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Joining Forces to Advocate for BIID
Written by Sean on Sunday, September 28, 2008
There are many different points of view about our need to acquire a physical impairment. Some people perceive it as a psychological condition, other people see it as a lifestyle choice, others still see it as a variation on extreme body modification. Some people embrace the word ‘transabled‘, other people resent it. Obviously, we can’t all agree on the same things. But couldn’t we unite to promote our ultimate, common, goal?
Isn’t the end goal for all of us to either:
- find a way to manage the pain caused by BIID, or
- acquire the impairment we need because of BIID.
It seems to me to be a fairly simple, straightforward goal that we can pretty much all agree on, yes?
As long as we remain fractionned, our efforts are going towards fighting one another rather than accomplishing anything. I am reminded of a chant used at many protests: "The people, united, will never be defeated!". And it is also a well known ruling tactic to "Divide and conquer". We really are wasting our energies in petty and useless squabbles. And these altercations are really bad for our spirit, for our morale. It’s a lose-lose situation to continue being so fractionned.
We could settle our differences, try and meet halfway. Perhaps my insistence that BIID is a mental illness presents too strong a position and saying it is a "psychological condition" would be more satisfactory for some. And if these differences are too radically opposed, like those who are fervently against the word and concept of ‘transabled‘, then, there is the next option:
Simply agree to disagree.
In the end, does it really matter that I think BIID should be included in the DSM and you don’t? Does it really matter what label we prefer to use to describe what we have? We are all seeking surgery, or relief from BIID demons.
In the words of someone famous “can’t we all just get along?”.
Tags: Advocacy, BIID, DSM, Lifestyle Choice, Mental Illness, Surgery
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1 On 28 September, 2008, Chloe said:
All too often, people have massive arguments about what might appear to be substantial issues. Then, on further examination, it becomes apparent that the only point of disagreement concerns the semantics. Various friends have referred to me as being “mentally ill”, “mentally disabled”, “insane”, “crippled”, “crazy” (yes, they’re still my friends ;)). I gladly accept all these epithets. I don’t mind a bit; they are just words. I have what I have. It is what it is.