defining disabled

At the start of the semester we discussed a number of readings that dealt with how one can use a feminist lens to evaluate a particular social issue. Although I do consider myself a feminist, and when asked do not hesitate to say so, I have often struggled with understand what is meant by “feminist lens.” I believe a number of people take this to mean “examine the world as if men are the bad guys.” However, the article entitled, “The Rejected Body” was for me, a concrete example of using a feminist perspective to analyze an otherwise genderless social issue without putting men or women at the center of the controversy/conflict.
The article spoke about the definition or meaning of ‘disabled’ in our society and how the term is defined by using the strong, while, heterosexual male as the paradigm of able-ness. I had never considered this to be the meaning of disabled and now realize that we do not define individuals by what they are able to do instead we define them by what they are not able to do under particular circumstances. This may not seem all that profound but it is really interesting to me because it is this kind of nonsensical categorizing that serves to divide populations. We often talk about how we, as black women, are “othered” because we are NOT white and NOT male. Our population is determined only based on how it opposes the norm. I digress.
This article focused on how the system perpetuates social injustices. The point was not that the disabled are being held back by ‘the [strong, white, heterosexual] man.” The point was that we uphold the idea that the strong, white, heterosexual man is the paradigm by forcing others to fit into the mold created by systems solely for the paradigm. I am capable of walking up stairs and am comfortable using them however, just because I am able in this way does not mean that others could not have access to my final destination if another route were offered.