Disabled Women and Sexual Agency: A Reading of Margarita with a Straw and One Little Finger

Abstract

Disability has been widely misunderstood by Indian society due to constant social marginalization and a lack of sensitization and awareness. Disabled people have been severely marginalised in Indian society. Though movies depicting disability are periodically made in Hindi, we rarely get to see movies where disability is realistically portrayed. My paper examines the refreshing and path-breaking departure from the norm in the representation of disability and sexual agency in the movie Margarita with a Straw (2015) and candid exploration of the topic in One Little Finger (2011), an autobiography written by Malini Chib. The movie is loosely based on the book, therefore, taken together, they present a powerful case for disabled women’s sexual agency and assert their rights for inclusion and accessibility. I have argued that whereas major texts in disability studies, considered canonical in the field, do not discuss key aspects of sexual culture, often regarding sexuality and disability as incongruent identities, this movie highlights the importance of the vital role played by individual sexual urges in shaping one’s personality and the overall sense of emotional wellbeing. The movie talks about accepting and normalising disability. It urges the need for enabling environment and giving space to the disabled person to spread her wings. This movie desists from portraying pitiable images of dependency. The frank articulation of the evolving sexual identities in the movie subtly challenges the misconstrued perception about the disabled as being asexual or hypersexual.