Visibility, respectability, and disengagement: The everyday resistance of mothers with disabilities

•Findings from interviews with Deaf/disabled mothers are reported.•These mothers frequently employ strategies of everyday resistance to challenge stigma.•The article also explores the hidden labor required to manage stigma.

This article presents findings from 42 interviews with mothers who have physical and/or sensory disabilities in the USA and Canada. While much of the stigma literature emphasizes disempowering forms of coping, findings demonstrate these mothers frequently employ strategies of everyday resistance to challenge stigma, including visibility politics, respectability politics, and disengagement. The author explores how these mothers employ varying combinations of resistance strategies, depending upon the social context and intersecting aspects of their identities. Finally, the author illuminates how stigma demands hidden labor from these mothers, no matter the resistance strategies they choose.