between the queer, feminist, and disabled aspects, which really highlights how crucial intersectionality is.

The chapters on birth control and the pro-choice vs. pro-life debate were particularly interesting, and I'll definitely be doing additional reading on this topic.

My only criticism is that, while I understand this is an academic text, it was sometimes a little dry and used language that could be difficult to read. I always find that a shame, especially in texts about disability, because it dramatically limits the audience.

Overall, a solid read and I'm glad I picked it up.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s too much to say about this book so I’ll just pull some favorite bits.

“Claiming crip, then, can be a way of acknowledging that we all have bodies and minds with shifting abilities, and wrestling with the political meanings and histories of such shifts.”

“This idea of conserving energy, of anticipating, can be read as queer in that it bucks American ideals of productivity at all costs, of sacrificing one’s body for work.”

“‘I cry, maybe for the first time, over something I really want to do, had many reasons to believe I could, but really can’t. I cry hard, then I get up and follow Adrianne back down the mountain.’ … Clare uses this experience to reflect on the ways in which disabled people hold ourselves up to norms that we can never achieve, norms that were based on bodies, minds, or experiences unlike our own. We want to believe that if we accomplish the right goals, if we overcome enough obstacles, we can defend ourselves against disability oppression.”

[Chris Nagel · Rating 4 out of 5]

On just about every page there is a bit of hideous academic self-righteousness, and a bit of critical brilliance. Overall, the critical brilliance is far too impressive to let the self-righteousness get in the way. I'm fairly sure I'll use this in an undergraduate general education course, and we'll see what happens.

[Kat V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Already this book is brilliant. I’m reading it because it was referenced in 2 other books I read and I can see why. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Yes, it lacks an overall theme/argument, but I think that’s kind of the point. She’s encouraging us to open our minds and have conversations instead of simply reaching conclusions. To be honest I don’t recommend this unless you already have a background in gender studies, queer theory, and disability studies because I think that would make it too overwhelming. 4.8 stars

[Wouter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely stellar piece of work that, I can already tell, will be foundational for all future research I'll be doing on disability studies.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the analysis in this book was good, but it lacked a main argument. It was like a bunch of topics - let's talk about time, now let's talk about environmentalism. I liked the way she tried to balance different stances: being pro-choice while also uncomfortable with parents choosing abortion to eliminate disability, opposing the pitying/heroic discourse of trying to cure disability while also acknowledging that some disabilities do involve physical pain that everyone would like to avoid. I just wished the book were more cohesive and advocated something rather than just critiquing other theorists or cultural messages.

[⋆˚꩜｡ Leah ⋆˚꩜｡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

First piece of nonfiction I’ve ever read on disability studies and it was great! Very informative! I also loved that there was mentions about the intersectionality of race, disability and sexuality

[bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

so insightful and important and still so relevant over 10 years later.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish more people would read this book.

[Merel Nijhuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ik heb denk ik nog nooit zoveel hartjes in de kantlijn van een boek gezet

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely a mixed bag. Kafer has moments of absolute brilliance and clarity and other moments where her terminology is undefined and her points unclear. The chapter on the Foundation for a Better Life was by far the best; it could be a standalone piece for its dissection of the problems with inspiration porn and how they link directly to the larger issues with our cultural understandings around disability.

There were a lot of other piecemeal passages that stood out to me and provided me with new insights or connections. Kafer is careful not to overreach when drawing connections between different marginalized groups, while also demonstrating the important ways that different identities speak to one another and critiquing the scholars and writers from one perspective who overlook intersecting marginalizations or, worse, actively perpetuate stereotypes of another group. She provides valuable critiques of the medical model of disability and the social model of disability, though the "political/relational model of disability" she lays out in the introduction is oddly never referenced again; I suppose she thinks it's self-evident how the rest of the book fits with that model.

That assumption of self-evidence was one of the biggest challenges I had with the book. For example, she never provides a definition for the word "queer," and she uses it in both the common modern usage of referring to LGBTQ+ individuals and in a broader, looser version of sense of "queer" that Kafer seems to think is self-evident. In this way, it's also not clear in what way Kafer herself identifies as queer — in the traditional sense or this broader sense of being non-normative in some way. Her understanding and language around trans individuals is also limited and outdated. She similarly uses "cyborg" in a broad sense for which the exact definition is muddy.

There's a lot of valuable content in this book, but given that Kafer largely quotes from others' work, I don't think this would be my go-to recommendation for understanding either disability or intersectionality. The framing of the book is very academic; there's an extremely long introduction detailing what Kafer will talk about in every chapter of the book. I think if she'd put less effort into producing unassailable scholarship and more into making it readable, she might have put more effort into defining her terms and tying her thoughts to a clearer thesis. I'm glad to have read it, but it was certainly a slog and not one I'd readily recommend.

[Brandon Pagao · Rating 3 out of 5]

“To put it bluntly, disabled people were—and often are—figured as threats to futurity.”

Soooo…yeah. I have a few things to make known before I dive deep into my thoughts on the book.

Firstly, this was my first real introduction to non fiction. I wanted to try something different from what I’ve been reading as of late, and I wanted to dip my toes into so NF.

Secondly, this is also my first real introduction into activism literature, particularly disability activism. I’ve been in the disability sphere over on TikTok, and I felt it fitting, with all that’s going on, to extend my activism a bit more and dive into some literature that would help frame my own perspective.

