The Issue of Gender in Relation to Mental Distress: Reflections on the Gendered Character of Disability and Resistance

Neither gender studies nor disability research/disability studies have explored gender to a great extent, especially in relation to disabled men or disabled women. In this article we reflect upon the issue of gender in relation to experiences of mental distress by drawing explicitly on some powerful narratives. Those narratives are argued to show the gendered character of disability and resistance; and display that the social forces and processes that construct and give shape to disability and gender are closely intermeshed. We argue that the gendered character of disablism and resistance should be further studies in the light of the new theoretical development that has been created, because gender matters.