Restricted Access: Lesbians on Disability by Victoria A. Brownworth

Restricted Access: Lesbians on Disability Reviews

• 
  Cory

  Transmisogynist and biphobic as the author-editor may be, once I ignored her essays, the other contributors had some great things to say.
  
  The anthology is set up as purely for cisgender lesbians, but Eli Clare sneaks in and so do one or two folks who might be bi (but obviously can't say so on the pages).
  
  It does a fair job of including mental illness, chronic illness, and physical disability, better than most things I've read. However, none of the contributors are autistic or intellectually or developmentally disabled, as far as I can remember being stated.
  
  It's a big task, bringing together such a wide spread of experiences, and the book does a decent job. There's talk about caregiver and institutional abuse, about medical neglect, about the friction between LG(bt) and disability movements/communities, about activist history, about personal successes and failures, about relapse and recovery and dreams.
  
  Overall, it was definitely worth my time, but I wish the author-editor was less of a second-wave feminist, and I am shopping around for a trans and bi inclusive alternative. Recommendation? Skip everything by the editor.
• 
  sasha

  pretty cool anthology, interesting topics and persons writing essays on their life as disabled lesbians.
  still, there is a definite lack of trans* experiences and a bisexual's perspective would have been nice, too, as they too face multiple ways they are made invisible. i especially disliked that the editor seems to be quite trans*phobic as she states in the beginning that she explicitely did not include trans*women in this anthology, maybe setting aside eli clare (who's super cool whaaaat). if you skip her essays the read is way better imo.
• 
  Lightreads

  An anthology exploring -- well the technical term is 'intersectionality,' though no one ever actually uses that word. Pretty solid throughout, with obviously careful editing and selection. Standouts for me were Nicola Griffith's (yes, that Nicola Griffith, who is apparently both a dyke and a gimp) erudite and clever essay on the history of female art with sidetrips to disability and the modern conservative movement, and Sharon Wachsler's clever essay on retaining her femme identity after CFIDS and MCS stole lipstick and dancing and all her other personal marks of femme-ness. Victoria Brownworth offers a fascinating (and deeply problematic) recollection of early life in a convent school before she was disabled, with layers of commentary on women, disability, and Catholic imagery of mortification of the flesh.
  
  It's not a perfect anthology -- I skipped a few bizarre or just annoying entries -- but generally solid. Definite flavor of its time, though, or possibly just the editors's available cohort. It took me several essays of confusion to realize why everyone was forever going on about particular lesbian community issues that we just don't worry much about anymore. I mean, we certainly still talk about health care, but a lesbian is much less likely these days to refuse psychological treatment for fear of institutionalization for her sexuality, and the entire flavor of the community response to AIDS has changed in less than a decade.
  
  Worthwhile, for those with an interest in the niche.
• 
  danielle

  life-changing read.