Course
WGSS 350: Queer Theories
Document Type
Student Paper
Publication Date
Spring 4-2023
Disciplines
Disability Studies | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Description, Abstract, or Artist's Statement
In the face of a failing long-term care system, the author positions a queer theoretical lens as a potential source of creativity and empathy to help us build a care system that supports the dignity and personhood of all patients. The comedic work of a long-term care patient, Youtuber Clay-The-Comedian, is analyzed through a queer-theories lens as a new approach to long-term care that celebrates the personhood of all types of bodies, while also never diminishing the often difficult reality that folks in need of care face. This queer rhetoric engages with the messy, embodied experiences of patients to develop a remedy to our broken system, wherein the inevitable period of disability between old age and death is recognized as still valuable. When we inhabit difficult spaces with one another, we may discover exciting, non-normative forms of fulfillment.
Augustana Digital Commons Citation
Lawrence, Alison. "Inhabiting "Sore Butt Cracks": Queering the U.S. Long-Term Care System" (2023). Women's and Gender Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works.
https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/wgststudent/8
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.