So, with all that said, I’ll just say, this book was kind of hard to get into! For one, I’m new to non fiction, and it might have been to my detriment to start with such a heavy book. I felt myself getting lost a few times. I did think there were moments that were a little too cerebral for more, like I would definitely need to reread a few times to start understanding. I even went straight audiobook for this, which helped a bit more.

I think I’m very narrative driven when it comes to reading, but obviously this reads more like an academic journal, and it can be easy to lose track.

I do think though, that while it was difficult to stay on track, the moments I did understand were so eye opening. There’s so much to digest. I think the biggest take away for me was learning how to shift my perception of disability and to understand how nuanced disability is.

My understanding is that disability and disabled people should be viewed through a cultural lens, that it is a deeply political issue that affects a collective people, an all encompassing “we.”

Its main messaging, that disabled people deserve a place in the future, is especially potent. This is made more evident when Kafer discusses how disabled people are often left out of the conversation. Kafer also makes a point to relate disability to queerness and femininity and how in these spheres, disability finds itself deeply involved, as is the case with almost all forms of marginalization.

This book challenges you to engage with disability in ways you may have otherwise thought ineffectual, but are rather very productive. While it can be tough, I do think it warrants a reread from me in the future. And I think this is just the beginning when it comes to my engagement with disability discourse.

Song for the Vibe: BLACKBIIRD by Beyoncé

[chirpingwrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was worth every second I spent reading. As a design student interested in accessible technology and disability justice, and this was a great disability studies text.

I especially enjoyed her analysis on the billboards produced by Foundations for a Better Life; the inspiration porn that eschews politics of disability and puts responsibility of successes and failures onto individuals fails to consider interdependence and other lived aspects of disability. Kafer's chapter on cyborgs was difficult for me to understand. But I wonder if I had understood Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto better in the first place, maybe it would have been profound lol. It's difficult to make academic texts such as this text and Cyborg Manifesto accessible to non-academics, and I wonder how we might go about doing that.

As much as Kafer provides brilliant analysis after another, she leaves many questions unanswered which may leave some readers dissatisfied. I thought this was okay, given it invites more discourse and politicizes disability that Kafer mentions in her political/relational model.

"Can claiming crip be a method of imagining multiple futures, positioning 'crip' as a desired and desirable location regardless of one's own embodiment of mental/psychological processes?"

This particular quote hit hard. I was born hard of hearing, and it was not until recently that I've begun identifying myself as a disabled. Partly due to cultural ableism that exists within my Korean upbringing, I always thought that I was not disabled "enough" to call myself disabled. When my doctors told me there is a high chance that I'll eventually become fully deaf, my parents have been constantly ask me to visit an audiologist or get a surgery to get my hearing "fixed."

While I had similar sentiment as my parents growing up, reading disability studies texts like Kafer's have been so liberating in acceptance of my present disabled self and my disabled future. I'm now learning ASL and indulging myself in rich Deaf culture in United States. I wonder if my own acceptance of becoming deaf is my own way of creating a desirable crip future.

[Ygraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

have come across 'crip time' and 'queer time' in v casual forms online, & brushed up against some of the discourse around reproductive rights, prenatal screening & ableism, but a Lot of this was new to me, or gave me reference points i haven't come across on my own. found the discussion abt 'the ashley treatment' (i.e. growth attenuation) particularly interesting, especially in terms of the v selective squeamishness about medical intervention for children that impacts or prevents puberty, and, more specifically, the way discomfort around the sexual development of disabled children precludes & denies consideration of the pleasure they might find in their changing bodies ?

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, interdisciplinary, coalitional disability studies text. The author weaves together feminist, queer, and disability theory through several case studies, illustrating where these disciplines, too often separated intersect. I especially enjoyed her treatment of the Ashley X case and her chapter on nature and camping.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book on the confluence of disability, feminist, and queer studies. I have not though much about the experience of being disabled, and many of the ideas in disability studies take me by surprise. However, there were several convincing arguments in the book that help me to re-work my ideas about certain topics.

[Chris Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think the topic of this book is interesting, and parts of it were well written, but I thought the tone was off. It was belligerent, in a way, or intolerant of anyone who did not have a disability. That's not the way to appeal to those who are interested in solidarity.

[madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!!!!!!!!!! i love. i love. i love. !!!!!

[Kate Savage · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a really important field of scholarship. But this book was a drag for me. I found it dry and joyless. So academic. So focused on picking apart thinkers like Donna Haraway and Marge Piercy. I understand that kind of critique has its purpose, but holy hell look at the world, it is big and awful and beautiful and this feels small and self-defeating.

Books on this subject that feel more lively to me, more ready to meet the moment, include Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled, Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation, and many of the essays in Feminist Disability Studies.

[Colleen Crabtree · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some chapters that everyone should read (prologue, chapter 6) and others that dragged on and I didn’t feel were as well supported. But very interesting and definitely brought up ideas surrounding disability I hadn’t considered

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slays every time. Read for class (again)!

[Fei · Rating 4 out of 5]

V academic but important disability studies read on intersections of disability with feminism, environmental justice, reproductive justice, and critical race theory.

[Zuzana · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, hodne novych podnetu, hlavne kapitoly 1,2,7

[Chris Heer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, what Crips and Queers and other activists need to read. As a queer crip it was very healing 😌