Disabled Attractions in Kiss of the Spider Woman

Abstract

A return to Manuel Puig’s prison cell in Kiss of the Spider Woman parallels the physical limitations of incarceration with social marginality. However, inspired by Robert McRuer’s Crip Theory, the disabled status of the two inmates is not regarded as a setback, but rather as a preferred state of being. Crippled by their situation, the two find solace in each other and make of their cultural disabilities the motivation for collaborative action against the imprisoning pressures of heteronormative institutions. This reading of Kiss of the Spider Woman argues that the disabling effects of social marginalization enable community formation based on sharing, supportive gestures that work to disengage heteronormative power structures.