The role of sexuality and sex equity in the education of disabled women

Victoria, a disabled psychologist, remembers being one of the guys in high school. She was not a girl, she was not a sexually desired person. She was a guy (V. Thornton, 1981). This problem of not being seen as a sexual being is a common theme in disabled women's literature (Browne, Connors, & Stern, 1985). It often leads to the internalized idea that sexual activity is reserved for the nondisabled population (V. Thornton, 1981). Disabled girls and women face many of the same types of sexuality and other types of sex discriminatory challenges as nondisabled females, but as just indicated, they also face some unique problems depending on their disabilities and circumstances. Also, sexuality related concerns faced by all women, such as dating, are magnified when faced by disabled girls and women. This sex equity article is primarily focused on disabled females rather than males, because females are generally disadvantaged compared to disabled males in their educational and life achievements. While dis-