Disability and Passing: Blurring the Lines of Identity

Posted in Anthologies, Books, History, Media Archive, Passing, United States on 2013-05-31 04:49Z by Steven

Disability and Passing: Blurring the Lines of Identity

Temple University Press
May 2013
218 pages
5.5 x 8.25; 1 halftone
Paper EAN: 978-1-43990-980-5
Cloth EAN: 978-1-43990-979-9
eBook EAN: 978-1-43990-981-2

Edited by:

Jeffrey A. Brune, Assistant Professor of History
Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.

Daniel J. Wilson, Professor of History
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Passing—an act usually associated with disguising race—also relates to disability. Whether a person with a psychiatric disorder struggles to suppress aberrant behavior to appear “normal” or a person falsely claims a disability to gain some advantage, passing is a pervasive and much discussed phenomenon. Nevertheless, Disability and Passing is the first anthology to examine this issue.

The editors and contributors to this volume explore the intersections of disability, race, gender, and sexuality as these various aspects of identity influence each other and make identity fluid. They argue that the line between disability and normality is blurred, discussing disability as an individual identity and as a social category. And they discuss the role of stigma in decisions about whether or not to pass.

Focusing on the United States from the nineteenth century to the present, the essays in Disability and Passing speak to the complexity of individual decisions about passing and open the conversation for broader discussion.

Contributors include: Dea Boster, Allison Carey, Peta Cox, Kristen Harmon, David Linton, Michael Rembis, and the editors.

Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • 1. Introduction • Jeffrey A. Brune and Daniel J. Wilson
  • 2. Passing in the Shadow of FDR: Polio Survivors, Passing, and the Negotiation of Disability • Daniel J. Wilson
  • 3. The Multiple Layers of Disability Passing in Life, Literature, and Public Discourse • Jeffrey A. Brune
  • 4. The Menstrual Masquerade • David Linton
  • 5. “I Made Up My Mind to Act Both Deaf and Dumb”: Displays of Disability and Slave Resistance in the Antebellum American South • Dea H. Boster
  • 6. Passing as Sane, or How to Get People to Sit Next to You on the Bus • Peta Cox
  • 7. Athlete First: A Note on Passing, Disability, and Sport • Michael A. Rembis
  • 8. The Sociopolitical Contexts of Passing and Intellectual Disability • Allison C. Carey
  • 9. Growing Up to Become Hearing: Dreams of Passing in Oral Deaf Education • Kristen C. Harmon
  • Contributors
  • Index
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