A Critical Ethnography of Disability in Committed Relationships

Finding loving, committed relationships can be a difficult journey for many people, but the quest poses additional challenges for disabled people (Rintala et al., 1997; Wade, 2002). Disability rights has advanced in many areas—for example, physical accessibility of the built environment—but harmful social stigma regarding attractiveness, sexual function, and abilities related to fulfilling a partnership role continues to enact barriers for disabled people when seeking and enjoying romantic relationships (Bahner, 2012; Esmail, Darry, Walter, Knupp, 2010; Gill, 1996; Rintala et al., 1997; Shakespeare, Gillespie-Sells, Davies, 1996). Although discrimination in the area of dating, partnership and relationships can often be the most distressing and painful aspects of social exclusion for disabled people, there is a lack of comprehensive research and advocacy surrounding these issues (Finger, 1992; Shakespeare, 2000). Using a critical ethnographic approach (Madison, 2011; Thomas, 1993) in this research, I explore whether the experiences of disabled people and their partners reflect, reject, and/or reimagine dominant cultural assumptions about the experience of disability within relationships. Eight couples, where one or both people identify as having a disability, were interviewed about their experiences as a couple and the role that disability had in their relationships. Interview transcripts were analyzed using Charmaz's (2014) constructivist grounded theory, and the analysis is presented within two broad categories: disability-related experiences in the foreground and background of committed relationships; and the productive and positive value of disability-related experiences in committed relationships. I conclude that disability is experienced in a wide variety of ways both between and among individuals and couples; disability is not necessarily the most important or the most pressing consideration in the day-to-day lives of couples, and disability-related experiences have the potential to be positive and productive within committed relationships.Ph.D