LIVING THE EDGES: A DISABLED WOMEN'S READER edited by Diane Driedger ISBN no. 978-1-926708-17-1 364 pgs. / $29.95 / November 2010 ORDER | OVERVIEW | AUTHOR BIO | REVIEW

OVERVIEW

This important and ground-breaking collection brings together the diverse voices of women with various disabilities, both physical and mental. Here, Canadian women speak frankly about the societal barriers they encounter in their everyday lives due to social attitudes and physical and systemic inaccessibility. They bring to light the discrimination they experience through sexism, because they are women, and through ableism, because they have disabilities. For them, the personal is definitely political. While society traditionally views having a disability as "weakness" and that women are the "weaker" sex, this collection points to the strength, persistence, and resilience of disabled women living the edges.

Praise for LIVING THE EDGES: A DISABLED WOMEN'S READER:

LIVING THE EDGES: A DISABLED WOMEN'S READER reaches the core of every disabled woman's experience and helps us understand the culture and politics of being a disabled woman. Finally, the voices, the stories, of women with disabilities are being heard! This book takes us on an extraordinary journey of pain and powerlessness but, more importantly, strength, endurance and hope.
—Emily Ternette, Chairperson, DisAbled Women's Network (DAWN) Manitoba

I heard the voices of my sisters—some new, some old, all engaging—as I read living the edges: a disabled women's reader It reignited my passion for our stories. What a gift! Diane Driedger has worked magic. This book is a must read for anyone searching for a deeper understanding of all women's issues.
—Pat Danforth, Founding Member, DisAbled Women's Network (DAWN) Canada

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements xiii

Introduction
Diane Driedger 1

I. Who We Are on the Edges

Must Disability Always Be Visible? The Meaning
of Disability for Women
Sharon Dale Stone 9

A Longer Journey of Reflexivity: Becoming
a Domesticated Academic
Laura Hockman 16

"Self-Portrait with Bandaged Breast
(After Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear)"
Diane Driedger 29

Proliferation
Diane Driedger 30

Medication Reaction
Diane Driedger 31

Radiation
Diane Driedger 32

Living on the Edges
Charlotte Caron and Gail Christy 33

Cry Not Crazy Lady
Marie Annharte Baker 40

"Post-Kelly Re: Constructed Reality"
Kelly-Jo Dorvault 51

Arthritic Dreams ii
Renee Norman 53

Feminism, Disability and Transcendence of the Body
Susan Wendell 55

"Untitled Painting"
Anjali Dookeran 70

Black Thread Around
Marie Annharte Baker 71

II. Naming the Edges: Barriers

Margins Are Not For Cowards
Cheryl Gibson 75

"Me, Myself and I"
Winsom 79

Triple Jeopardy: Native Women with Disabilities
Doreen Demas 80

Coming Out of Two Closets
Jane Field 87

Performing My Leaky Body
Julie Devaney 90

To Be Or Not to Be? Whose Question Is It, Anyway? Two Women with Disabilities Discuss the Right to Assisted Suicide
Tanis Doe and Barbara Ladouceur 112

A Delicate Balance: Chronic Conditions and Workspace
Nancy E. Hansen 122

Living Poorly: Disabled Women on Income Support
Sally A. Kimpson 138

Disability Diss Away
Marie Annharte Baker 153

The Geography of Oppression
Joy Asham 157

III. Violence on the Edges

An Intersectional Perspective on Violence: A New Response
Maria Barile 171

undr the dislexic tree
Alexandra Pasian 186

"Have You Experienced Violence or Abuse?": Talking with Girls and Young Women with Disabilities
Michelle Owen 187

When Bad Things Happen: Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Other Mistreatments Against Manitoba Women with Intellectual Disabilities
The Association for Community Living-Manitoba 206

"Untitled Woodcut"
Anjali Dookeran 221

Lions
Joanna M. Weston 222

IV. With Us on the Edges: Relationships and Sexuality

New Reproductive Technology: My Personal and Political Dichotomy
Maria Barile 225

Deaf-Mute?
Jancis M. Andrews 229

Disability and Relationships
Tracy Odell 230

Marriage-able? Cultural Perspectives of Women with Disabilities of South Asian Origin
Lynda Nancoo 236

"The Critical Woman and the Space Cadet"
Carrie R. Cardwell 241

"You think I want to make fuck with you": Travelling with a Disability or Two
Milana Todoroff 243

Access-Sex Series
Kyla Harris and Sarah Murray 247

V. Challenging the Edges

When the Body Protests: New Forms of Activism
Diane Driedger 253

Creating Community Across Disability and Difference
Carla Rice, Hilde Zitzelsberger, Wendy Porch and Esther Ignagni 259

Walking a Woman's Path: Women with Intellectual Disabilities
The Women's Group, Community Living-Winnipeg 273

The First Step Is To Be Noticed
Dianne Pothier 291

Art, Sticks and Politics
Nancy E. Hansen and Diane Driedger 295

"Untitled Drawing"
Anjali Dookeran 304

The Freedom Tour Documentary: An Experiment in Inclusive Filmaking
Josée Boulanger, Susie Wieszmann and Valerie Wolbert 305

The Disabled Women's Movement: From Where Have We Come?
Pat Israel and Fran Odette 323

Leadership, Partnership and Networking: A Way Forward for the DisAbled Women's Network of Canada
Bonnie Brayton 330

Contributor Notes 340