Becoming men: Gender, disability, and transitioning to adulthood

Impact Factor:1.137 | Ranking:21/36 in Social Sciences, Biomedical | 81/136 in Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | 5-Year Impact Factor:1.396Source:2012 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2013)
Barbara E Gibson barbara.gibson{at}utoronto.ca

University of Toronto, Canada; Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, CanadaBhavnita Mistry

University of Toronto, Canada; Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, CanadaBrett Smith

Loughborough University, UKKaren K Yoshida

University of Toronto, CanadaDavid Abbott

University of Bristol, UKSally Lindsay

Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, CanadaYani Hamdani

University of Toronto, CanadaChildren and youth with progressive conditions are living longer, and there is increased interest in designing programs that will assist them with “transitioning” to adulthood. Almost none of the transitions research to date, however, has attended to the experiences of disabled boys in “becoming men,” nor has there been critical conceptual work problematizing notions of “normal” adulthood or theorizing the complex, diverse, and gendered experiences of transitioning. In this Canadian study, we investigated the intersectionality of gender, disability, and emerging adulthood with 15 young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Participants created audio diaries and photographs that were explored in in-depth interviews. Using a Bourdieusian lens and Arthur Frank’s notion of the narrative habitus, we examined how participants re/negotiated identities in everyday practices. Our analysis suggested that disability, masculinities, and generational (life stage) identities intersected through “narratives of nondifference,” wherein participants worked to establish identities as typical “guys.” Within limited fields of school and work, participants distanced themselves from the label of “disabled” and discussed their successes and challenges in terms of normative developmental trajectories. We suggest that the pursuit of “normal” is reproduced and reinforced in health and social programs and closes off other narratives and possibilities.

© 2013 SAGE Publications. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC

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