ABSTRACT
Disabled masculinities are interstitial and indeterminate position that offers possibilities for both "gender trouble" and "normativity trouble" which can challenge hegemonic masculinity in multiple contexts, including disasters. For many disabled men, repositioning disability from a personal tragedy to a focus on profound social devaluation lies at the heart of their identity, political commitment and ethics. The apparent contradictions between disabled masculinities and hegemonic masculinity cannot be denied. Hegemonic masculinity emphasizes self-reliance, refuses care, valorizes physical activity, devalues a lack of mobility, and discourages discussions of pain. One of the most common effects of disasters is a significant increase in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which has flow-on effects on newly disabled masculinities. Disasters evoke multiple expressions of disabled masculinities. As a result of such disabling barriers, abjection and the power of normativity, disabled masculinities experience unique social expressions and social location seven though they are shaped by other forms of power such as race, class and gender.
