Sexy Like Us: Expanding Notions of Disability and Sexuality Through Burlesque Performance

People with disabilities often have their sexuality denied or dismissed in mainstream culture, which prohibits disabled bodies from being considered sexy bodies. The article explores how burlesque performance can open a space for people with disabilities to display their bodies onstage and expand the notion of what kinds of bodies and performances can be considered sexy and sexual. This type of stage performance allows for a prolonged stare that helps audience members normalize body variability, while the storytelling element allows disabled actors to create spaces of identification with the audience through narrative. By using burlesque techniques to perform disability in innovative ways, disabled actors can create a space for individuals to be considered sexual beings because of disability, not in spite of their embodiment, thereby expanding notions of sexuality and sexual practice for all bodies.