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Home / Thoughts / Plastic bodies, extreme modifications, BIID, etc

Plastic bodies, extreme modifications, BIID, etc

Written by Sean on Friday, February 22, 2008

There have been a lot of comments recently on ModBlog, about an interview with One Hand Jason, a guy who cut his hand off and is now happy. These comments raised the usual concerns, but one must also ponder the deeper implications. Some articles about ‘plastic bodies’, relationship of the transabled individual to requests for plastic surgeries, extreme body modification, etc.

There were the usual comments. Surprise that anyone would want to do that. There was a good number of supportive comments, which was refreshing to read. There was confusion about BIID being "like" BDD, which occurs a lot. We know there is a significant difference between the two conditions. People saying that medical help should be sought. Even someone who repeatedly argues that there have been "many" people with BIID successfully treated through psychiatry approaches. I find this a surprising claim, considering my involvement in the BIID "community", and the number of people I’ve spoken to. Surely, after nearly 15 years of activity in these circles, either I would have spoken to them, or heard about them? or is it perhaps that these people don’t actually have BIID but something mistaken for BIID? A few people "got" the similarities between GID and BIID. The person being most vocal about psychiatric solution seems to imply that we aren’t helped by psychiatry because we don’t want it badly enough. Similar discourse to that “given” to paraplegic who are told they aren’t walking because they don’t want it bad enough. Last I checked, there were 112 comments on the thread. I am sure there will be more.

Everytime I see someone who has BIID mentionned in relation with Extreme Body Modification, I go "hummm". We are indeed (or want to at any rate) modifying our bodies. The people who have succeeded have lost limbs, or parts thereof. Does it mean we "belong" with the bodmod crowd though? I’m not convinced. Loping off a limb is an obvious body modification. Causing paralysis is less obvious. That is, it’s not quite so visible a body modification to other people. Perhaps legs would atrophy some, but generally speaking, it isn’t such a visual modification. Then there’s those of us who need to be deaf. They would be modifying the body, in that the hearing wouldn’t work anymore, but is it "bodmod"?

I’ve already written elsewhere that I don’t think BIID really fits in with Extreme Body Modification. In short, though, I believe the major difference is that those into bodmod tend to do this not out of a deep need to align their psyche and their body, but rather out of an appeal for fun, or to make a statement, or to be different. This by no means belittles bodmod. It does present a difference, sufficient enough that I doubt they can be bundled together.

Of course, "the end justifies the means" and I can easily imagine people who have BIID wanting to represent their need as bodmod - it is more benign that way. Society may not be ready to accept some of the extreme body modification out there, but they are more ready to accept those than to accept the need to have an impairment due to BIID.

This leads into discussions of "plastic body". John Jordan wrote a really good article about BIID, and people seeking plastic surgery, and how the medical profession justifies granting or refusing plastic surgery. He points out that someone is more likely to be granted elective plastic surgery if they present as a "rational" being that can explain how they are currently unhappy in their own skin and how surgery would make them happier. If someone can get calf or breast implants that way, or a nose job, logically, someone should also be able to get an elective amputation, or spinal cord transection. Nikki Sullivan also discusses similar issues, pointing out that hundred of thousands of procedures are taking place each year, and questions why BIID is pathologised, when other procedures are condoned. This discourse makes complete sense to me, but unfortunately, I don’t believe that society or the medical profession is ready to change their minds on this, despite the irrefutable logic of these papers. Reason for that is the negative prejudice society and the medical profession in general has against disabilities.

But it does make you wonder, doesn’t it? I mean, why is it that someone who wants breast or calf implant, or penis piercings, or tongue splitting, or facial sculpture are given the name and address of people who can do it for them, but those of us with BIID are told "you’re sick, seek psychiatric help?".

I’m not arguing for or against pathologising BIID here, I’ve done that elsewhere. Maybe we *are* sick and need help, but that help does not work in the form of psychiatric assistance, not for most people, not now anyway. Whether you advocate for GID being de-pathologised and removed from the DSM or not, the similarities between BIID and GID are strong, and GID isn’t "cured" by psychotherapy or psychiatry. So, if you think someone with GID should get surgery as a treatment option, why wouldn’t someone with BIID be entitled to the same thing? Is it because we need an impairment? If that’s the case, what does that say of your perception of what it’s like to live with a disability?

Tags: GID, BIID, BDD, Gender Identity Disorder, Body Integrity Identity Disorder, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Body Modification, Bodmod, Paralysis, Amputation, Implants, Psychiatry

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