A Feminist Theology of Disability

Disability and long term incurable illness still attract a variety of demonisation and prejudice. This includes many of the same kinds of hostility that have faced women. Disabled people are blamed for their condition, regarded as bestial, grotesque and unclean. They are excluded from ritual spaces by Levitical law, modern prejudice and practical indifference. Feminist Theology has sometimes contributed to prevailing hostility, or at least, failed to counter it, in its insistence on the sacredness of the body. On the other hand, Feminist Theology can provide a method of deconstructing the religious texts and imagery that make devalued people effectively invisible. Feminist critique of patriarchal structures, campaigns for full human rights, and consciously inclusive communities may offer a route for wider inclusivity and celebration of diversity. Eco-feminism is built on a framework within which scientific and medical advances may be properly and critically examined.