ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will explore different kinds of experiences in my empirical material that are more explicitly linked to the body: experiences of the operated body and the medical gaze, of the good-looking body and the teenager’s dissatisfaction as well as the body as a source of pleasure and joy. Previous researchers have stressed that disabled people tend to be defined by their bodies (Paterson and Hughes 1999: 607; Ljuslinder 2002: 110; Malmberg 2002), among them Hargreaves:
Disabled people … are looked upon, identified, judged and represented primarily through their bodies, which are perceived in popular consciousness to be imperfect, incomplete and inadequate … The emphasis in Western societies is on mastery and perfection and the disabled body represents a transgression of this ideal.
