Content area
Full Text
The foundational faith of disability law is the proposition that we can reduce disability discrimination if we can foster interactions between disabled and nondisabled people. This central faith, which is rooted in contact theory, has encouraged integration ofpeople with and without disabilities, with the expectation that contact will reduce prejudicial attitudes and shifl societal norms. However, ndther the scholarship nor disability law sufficiently accounts for what this Article calls the "anesthetics of disability," the proposition that our interaction with disability is mediated by an affective process that inclines us to like, dislike, be attracted to, or be repulsed by others on the basis of their appearance. The aesthetics literature introduces a significant complication to uncritical reliance on contact as the theoretical and remedial basis for our inclusive ideal. Contact and engagement with the aesthetics of disability may fail to provide the benefits assumed by conta,ct theory, but more perversely, under certain conditions, they may trigger negative affective responses that may stunt the very normative change sought through antidiscrimination law. This Article proposes a novel theoretical lens to more accurately reflect the complexity of the a,esthetic-affective process of discriminatory behavior in the context of disability.
INTRODUCTION
Disability rights law has failed to change public hearts and minds about people with disabilities.1 Nearly three decades ago, Congress identified the primary barrier facing people with disabilities as prejudicial attitudes, a product of historical segregation and invisibility. Prescriptively, Congress designed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure that people with disabilities are not denied access to employment, public services, and places of public accommodations. The ADA also advanced integration as a prospective tool to reduce disability discrimination-a familiar remedial strategy in the civil rights playbook. What explains the absence of meaningful normative shifts in the context of disability?
Disability legal theories do not account for the ways in which the aesthetics of disability mediate rights and the integrative ideal. The aesthetics of disability are visible sensory and behavioral markers that trigger particular aesthetic and affective judgments about marked individuals. Disability rights law, like other areas of antidiscrimination law, relies on contact theory and its chosen prescription, integration. The contact hypothesis posits that increasing opportunities for interactions between diverse groups can, under the right conditions, foster greater acceptance....