From Marginalization to Empowerment: The Resilient Voice of Naseema Huzruk

Abstract

A feminist disability approach posits a complex understanding of the cultural history of the body. By integrating feminism and disability studies in academia, the study goes beyond the explicit disability topics such as beauty, health, illness, aging, reproduction, and eugenics. It talks about the lived experience of oppression and suppression faced by a woman with a disability within a societal context. To prove the oppression and denial of human rights to a disabled woman, the memoir selected for study is Naseema Huzruk’s The Incredible Story. It shows the powerful connection between class, gender, disability, and resilience. It talks about her frustration, anxiety, and stress, as she was not a person with a congenital disability; rather, hers is an acquired disability. The sudden state of becoming disabled, either by accident or by some biological condition, can lead to anxiety, which in turn produces obsessive-compulsive behavior. The excessive, senseless, and uncontrollable behaviors are compulsions; rather, excessive, useless, invasive thoughts are obsessions. Both obsession and compulsion seem to be the results of anxiety. With the sudden onset of disability, the human psyche undergoes disequilibrium and moves to various states such as shock and denial, grief and loss, sadness and depression, and physical discomfort and pain. However, the human mind will try to forget the unpleasant memories and avoid mental distress. It will eventually find ways to adapt and adjust, and later it will seek pride in one’s identity as a person with a disability in an inclusive environment.