Gender and disability in Italy: Disabled women activists between identity and body politics

Drawing on identity and body politics, this study analyzes how the experience of oppression among women with disabilities relates to the deployment of their identities in organizing their activism. Through in-depth interviews with disabled women activists in Italy, the study illustrates how the systems of oppression they experience intertwine with identity deployment, the interpretation of their bodies as platforms to negotiate and confront discrimination, and their activism experiences. From our findings, different patterns of identity deployment emerged: opposing and resisting, empowering by doing, valuing introspection, and silencing oneself. These patterns intersect with power systems in wider society, local institutions and organizations, and the regime of equal opportunities. The body emerges as a battleground for confronting de-sexualization, infantilization, and medicalization, as well as an opportunity to illustrate individual fragilities and potential. This study contributes to the literature on identity and body politics through intersectionality by showing how differences emerge in the organization of activism and how they can be interpreted by connecting “the personal” with “the political.” Disability and gender intersect to reveal how minorities generate their identities and interpret dominant systems differently, depending on the multiple sources of oppression they encounter. Implications emerge in connecting our understanding of disability and gender in social movements with our comprehension of the organization of activism.