Home / Thoughts / Sick and tired of amputee elitism
Sick and tired of amputee elitism
Written by Sean on Wednesday, February 21, 2007
For years, amputee wannabes have pretty much held that they were they only “true” wannabes. Yes, this is a generalisation and there have been a few amputee wannabes over the years that agreed all “flavours” of BIID were as valid as theirs, but by and large, that’s not the case.
I’m sick and tired to read about BIID and see no mention of other impairments than amputation. I go to wikipedia, and it’s all about amputees. I make edits to reflect other impairments, these edits are immediately changed and reverted. Someone is intent on making sure that only amputee wannabes are in the picture. Frankly, that pisses me off.
Can’t you see, we all have the same bloody condition!
It’s one thing to have doctors think that a spinal cord transection is not acceptable, because the long term impact on the body is more considerable and risky than the long term impact of a leg amputation. It’s quite another to have people who have the same feeling you do ostracise you, because your condition happens to focus on something different than theirs.
BIID.org has long refused to include non-amputee wannabes. The new “administration” of the site is no different than the old.
Many people on this very list also seem intent on making a distinction. I’ve been told I couldn’t *possibly* have BIID, since I didn’t want to be an amputee. I’ve also been told (in so many words) that I was sick and perverted for needing to be a paraplegic (this coming from a self-professed DAK wannabe!).
As a result of this elitism, any research is biased towards amputee wannabes, which continues to promote the concept that the only impairment people with BIID need is amputation!
Yeah, I’m tired of it.
When I advocate and educate people who don’t know about BIID, I always make a point of explaining that many conditions are sought, from amputation to paraplegia (see this very site), including deafness (see http://makemedeaf.blogspot.org ), blindness, or even MS (see http://demyelinate.org ).
Is it *really* too much to ask of y’all that you return the favour?
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13 Comments
2 On 22 February, 2007, Sean said:
Marie, I understand that there are hierarchies everywhere, and while it’s a bitch, it’s not as much a problem as what I describe here. What I describe would be more aptly compared to a MtF trannie telling a FtM trannie that they aren’t a true transsexual because they need to switch to a male body instead of to a female body.
3 On 22 February, 2007, Marie said:
Oh indeed! It’s terrible for anyone to say that you’re not “good enough”. But there’s not much we can do aside from continuing to educate and say “No that isn’t right, we are the same.”
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?
I am an amputee wannabe and I absolutely agree.
I don’t understand why everyone focuses on amputees and that agervates me because one of my best friends is a para wannabe and it’s like she is getting ignored. I don’t understand why they focus on one “symptom” of BIID.
5 On 22 February, 2007, Sean said:
Thanks Adam, glad you feel that way.
It boggles the mind, at least mine. It seems to me that a broader definition of BIID would be more likely to inspire the medical profession to try out elective surgery on at least one segment of people with BIID. Those most likely first in line would be the amputee wannabes. If true, they are only hurting their own chances. Besides, don’t we all have this desire in common? It is hard enough to gain any sympathy from society in general; we basically only have ourselves. I don’t expect many outside our little community to accept that I want to become a paraplegic; therefore, I at least hope that others with different types (?) of BIID can see my point of view! Diversity is fine, division is not.
Thank you Sean for working to include the whole range of those with BIID.
I think this demonstates the limited understanding some people have of their own “condition”. I think with many people the level of understanding goes no further than “I see myself with no legs”. The need to have legs or any other part that doesn’t work is much more complex an idea. In fact an amputee BIID has something they dont want a para BIID has something he /she does want.. a disability ( I mean an impairment but this isnt the place for that debate!). I sense in many a view that the successful amputee has achieved “perfection” and a successful para / blind /deaf / MS would have (in ther eyes) become very “imperfect”.
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
8 On 23 February, 2007, Sean said:
P, could you elaborate on this thought? I’m not sure I follow what you’re trying to say…
Sometimes even I am not sure what I mean!
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
10 On 27 February, 2007, Sean said:
Ahh, yes, I get you. That makes sense, actually. Amputees don’t view themselves as people with disabilities (generalising here). So if you are an amputee wannabe, viewing yourself as an amputee isn’t viewing yourself with a disability. TO imagine paraplegia, which *is* clearly a disability, then, it must be different. Or some such. :)
As an amputee ‘wannabe’, I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment of the situation. It’s extremely frustrating to see such divisiveness within an already marginalised community. The fact is that we all have something in common: a self-image that does not correlate to the physical condition ofr our bodies.
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.
Hi my name is Bridgette I,m a crossdresser right now but some day I would love to have a sex change.I,m also a leg amputee wannabe,I love dressing and pretending to be and amputee but thats not good enough any more.I want to be a real woman some day with one leg my right leg off about mid thigh or higher. I would like to talk to any other cd,s with this problem or people I can talk to I,m running out of time I,m a female in a male body and I hate having two legs I need to have my right leg cut off.Bridgette
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1 On 21 February, 2007, Marie said:
There’s actually elitism in the transgender community:
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.