At the intersection of identity and the body: One woman’s experience of disability and sexuality

This study sought to understand the ways in which the intersections of sexuality, disability, and identity are experienced and understood by one woman living with cerebral palsy. The central research question for this thesis will ask: “How do women with cerebral palsy narrate their lived experience of disability and sexuality?” Through interviews conducted using Arvay’s (2002) narrative method of analysis, a narrative was co constructed to explore the experience of negotiating one’s identity as a sexual being while living with cerebral palsy. A thematic analysis revealed three key processes which facilitated an understanding of one’s self as a sexual being: the identity formation process, the relationship formation process, and the development of a disability identity.This research provides a rich and contextualized account of the intersectional nature of identity and the impact of occupying multiple marginalized positions on one woman’s lived experience with disability and sexuality.