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Expressive Touch and the Attitude of Care: The Case for LGBT-Inclusive Intake in Aging Network Services
- IJFAB: International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics
- University of Toronto Press
- Volume 10, Number 1, Spring 2017
- pp. 194-209
- Article
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Abstract:
This article uses the work of Eva Feder Kittay and Maurice Merleau-Ponty to advocate for LGBT-inclusive intake questions across aging network services. I argue that care providers need to know their charge’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity because caring touch is responsive, meaning that the care provider understands how her touch will be perceived and can change her actions accordingly. Information about a charge’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity is one important way to furnish the care provider with the information she needs to calibrate effectively the expressive impact of her touch.