If I was to ask you what is considered ‘sexy’ about a person, I am sure most people would say any of the following:
1. Sexualised body parts like boobs, ass, biceps or abs.
2. Body parts that transcend what’s perceived as sexual beauty, Examples: Eyes, hair, smile, mouth, vocal cords.
3. A characteristic or attribute, like being funny, charming, kind, intelligent.
Regardless of these characteristics, society rarely considers a person with a disability ‘sexy’. Automatically, people with disabilities are desexualised and considered ‘unsexy’. As per the Census 2011, 2.21% of the total population in India comprises of people with disabilities, i.e, about 2.68 crore people!
Unfortunately, they are excluded and alienated by being stereotyped and marginalised. As a result, society has never associated sex, sexuality and romantic love with people living with disabilities.
In this powerful TED Talk, Dr Danielle Sheypuk, a disability rights advocate, confronts the truth about dating someone in a wheelchair and at the same time breaks down the common misconceptions regarding people with disabilities having sex. She further explores the enjoyable future we can create when sexually, the people who don’t have a disability come together with those who have one. A future where we aren’t confined by conventional ideas of sex and sexuality but rather break the taboo and allow creativity to govern our relationships, bedrooms and advertisements.