The Body and its Able-ness: Articulating In/Eligibility through Rhetorics of Motherhood, Unjust Language, and Questionable Medical Authority

Authors

  • Rachel D. Davidson Hanover College
  • Lara C. Stache Governors State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v36i1.4429

Keywords:

body rhetoric, motherhood, medical authority, public controversy, critical analysis

Abstract

This essay analyzes a controversy involving Amelia (Mia) Rivera, a three-year old girl who was denied a life-saving kidney transplant in January 2012. As reported by Mia's mother, Chrissy, on her blog post, Mia was denied the kidney transplant because of her mental disability. Throughout the public discussion that took place over a few short weeks, we argue Mia's ineligibility was rearticulated through rhetorics of motherhood, unjust body language, and questions about medical authority. we suggest this indicates that descriptions of the body and its able-ness carry more weight in the public's understanding of health issues than does medical authority.

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Published

2016-03-08

How to Cite

Davidson, R. D., & Stache, L. C. (2016). The Body and its Able-ness: Articulating In/Eligibility through Rhetorics of Motherhood, Unjust Language, and Questionable Medical Authority. Disability Studies Quarterly, 36(1). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v36i1.4429

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 1 (2016): Winter 2016

Section

Re-Framing

License

Copyright (c) 2016 Rachel D. Davidson, Lara C. Stache

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.