Dissonant Disabilities: Women With Chronic Illness Explore Their Lives

by Michelle Owen, Diane Driedger (Editor)

An attempt to stimulate discussion and debate, Dissonant Disabilities emphasizes that analyses of disability must take gender into account.

This much-needed collection of original articles invites the reader to examine the key issues in the lives of women with chronic illnesses. The authors explore how society reacts to women with chronic illness and how women living with chronic illness cope with the uncertainty of their bodies in a society that desires certainty. Additionally, issues surrounding women with chronic illness in the workplace and the impact of chronic illness on women's relationships are sensitively considered.

Distinct from books on this topic that adopt a medical or self-help perspective, this collection invites the reader to examine key issues in the lives of women with chronic illnesses, including shame, blame, and power imbalances in family, work, and education. The authors explore how society reacts to women with chronic illnesses and how these women cope with the uncertainty of their bodies in a society that desires certainty. This text continues to be popular for courses in disability studies, women’s studies, and sociology of health and gender.

Genres: Disability, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Disability Studies

258 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2008