From where I sit, it would seem that we should all be understanding of each other’s needs, rather than arguing over whose needs are more or less real or valid. I see no substantive difference between feeling that four limbs on one’s body is too many (amp wannabe), versus feeling that five standard senses is too many (deaf or blind wannabe), versus the feeling that a nervous system laden with the standard complement of myelin is too much. To some extent, I’d even consider transsexuality to be in a similar category, as it’s a case of a fundamental aspect of one’s body being out of alignment with self-image, causing intolerable levels of discomfort.

Are we really so different from each other? Are we even significantly different from one who grows tired of being blonde, and dyes her hair red? Or one who feels inadequate with a B-cup, and gets her breasts augmented through plastic surgery? To my mind, the answer is: “Not really”.

I would even argue that our need to get rid of extra senses/abilities/limbs/whatever is very similar to the condition of those who face the opposite condition: I see the sighted person who would prefer to be blind as being in a similar situation to the blind one who wishes to see; the one who feels that four limbs are too many is similar to one who feels that their own three (or fewer) is too few. The difference is that in the opposite cases, society is intent upon doing everything it can to assist those people to achieve as close to the desired state as possible. For example, someone with profound hearing loss who wants to hear can relatively easily get cochlear implants or some other such hearing aid devices; yet the deaf wannabe is offered no assistance by society, and is stuck improvising. This imbalance extends even further, but I’ve probably rambled long enough for now.

And I tried TWICE!

P

I just feel that disablism (or ableism if you like)seems to to be very prominent in amputee biid.

I think the very idea of a non functioning limb is even worse in their eyes than non amputation. There is a sense that like many real (not by choice) amputees in the wider world they look down on other disabilities. Perhaps the idealism of a specific body type engenders disgust at any other with the normal body seen as bad but the disabled body seen as even worse unless the disabled body meets the “ideal”.

This still makes little sense !

P

Of course this doesn’t apply to all and there are thoughtful accepting people out there but they seem rarer than you might expect.

P

It’s funny that you use the phrase “true transsexual.” Up until the 1970s (I think) that phrase was only applied to transsexuals that transitioned when young which implied that those who transitioned when they were older were somehow “false.” That was an institutional term and stopped being used when they realised that just because I started transition at 21 doesn’t mean I’m different from the person who does it at 12 or 70. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could make a similar transition with BIID?

Postoperative transsexuals are “better” than pre-operative people which are “better” than non-operative transsexuals.

Transsexuals are “better” than crossdressers which are “better” than transvestites.

Young transsexuals are “better” than those that transition in their 40s or later.

There’s elitism in every community, I think. In the Deaf community those who went to schools for the deaf are “better” than those that go to mainstram schools. Hard of hearing people are “less than” people born deaf and so on.

We’re not lucky to live in a world where everyone is equal. The only thing we can do is to persevere and continue to educate and say that we’re all equal and that no one is better or worse than anyone else.