Pushing boundaries of normalcy

Abstract

We are all patients in some way---or, at the least, patients-in-waiting. Although I am reminded of this reality on a daily, if not hourly, basis, it is most apparent when I log onto the Internet to engage in what millions of users have begun doing in the last few decades: surf for health information. Typing in "breast cancer" for what must be the thousandth time, I look again for research that will provide insight into this biopolitical phenomenon. Perhaps more telling, I search for information about my own body. As I scan the material, I cannot help but ask myself what qualities I possess or have developed and how they fit into the categories of "high risk," "moderate risk," or "low to no risk."

Shifts and Transpositions: An Analysis of Gateway Documents for Cancer Genetic Testing

“…Patient advocacy sites have faced similar scrutiny. Ostensibly altruistic support sites may provide information that is colored by an organization's desire to categorize and blame people for "non-normal" bodies by engaging in flawed and illogical narratives (Moeller, 2015).…”

Provocations for Critical Disability Studies

“…Over the last decade we have witnessed the rise of Critical Disability Studies (for example, Shildrick 2004Shildrick , 2007Shildrick , 2012Meekosha and Shuttleworth 2009;Goodley 2012Goodley , 2014Goodley , 2016Mallett and Runswick-Cole 2014;Liasidou 2014;Vanderkinderen, Roets, and Van Hove 2014;Moeller 2015;Slater 2015;Feely 2016;Flynn 2017;Peers 2017;Rice et al 2017;Slater, Jones, and Procter 2017;Liddiard 2018). This interdisciplinary field has built upon the early work of disability studies and produced a body of contemporary knowledge that boasts sophistication and nuance.…”