Social Work Commons^™

Life History From The Vantage Point Of A Cane, Elena Ford

Poster Presentations

According to Kaiser (2018) “Appearance style is a metaphor for identity”. And while the typical body can project the self through selecting, donning, and displaying fashion, the disabled body has been denied that critical mode of self-expression, until recently. Lack of clothing choice has prevailed due in part to benign and even intentional neglect and omission of disability from both fashion design and display. As a result of negative attitudes towards disability, expectations are perpetuated that function should trump any concern with aesthetics, and that attention to fashion and appearance is petty and frivolous. Yet, the increasingly omnipotent visual culture …