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A review by sproutedpages
Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
Disfigured explores disability representation and ableism in fantasy media and pop culture, more than critically analyzing disability representation in fairytales specifically– especially as it begins to introduce superheroes (Marvel) near the end. Author Amanda Leduc does mention in the introduction that this is NOT meant to be a work of disability or fairytale scholarship, but I think that neither the foreword nor title accurately represent the scope of this novel— which I suppose is really just an issue of my own mismatched expectations.
The breadth of fairytales represented is quite narrow, and the explorations into the individual stories is often shallow— at times seemingly dismissive of certain important aspects of character disabilities (Ariel’s mutism: “Did no one in the palace think to teach the ‘little dumb foundling’ how to read and write? In the Disney version, Ariel signs a contract with Ursula in order to give up her voice. Couldn’t she have written Prince Eric a letter?”), and entirely overlooking other disabled characters (like Captain Hook).
Disfigured is obviously a very personal work by author Amanda Leduc, and the sections of the book focused on her experience navigating the world as a disabled person (and how the fairytales connected with different moments of her life growing up disabled) were incredibly interesting.
But as the book went on, there was less of a focus on the way that disability and fairytales are related at all, focusing more on the way that modern lexicon influences perception of disability. Obviously, an absolutely worthwhile conversation, but out of place in the last half of a book on disability relating to fairytales (in my opinion), and almost made it seem like two different books attempting to meet in the middle.
(Want to note here that I am a chronically ill/disabled reader.)
The breadth of fairytales represented is quite narrow, and the explorations into the individual stories is often shallow— at times seemingly dismissive of certain important aspects of character disabilities (Ariel’s mutism: “Did no one in the palace think to teach the ‘little dumb foundling’ how to read and write? In the Disney version, Ariel signs a contract with Ursula in order to give up her voice. Couldn’t she have written Prince Eric a letter?”), and entirely overlooking other disabled characters (like Captain Hook).
Disfigured is obviously a very personal work by author Amanda Leduc, and the sections of the book focused on her experience navigating the world as a disabled person (and how the fairytales connected with different moments of her life growing up disabled) were incredibly interesting.
But as the book went on, there was less of a focus on the way that disability and fairytales are related at all, focusing more on the way that modern lexicon influences perception of disability. Obviously, an absolutely worthwhile conversation, but out of place in the last half of a book on disability relating to fairytales (in my opinion), and almost made it seem like two different books attempting to meet in the middle.
(Want to note here that I am a chronically ill/disabled reader.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, and Medical content