Dateable

Swiping Right, Hooking Up, and Settling Down While Chronically Ill and Disabled

By: Jessica Slice, Caroline Cupp

Narrated by: Dana Swanson, Courtney Lin

A much-needed guide to dating--from apps to hooking up, sex, long-term relationships and more--from disabled essayist and author Jessica Slice and bioethicist Caroline Cupp.

Disabled people date, have casual sex, marry, and parent. Yet our romantic lives are conspicuously absent from the media and cultural conversation. Sexual education does not typically address the specific information needed by disabled students. Mainstream dating apps fail to include disability as an aspect of one’s identity alongside race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The few underutilized disability-focused apps are paternalistic and unappealing. Bestselling dating books do not address disability, and the few relationship books marketed to disabled people focus on the mechanics of sex rather than the complex interactions that create the conditions for it.

In Dateable, disabled authors Jessica Slice Caroline Cupp team up to address the serious gap in the dating space. Dateable is the first book on disabled dating and relationships; it’s a dating guide made especially for disabled and chronically ill people, that also calls in nondisabled readers. Jessica and Caroline take on everything from rom-com representation and dating apps to sex and breakups with a strong narrative underpinning and down-to-earth advice. The book is as much a practical tool as it is an empowering guide.

Critic reviews

Dateable is all at once a warm hug, a frank conversation, and an essential guide. Every word jumped off the page and directly into my heart, helping to heal old wounds and instilling a sense that none of us are truly alone in navigating the rollercoaster of dating, sex, and love as disabled people. Now, if only this book could be required reading for anyone before they get to start swiping on an app or asking people on dates!—Emily Ladau, Author, Demystifying Disability: What To Know, What To Say, and How To Be an Ally

Excellent, informative, and validating!

As a disabled queer person, this book was both validating and educational for me. It was great to read about my own experiences as well as learn about others. This book was well done and pleasant to listen to, and I appreciated the content warnings when they were used (I admit I did skip a chapter that recommended doing so after giving a content warning for a topic I’m not comfortable reading about at this time, even in the respectful and appropriate framing that this book surely used).

Overall I highly recommend this book!