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Journal of Family Issues
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Meanings of Sisterhood and Developmental Disability

Narratives From White Nondisabled Sisters

Lori A. McGraw

Oregon State University, Corvallis, lori.mcgraw{at}oregonstate.edu

Alexis J. Walker

Oregon State University, Corvallis

Integrating thought from critical feminist and disability theorists via a strategic social constructionist perspective, the authors analyzed 10 in-depth qualitative interviews to begin to understand the dialogue between (a) how nondisabled sisters understand themselves and their siblings with developmental disabilities and (b) wider systems of power or discourse. The women in this exploratory study described themselves as good sisters by portraying their siblings with disabilities as normal, emphasizing opportunities for moral enhancement, minimizing personal sacrifices, and accepting the gendered nature of family care. This study suggests that nondisabled sisters co-opt ideology that holds women accountable for moral conduct in families to oppose discourse that devalues people with disabilities. This ideology does not, however, help them transcend a gender system that requires mothers and sisters but not fathers and brothers to engage in family care.

Key Words: adult siblings ties • care work • disability theory • feminist theory

Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 28, No. 4, 474-500 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X06297312
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