A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Etheses - Queen Margaret ...

Tom Shakespeare has suggested that disabled people suffer when, in order to have their
support needs met, they have to rely on unresponsive services or demeaning charity which
renders them marginalised and dependent:
237
Yet empowered disabled people will achieve a better quality of life in a community
in which each recognises their responsibility to the other, rather than a world made
up of competing and selfish individuals seeking to maximise their own advantage
(Shakespeare, 2000 :82).
The model of caring solidarity demonstrated by Jennie, her flatmate and her partners ensures
that while impairment effects are acknowledged and addressed, this is done in a way that
does not involve disabling roles being assigned. As Jennie adds:
I think I depend on them for things and they depend on me for things... it‟s the same
in any relationship... and the sooner you acknowledge that in a relationship and stop
worrying about who owes who what, the easier it is just to get on and be human
beings... (l.3:348ff)
This is perhaps the acknowledgement that Markell speaks about. Each is open to her or his
own vulnerability and accepts that this will be met by others. At the same time, each is
prepared to give of one‟s self in order to meet others‟ needs. In case this all sounds too
idealistic, Jennie‟s last statement to me should be considered:
I won‟t pretend there are never arguments about any of it, but that‟s not a big deal...
I mean, you take these things in your stride... (l.366ff.)
Lola: UK Chatterbox
There we go, I‟m Mistress Keen…
Sound of typing.
(l.3:419ff.)
Lola had been unwell for some time when I visited her in London.
I haven‟t been terribly well and it‟s... it‟s the grey area of impairment that we don‟t
yet feel … widely comfortable discussing, I think … some of us do and some of us, I
think, are able to do that more than others because you …it‟s starting to change, but
… just the fact that … erm … even in the most perfect Utopian, social model