Rurality, disability and place identity

Abstract

For Billy, who is introduced by his mother, in her own words, in this vignette, place is a vital aspect of his identity. He remains connected to his family property where he is still able to help when he can, and he lives in an environment that he is familiar with, and one where, with some help, he can still be ‘Billy’ and participate in those ‘masculine’ tasks that confirm his role and sense of belonging. This chapter suggests that place has multiple meanings, and is formed ‘out of the particular set of social relations which interact at a particular location’ (Massey 1994, p. 168). Place also acts as a ‘powerful force in the construction of gender identity’ (Little 1997, p. 151), as this collection argues.