(Dis)ability by design: Narratives of bodily perfectionism

Speech


Brighton, J. and Sparkes, A. 2014. (Dis)ability by design: Narratives of bodily perfectionism.
AuthorsBrighton, J. and Sparkes, A.
TypeSpeech
Description

Much academic research into disability sport has been accused of reinforcing ableist attitudes, treating disability as a homogenous construct, suffers from theoretical impoverishment, and has failed to listen to the voices of disabled people themselves in providing critical insight (e.g. Brittain, 2004; Moola and Norman, 2012). Excluding a few notable exceptions (Huang and Brittain, 2006; Berger, 2009; Lindemann, 2010; LeClair, 2011; Peers, 2012) there is still a dearth of empirically based research in understanding how disabled athletes construct and negotiate senses of embodied identity. Taking this into consideration, we draw on data generated from a four year ethnographic study into wheelchair sport in England to examine the ways in which disabled athletes engage in self-reflexive “body projects” (Shilling, 1993) in making strong personal statements about their identity amongst contemporary somatic cultures that idealise and “relentlessly promote the body beautiful” (Thomas, 2007: 132).
A structural narrative analysis of the ‘big’ and ‘small’ stories (Bamberg, 2006) told by the disabled athletes in the field revealed three dominant ‘body projects’ in action: 1) in developing malleable bodies participants either altered the comportment of their bodies conservatively by building muscle and losing body fat in attempting to become ‘perfectly disabled’ in relation to able-bodied ideologies of body perfectionism, or more radically through desiring amputation of impaired body parts in ways that contest these dominant beliefs 2) in engaging in tattooing and piercing practices that transform the appearance of the skin, participants artfully constructed modified bodies, affording them a sense of control and expression over their identities in a number of ways and 3) cyborg bodies were imagined where participants played with the possibilities of evolving technologies on their senses of corporeality.
Taking an inter-disciplinary approach to interpretation, findings suggest that additional significance is held amongst participants living these bodies than exclusively as forming part of a ‘body project’ alone. Indeed, the identities that disabled athletes embodied and performed should not be thought of as singular, homogeneous, passive, and static but should be better seen as plural, heterogeneous, active, and evolving. We provide reflections that question if identity construction in disability sport is policed by medicalising and ableist discourses with the expectation that disabled athletes should reject their own ‘flawed’ bodies and align themselves to the carnal norms of non-disabled people (Hughes and Paterson, 1999), or if wheelchair athletes are able to demonstrate agency in relation to these norms and express empowering and proud senses of disabled identity that subvert the “non-disabled gaze” (Hughes, 1999) offering a challenge to contemporary tyrannies of bodily perfectionism.

Year2014
ConferenceDisability Sport Conference 2014: Changing Lives, Changing Perceptions?
File
Publication process dates
Deposited21 Nov 2014
CompletedSep 2014
Permalink -

https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/872q4/-dis-ability-by-design-narratives-of-bodily-perfectionism

  • 92
    total views
  • 26
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

‘I am proud of my back’: an ethnographic study of the motivations and meanings of body modification as identity work among athletes with spinal cord injury
Sparkes, A., Brighton, James and Inckle, Kay 2020. ‘I am proud of my back’: an ethnographic study of the motivations and meanings of body modification as identity work among athletes with spinal cord injury. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. 13 (3), pp. 407-425. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676x.2020.1756393
Autonomic dysreflexia and boosting in disability sport: exploring the subjective meanings, management strategies, moral justifications, and perceptions of risk among male, spinal cord injured, wheelchair athletes.
Sparkes, A. and Brighton, James 2019. Autonomic dysreflexia and boosting in disability sport: exploring the subjective meanings, management strategies, moral justifications, and perceptions of risk among male, spinal cord injured, wheelchair athletes. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. 12 (3), pp. 414-430. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676x.2019.1623298
Disability, spinal cord injury, and strength and conditioning: sociological considerations
Brighton, J. 2018. Disability, spinal cord injury, and strength and conditioning: sociological considerations. Strength and Conditioning Journal. 40 (6), pp. 29-39. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000419
‘It’s a part of me’: an ethnographic exploration of becoming a disabled sporting cyborg following spinal cord injury
Sparkes, A., Brighton, J. and Inckle, K. 2017. ‘It’s a part of me’: an ethnographic exploration of becoming a disabled sporting cyborg following spinal cord injury. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise & Health. 10. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2017.1389768
Using interviews to explore experiences of disability in sport and physical activity
Brighton, J. and Williams, T. 2018. Using interviews to explore experiences of disability in sport and physical activity. in: Medcalf, R. and Mackintosh, C. (ed.) Researching Difference in Sport and Physical Activity Routledge.
Imperfect perfection and wheelchair bodybuilding: challenging ableism or reproducing normalcy?
Sparkes, A., Brighton, J. and Inckle, K. 2017. Imperfect perfection and wheelchair bodybuilding: challenging ableism or reproducing normalcy? Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038517737476
Gym Bodies (2): CrossFit
Brighton, J. 2015. Gym Bodies (2): CrossFit. Sport and Body Cultures Embodied Thought of the Month. 1, pp. 35-38.
Impaired sporting bodies and father-son relationships
Brighton, J. 2015. Impaired sporting bodies and father-son relationships. Sport and Body Cultures Embodied Thought of the Month. 1, pp. 21-24.
Embodied experiences within the context of disability
Brighton, J. 2015. Embodied experiences within the context of disability. Sport and Body Cultures Embodied Thought of the Month. 1, pp. 12-15.
Researching physical disability in sport: Reflections from an (able)bodied ethnographer
Brighton, J. 2015. Researching physical disability in sport: Reflections from an (able)bodied ethnographer. in: Wellard, I. (ed.) Researching Embodied Sport: Exploring Movement Cultures Routledge.
(Dis)ability sport as an opportunity for empowerment or a reproduction of gender stereotypes? A life history of a female Paralympian
Brighton, J. and Sparkes, A. 2014. (Dis)ability sport as an opportunity for empowerment or a reproduction of gender stereotypes? A life history of a female Paralympian.
(Dis)abled athletes as the “Ambassadors of transhumanism”
Brighton, J. and Sparkes, A. 2014. (Dis)abled athletes as the “Ambassadors of transhumanism”.
Disabled sporting bodies as sexual beings: Reflections and challenges
Sparkes, A., Brighton, J. and Inckle, K. 2014. Disabled sporting bodies as sexual beings: Reflections and challenges. in: Hargreaves, J. and Anderson, E. (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Sport, Gender and Sexuality Abingdon, Oxon Routledge. pp. 179-188
(Dis)ability by design: Narratives of bodily perfectionism amongst wheelchair athletes
Brighton, J. and Sparkes, A. 2014. (Dis)ability by design: Narratives of bodily perfectionism amongst wheelchair athletes.