Medicine and the aesthetic invalidation of disabled people

Contemporary disability discourse is marked by a struggle between medical a nd social meanings and models. The latter reflects the aspirations and yout hful radicalism of the disability movement, while the former regards itself as the legitimate voice of truth in all matters associated with bodily fun ction and process. This paper argues that the battle lines between these tw o camps need not be redrawn. Despite hints to the contrary, the proposed ex tension of the social model to accommodate a sociology of impairment does n ot involve a rapprochement with the medical model. On the contrary, a socio logical account of impairment seeks to augment the armoury of the social mo del by developing one of its weaknesses, namely the cultural critique of me dicine. This paper examines some of the ways in which medicine has been inv olved in the 'aesthetic invalidation' of disabled people and proposes that 'geneticization' is an important current contributor to this form of disabi lity discrimination.