Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Culture and Delegitimization: A Feminist Analysis

Abstract

The condition referred to as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), chemical injury (CI), environmental illness (El), 20th-century disease or toxic encephalopathy has generated controversy because victims' claims of harm from low levels of chemicals in the environment conflict with general mainstream belief in the safety of these substances. Mainstream (western) culture's response to persons with MCSICI has interacted with sexism, served to delegitimize victims thereby reducing their power, reduced the victim's context (because of forced isolation), and jeopardized jobs and relationships. This article will analyze the situation of the chemically injured person and culture's response from a feminist perspective, and discuss cultural delegitimization as a process used by a chemical culture to neutralize the message of the person with MCSICI, i.e., that the environment is unsafe for her/him, and, by extension, for others.