| CODE | DBS5019 | ||||||
| TITLE | Disability, Gender and Sexuality | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Disability Studies | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit looks at the gendered experience of disability and the relation between sexuality and disability. It takes into account how the gendered experience of disability reveals sustained patterns of difference between men and women. This study-unit looks at the emergence of feminist disability studies partly as a result of attempts to explain gendered experience of disability and partly as a challenge to contemporary feminist theory on gender which fails to take account of disability. It will also look at the nuanced discrimination experienced by disabled women. Through the history of sexuality of persons with disability elements of desexualization in contexts and cultures will give rise to the implications experienced by disabled persons. Through Article 23 and 25 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability this study-unit will examine the current affirmation of sexuality of disabled persons and their sexual and reproductive health needs. Study-Unit Aims: The aim of this study-unit is to enable the students to familiarise themselves with the notion that gender and sexuality have a strong bearing on disability and vice-versa. It also aims to enable students to familiarise themselves with the notion that disabled men and women have different experiences of disability. It also aims to enable students to apply theoretical frameworks to the gendered experience of disability. Sexuality will be explored through a life course approach and impairment related issues on sexual expression will be examined throughout this study-unit. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - consider the gendered experience of disability and describe the theoretical frameworks within which these experiences can be analysed; - consider the implications of these gender differences in the experiences of disabled people; - identify patterns of differences between individuals of different genders; - discuss how gender and sexuality have a strong bearing on the lives of disabled people; - identify socio-cultural barriers in the sexual exploration and expression of disabled persons. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - analyse the ways that gender and sexuality affect the experience of disability; - critique how issues of gender and sexuality affect the experience of disability; - appraise the usefulness of gendered theories of disability to the lives of disabled people. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Disability, gender and violence over the life course by Sonali Shah and Caroline Bradbury-Jones (2018). - Venus on wheels: Two decades of diaologue on disability, biography, and being female in America by Gelya Frank (2000). - The rejected body: Feminist philosophical reflection on disability by Susan Wendell (1996). - Female forms: Experiencing and understanding disability by Carol Thomas (1999). - Kempton, W., & Kahn, E. (1991). Sexuality and people with intellectual disabilities: A historical perspective. Sexuality and disability, 9(2), 93-111. Supplementary Readings: - Tepper, M. S. (2000). Sexuality and disability: The missing discourse of pleasure. Sexuality and disability, 18(4), 283-290. - Wilson, N. J., Macdonald, J., Hayman, B., Bright, A. M., Frawley, P., & Gallego, G. (2018). A narrative review of the literature about people with intellectual disability who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or questioning. Journal of intellectual disabilities, 22(2), 171-196. - Azzopardi‐Lane, C., & Callus, A. M. (2015). Constructing sexual identities: people with intellectual disability talking about sexuality. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43(1), 32-37. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Blended Learning | ||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Claire Lucille Azzopardi Lane Amy Joan Camilleri Zahra |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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