The Craving In Us - Sushanti G.
Description:
This exhibit focuses on the craving found within each of us. The mind of the people inside the individual represents the craving within. Crave is a feeling of wanting something to happen. I found this artifact while I was browsing Instagram. It can range in meaning from craving for completing a daily goal to sexual desire and craving for another person.
Significance:
I chose this artifact since many of us lack gratitude for being able to fulfill our daily whims with little effort. We need the power to perform the necessary actions to cravings. This involves freedom and the physical, psychological, or structural resources to be able to kick back. In any case, most of us have the skillsets to prosper. On the other, there are people — like me, like many disabled folks — who can't do what they want to on their own, or at least not easily. While these women, and the men who were more than mildly impaired, experienced limitations about sexuality in general (most particularly in negotiating sexual relationships with others) (Shuttleworth 2006). This exhibition will scrutinize craving as it intersects with disability, reducing even further the target of what is deemed to be desired. In short, the sexual aspect appears to be a major difficulty in their lives and many barriers stand in the way of those wishes. These barriers can be physical, psychological, or structural. You may have difficulty having sex because of your disability — for example, maybe you move in ways that the other person finds unusual or unattractive.
The significance of this artifact is that nearly all human beings a sexual person and have conscious or unconscious (active or passive) thoughts, feelings, and imaginations about sexuality (sexual phantasy). No matter what kind of form a disability takes, even if it's in your head, society needs to understand whether one of them has this or that orientation — it's not going to change. Sexual intimacy is a basic human need; so, if that cannot be balanced out individually some arrangements must be made to check this, should more provisions be provided in such environments that allow sex-life relationships and expressions thereof consistent sex-less experience like exploring one's sexuality, access to any sexual health information, etc.
Positionality:
Disability and Sex have become more and more interesting to me the longer this semester goes on. I had never put the words disability and sex in the same sentence, so when I read this unit while looking through subject selection, I was quite interested in what on earth could be included. I had manipulated the way I processed/filtered information, but all to no avail: my mind was as open as it possibly could be to a brand-new set of stimuli that I had not seen, heard, or learned from before. I started to question sex and how one with a disability can have it.
I was raised with general knowledge of sex — school taught me something and the rest I learned for myself when curiosity strikes. But I never had the subject, and perhaps because of this, my questions and worries would be answered without a question. My experiences in this unit have shown me that sexuality and the information & understanding of it are born from one’s socio-cultural background, which we not only do anything in a vacuum (a nod to Spiderman) but also sexually disadvantaged disabled people by making access to information on sexuality itself denied as part of denialism of other types of sex behaviors and desires. Men and women with disabilities too express a need for intimacy when it comes to dating and relationships. Most adults with disabilities desire a romantic relationship and yet research demonstrates that they are less likely to experience dating or marriage than adults without disabilities (Saxe & Flanagan, 2013), which led me to the question, why? Sex education, desires, relationships, love romance, and intimacy — why exclude people with disabilities from the joys of it all? But why is someone with a disability not allowed to do that?
Impact:
This sexuality-based exhibit has touched me by allowing me to understand the struggles and challenges those with disabilities go through when it comes to fulfilling their sexual beings. Specifically, it shows me where the gap is regarding disability and sexuality in social work that this unit has taught us wherever I am. Moreover, and perhaps most significantly, it has helped me begin an internal dialogue about my own background, which again I can link to this unit. As a result, I am more intuitive, sympathetic, and supportive overall to the field of disability and sexuality within social work. This exhibition was important for me to do as it clearly showed ways in which an individual with a disability could be assisted to fulfill their sexual needs. Where there are physical or emotional limitations in play, the direct impact of the disability ought to be accommodated (Rowen, Stein & Tepper, 2015). You could not have sex, and that is a physical barrier. In addition, psychological barriers may include issues around disability stigma. A simple example is the fear of sexuality with someone else. Besides mining into psychological inhibitors, I also began to learn more about the human suffering that had greatly influenced me personally. The key concept I found again and discussed in depth after reading the research was sexual rights. This resulted in a lack of sexual rights for individuals with disabilities since others made decisions about their body, their emotions, their relationships, access to erotic experiences, and more (Santos & Santos, 2018).
