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Embodied reflections of an able‐bodied disability scholar
Author(s) -
Jammaers Eline
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
gender, work and organization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.159
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1468-0432
pISSN - 0968-6673
DOI - 10.1111/gwao.12714
Subject(s) - silence , embodied cognition , ambivalence , aesthetics , nothing , timeline , memoir , jargon , politics , psychology , sociology , literature , psychoanalysis , art , history , linguistics , epistemology , philosophy , archaeology , political science , law
This piece is written in liaison with the “writing differently” movement aimed to counter common academic writing through a non‐abstract, biographic, embodied account of 10 years as a female, able‐bodied disability, and gender researcher. The tone of the article is intentionally kept simple, while its form resembles a memoir. One day, I started to think and type about the times my body felt out of place and many months later this resulted in a timeline of “my body estranged.” I warn the reader in advance: there is nothing particularly shocking about these experiences: they are mostly ordinary and privileged. Anyone interested in the ordinariness of semi‐dominant bodies might find the memories relatable. Looking back, one constant bodily ambivalence stands out: loud mind, lips sealed – an abundance of silence and an absence of speaking up. With this writing, I break the silence, in my own voice, a voice free of jargon and abstract vocabulary (Grey & Sinclair, 2006). A voice readable to a broad community and illustrated through ambivalent art work (Figure 1). 1 1 FIGUREPersonal, political but not universal (Ambivalently Yours)