ABSTRACT The conceptualisation of disability is contested globally and issues in gender studies further complicate the movement towards the development of an inclusive and equal society. However, most disability and gender research studies are based on the data collected in the Global North, and little is known about disabled women in the Global South. The data presented here is from a bigger study focusing on the lived experiences of women with disabilities. This paper sets to explore how disabled women in Malaysia experience their lives in terms of marriage and motherhood prospects. The data of this qualitative study was collected from a set of in-depth interviews involving 32 women in Malaysia with physical (mobility) impairment. Over a period of 6 months, 16 Malays, 8 Chinese and 8 Indian women were interviewed twice. The analysis proposes both retrospective and introspective accounts on marriage and motherhood. The data gathered from the in-depth interviews was transcribed and analysed thematically with the help of NVivo software. The findings indicated that most participants have experienced significant barriers concerning individual constraints, familial control, and societal barriers. These were discussed with the intrinsic aspects and contextual factors of living in a patriarchal and traditional society that significantly undermined the wellbeing of disabled women in this study. Nevertheless, many of those interviewed refused to give up their hope of having a family life despite the constant struggles they encountered in their pursuit of happiness. However, their aspirations to experience family life were restricted and this caused them to experience significant psycho-emotional problems. They were constantly reminded that they were ‘disabled’ and not worthy of experiencing life like other women. The paper will discuss these challenges and negative societal attitudes towards the issue.

中文翻译：

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婚姻和母亲的障碍：马来西亚残疾妇女的经历

摘要残疾概念在全球范围内受到争议，性别研究中的问题进一步使向包容和平等的社会发展的趋势复杂化。但是，大多数残疾和性别研究都是基于全球北部收集的数据，对全球南部的残疾妇女知之甚少。此处提供的数据来自于一项更大的研究，重点关注残疾妇女的生活经历。本文旨在探讨马来西亚残疾妇女在婚姻和孕产前景方面的生活经历。该定性研究的数据来自一组深度访谈，涉及马来西亚32名身体（行动）障碍的妇女。在6个月的时间内，两次采访了16位马来人，8位华人和8位印度妇女。该分析提出了关于婚姻和母亲的回顾性和内省性描述。在NVivo软件的帮助下，将从深度访谈中收集的数据进行转录和主题分析。研究结果表明，大多数参与者在个人约束，家庭控制和社会障碍方面遇到了重大障碍。讨论了父权制和传统社会生活中的内在因素和背景因素，这些因素在本研究中极大地损害了残疾妇女的福祉。然而，尽管他们在追求幸福的过程中不断挣扎，但许多受访者仍拒绝放弃他们过家庭生活的希望。然而，他们体验家庭生活的愿望受到限制，这使他们经历了重大的心理情感问题。他们不断地被提醒自己是“残疾的”，不值得像其他女性那样经历生活。本文将讨论这些挑战以及对该问题的消极社会态度。