Wish List:
I hope that by my artifact I remind others to be grateful for their sense of autonomy and desire satisfaction at least once a day. My hope is that viewers walk away from my virtual exhibit fired up to do the work of enhancing social work so communities can provide every person with a disability (physical or other) with the resources needed to meet any kind of need, including sexual need. Contemporary research shows that in social work, we tend to view sexuality as a risk factor
(Giertsen, Lavie-Ajayi & McKay, 2021) This is a stigma that should change! Sexual well-being is one of the largest dimensions in life, which according to Lee, Fenge, and Collins (2018) tells an important story about human wisdom. The crucial need to provide each human being with the skills, as well as knowledge so they can satisfy their sexual desires which are a major part of life would lead us towards attaining better sexual well-being. This is coupled with the fact that social
workers should be equipped to educate and support those who seek help pertaining to their sexual desires. There is currently little focus on sex in social work education and practice (Lee, Fenge, & Collins, 2018). Sexual well-being and disability are areas that social workers should address when addressing the topic of sexual rights. Society must march ever forward towards social justice, which includes a high level of sexual rights for all.
Scholarship:
On the other, there are people — like me, like many disabled folks — who can't do what they want to on their own, or at least not easily.
While these women, and the men who were more than mildly impaired, experienced limitations about sexuality in general (most particularly in negotiating sexual relationships with others) (Shuttleworth 2006).
Most adults with disabilities desire a romantic relationship and yet research demonstrates that they are less likely to experience dating or marriage than adults without disabilities (Saxe & Flanagan, 2013).
Where there are physical or emotional limitations in play, the direct impact of the disability ought to be accommodated (Rowen, Stein & Tepper, 2015).
This resulted in a lack of sexual rights for individuals with disabilities since others made decisions about their body, their emotions, their relationships, access to erotic experiences, and more (Santos & Santos, 2018).
Contemporary research shows that in social work, we tend to view sexuality as a risk factor (Giertsen, Lavie-Ajayi & McKay, 2021) This is a stigma that should change! Sexual well-being is one of the largest dimensions in life, which according to Lee, Fenge, and Collins (2018) tells an important story about human wisdom. There is currently little focus on sex in social work education and practice (Lee, Fenge, & Collins, 2018)
2 Comments
My initial depiction of this artefact before reading the descriptions related to peoples thoughts on intimacy with diverse other people. I think my initial thought of the piece made your story here even more powerful because it catches it and then you go on and explore that thought in another viewpoint.
The concepts ‘physical’, ‘psychological’, and ‘structural’ barriers in your text go hand in hand with the artefact because this is clearly displayed in both. The bodies being the ‘physical’ aspect, the brain being the ‘psychological’ aspect, and the shapes in the brain acting as the ‘structural’ aspect. Clever! Also, the use of these concepts very strongly accommodates to a diverse range of people with disabilities and how this impacts on their physical, psychological, and structural selves. Kudos to you with doing that!
Your way of talking about the intersection of disability and sexuality truly shows how this subject has impacted you academically and as an individual. Thank you for touching on how this subject and artefact relate to your experience!
After reading your descriptions, I see this artefact in a different way. I see a person CRAVING to explore their sexuality and overcome the restriction caused by their disability. I see how all their cravings pile up in their brain and this inevitably causes difficulty in that exploration.
This artifact highlights the very fundamental nature of craving as it pertains to the desire for intimacy, to be seen as attractive, and for physical contact, even for those who are normally excluded from being seen through a sexual or romantic lens. The depiction of the brain as being made up of people cuddled up against one another in a seemingly happy, contented pile–in both platonic and sexual positions–reveals the deep-seated nature of these cravings and how their fulfilment is essential to happiness and well-being. Your reflection also shows that you understand this yearning and have put yourself in the position of those with disabilities to understand how they might feel, and you have used the scholarship to reinforce this.
Both the artifact and reflection have further emphasised the importance of intimacy and sex as being crucial parts of well-being instead of simply being something that is pleasurable but not necessary in the same way that food and water are. They have also served to reinforce my understanding of the issues faced by those with disabilities in dating, as discussed by Saxe & Flanagan (2013), and how this issue relates to a broader one of autonomy, as discussed by Santos & Santos (2018).