A burgeoning body of literature shows a positive relationship between body functionality and positive body image. Although still nascent, research centring experiences of people with disabilities and bodily differences develops this literature. In this article, we offer directions for this research, bringing body functionality into dialogue with feminist materialist disability theory to examine relations between people’s bodily perceptions and the socio-material worlds they occupy. Feminist disability theory re-imagines difference through an affirmative lens, conceptualising body image as relational and processual, and approaching difference through four orientations: difference is basic to the world; difference is not deficiency; difference is not the problem, our inhospitable and ableist world is; and centring difference exposes the mythical norm. We apply this lens to body functionality research, and outline implications for research, practice, and theory, arguing that building a bridge between these frameworks offers a stepping off point for exciting directions for body image research.

一个新兴的文学体表明身体功能和积极的身体形象之间存在积极的关系。尽管仍处于起步阶段，但以残疾人和身体差异的研究为中心的研究发展了这些文献。在本文中，我们为这项研究提供了方向，将身体功能与女权主义唯物主义残疾理论进行对话，以研究人们的身体感知与其所占据的社会物质世界之间的关系。女权主义残疾理论通过肯定的视角重新想象差异，将身体意象概念化为关系性和过程性，并通过四个方向接近差异：差异是世界的基础；差异不是不足；差异不是问题，我们这个荒凉而能干的世界才是；中心差异暴露了神话规范。我们将这个视角应用于身体功能研究，并概述对研究、实践和理论的影响，认为在这些框架之间建立一座桥梁为身体意象研究的激动人心的方向提供了一个起点。