Whose body is it anyway? Pressures and control for women with learning disabilities

What women with learning disabilities think and feel about their bodies should be of interest to those concerned with women's rights and disability rights. Yet scant attention appears to have paid to these issues. It has been suggested in the past that one of the 'blessings' of having a learning disability is that one is free from many of the pressures society places on individuals to conform. However, the research presented here suggests that far from being immune to these pressures to conform, women with learning disabilities are, indeed, subject to strong influences, and overt and covert control mechanisms shape their bodies and minds towards achieving certain norms of femininity.