As Good As It Gets: Queer Theory and Critical Disability

Robert McRuer’s article is an important entry point into crip theory. It connects queer theory with critical disability studies, showing that “normal bodies” and “normal desires” are not separate norms but are produced together through heteronormativity and compulsory able-bodiedness.

The article matters because it shows that anti-normative politics cannot stop at sex and gender. Much queer theory critiques heterosexuality while still assuming that bodies should be healthy, productive, independent, and easily accommodated by public space. McRuer argues that compulsory able-bodiedness, like compulsory heterosexuality, secures itself by producing the abnormal.

For FemRes, this paper pairs well with Kafer’s Feminist, Queer, Crip, Garland-Thomson’s feminist disability studies, and disability justice essays. It helps the archive connect queer feminism, body politics, and ableism as one analytic field rather than separate identity categories.