ABSTRACT
We need a feminist theory of disability, both because 16 percent of women are disabled, and because the oppression of disabled people is closely linked to the cul tural oppression of the body. Disability is not a biological given; like gender, it is sociaUy constructed from biological reality. Our culture idealizes the body and de mands that we control it. Thus, although most people will be disabled at some time in their lives, the disabled are made (tthe other, ” who symbolize failure of control and the threat of pain, limitation, dependency, and death. If disabled people and their knowledge were fully integrated into society, everyone's relation to her/his real body would be liberated.
