A wheeling chair doesn’t preclude sex

by Federica Mastroforti - 2013.06.06

Disabilities and sexuality are often seen as being poles apart from each other. Yet, being a disabled woman doesn’t mean that you cannot claim that your sexual sphere is considered as inviolable. Danilo Sergio, film maker, wanted to tackle this delicate issue through a documentary: “Love Affair”. The protagonist, Aline Cuffaro, is a woman suffering from invalidating polyneuropathy, a progressive disease causing gradual mobility loss of different parts of the body.



“In Italy, and worldwide, women are still obliged to live a condition of subordination compared with men. A civil country, if it want to be considered as such, should protect the weakest categories. As citizen, I felt morally obliged to stop and listen to someone I had never paid attention to before. Doing the documentary has been a real challenge. Sexual pleasure is a right, although we feel often ashamed to consider it as such, especially when it is related to individuals with reduced physical capabilities. I wanted to offer a woman with disabilities the opportunity to tell first-hand her relationship with the sexual sphere. Aline’s story is in line my point of view and I tried to turn the documentary with the greatest of respect, forcing the spectator’s eyes to look at a topic neglected in our daily lives.”



The idea that people with disabilities can have the same sexual needs as a “normal” person is perceived as impossible: “I shot Love Affair with a view to shedding light on this issue. The biggest violence is perpetrated by the society through shame and repulsion feelings that you can see when discussing sexuality in people with disabilities.” Today, the issue is pervading all fields in art “which plays a fundamental role; even literature is helping remove the taboo, by telling love stories with disabled characters.”



Proximity to these people makes it possible to “realize that their request is legitimate. Living their sexuality in total independency, without it being necessarily violated, is a right, with no exceptions. What comes to light is a disabled woman who wants her society to recognize a right, and a pleasure. They are just asking the society not to feel ashamed.”



