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Fun fact (that I’m 90% sure isn’t apocryphal): the screenwriter for Alien (Dan O’Bannon) had Crohn’s disease and was inspired by it for the scene where facehuggers burst out of people’s chests. I feel very strongly that awesome analyses like this one would be strengthened with a disability lens added on to the queer feminist one!

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Do you have any favorite disability studies/crip theory pieces that I can add to my list?

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Hmmm, not in relation to the Alien franchise, unfortunately! I’ve only ever seen social media posts about disability and Alien.

In general, I think things authored or edited by Alice Wong, Sami Schalk, and Eli Clare are good! Some people really like Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, but I’m personally not a fan. If you’re interested in what sci-fi could look like if disabled people were its authors (Alien notwithstanding), then there’s an anthology of short stories called Soul Jar!

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thanks!

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I didn’t know that - interesting! You’re right, there’s a lot here that’s relevant in terms of disability theory.

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