Post by nittedals on Nov 15, 2008 16:27:43 GMT -5
I found this blog online - and it ticked me off. Here is both the original piece and my response to the blogger. Any one else want to add something?
Here’s the original piece first:
“Sunday, June 25, 2006
Disability Porn: the Observer
Sunday's Observer has a piece about disability and porn.
The newest star is Encarna Conde: "Her first film, Breaking Barriers, is, however, already the subject of debate on internet chatboards and has even had entire pages dedicated to it in the Spanish press. The reason for the fuss is that Encarna is a wheelchair user who has a muscle control disorder called ataxia. She is also president of the Association of Andalucian Ataxia Groups."
The tone of the piece is one of bemused congratulation. Another barrier broken. Another thing those crazy disabled people do -- remember the coverage about the criticism of the Danish govt, because it pays for PWD to have sex with professional sex workers?
I'm conflicted.
On the one hand, I think it is important for PWD to be recognised as fully sexual beings. Ellen Stohl accomplished some of this work when she appeared in Playboy in 1987. And wasn't there a fuss! From the disability community -- everything from exploitation to not enough wheelchair -- and from those who oppose porn on principle. On the other hand, while I usually maintain a fairly sex positive attitude and I can understand, even sympathize with the arguments that interpret sex work as a positive choice for some women, I know that sex work is not always positive, that the viewer cannot tell from looking at the image, and that in every day life not every sex worker's rights are protected. This limits my ability to go for porn without many, many reservations.
The disability perspective is what bugs me: journalism like this and perhaps even the film itself provides fodder for a rather large community of wheelchair pretenders and wheelchair fetishizers. Yes: run this Google search; you will soon see what I mean. And, yes, I know that there are distinctions between wannabees, pretenders, fetishizers, and devotees. For now, however, I am linking them as a group of people to whom disability porn might be relevant.
OK. More disclaimers. I think it is Ian Hacking who once argued that psychiatric diagnoses are self-fulfilling loops -- there is no illness until there is a diagnosis (probably in his the Social Construction of What? -- and given what I know about the history of things like Alzheimer's Disease and schizophrenia, I am partial to some of these points). Nonetheless, I do believe in the possibility of BIID (bodily integrity identity disorder). I am not a scholar on these topics; I recommend reading the work of disabled (amputee) and feminist scholar, Alison Kafer:
www.overground.be/features.php?page=OUT&lan=en, www.disabilityworld.org/June-July2000/Women/SDS.htm
More prosaic studies of some of the issues are Carl Elliott's piece in The Atlantic (subscription required) and Robin Marantz Henig's piece in the NYT (also subscription).
I am worried about the effect on those of us who are PWDs.
We are not there for your sexual pleasure; I have a friend who removed all reference to herself (in so far as is possible) from the Net because she kept getting creepy email from devotees.
My chair is not a sexual object. I want to be seen for myself. Not my disability.
I am angry that these people parasite off the civil rights that were so hard earned because disability, for them, is a choice. An ideal lifestyle... For example, I caught one pretender asking how a "wheeler" could manage a certain journey on the NY subway. This just got my goat. The subway is so f***ing inaccessible; the times I have been caught when an elevator is broken, when I have risked my health to drag myself upstairs, had to ask for help to carry my chair, when I have gone deliberately out of my way because I have caught the wrong train and the next 12 stations are inaccessible and I cannot even consider walking that day. All this? And this person is expecting one of us to respond so she can fake being part of our world? (I googled her and found her at a pretender site). She doesn't live the daily struggle of trying to get a taxi, of things being out of reach, inaccessible and if she does experience them, they are a pleasurable part of her world. Something she can interpret as authentic disability experience. Sh*t.
I hate wheelchair pretender fiction: the pleasure the pretender derives from passivity, the arousal from an imagined state of helplessness, the pleasure in the sympathetic and pitying responses of people on the street, the eroticism located in the passivity and helplessness imagined in a bowel program. Yes, I have read lots of it --and I am annoyed by the fact that almost every writer works from a negative understanding of disabled life, that they revivify old, tired stereotypes, that they have no active, positive understanding of disability culture. I'm POed that almost every piece I have read imagines social relations, sexual relations, professional relations from a position of passivity and self-denying long sufferingness. GET A LIFE.
And for every woman who is a pretender, there are a number of women who are told by their medical professionals that it's all in their heads. As I read the bulletin boards (and in my own experience), far too many women are still subject to "hysterical diagnosis." Pretending is not a cause, but as public awareness goes up on the topic, it certainly won't help.
In that pretenders exploit people's goodwill (even goodwill born of bad stereotypes), pretending is a breach of the social trust that we have in one another. It's dinner time. Wizard is smiling gently. We have planned to walk into downtown and eat at a restaurant there. I wonder whether anyone will look at us and wonder whether I am a pretender or if he is a devotee.
Bitterly.
By Wheelchair Dancer at 7:13 PM ”
And now – my response:
I belong to the group of people you seem to despise so much. I am a devotee. I belong to a minority – just like you. I have used much time and effort trying to understand my devotee side. I have talked extensively about the why’s of our being to devotees, wannabees and disabled people alike. It is a common enough topic with my lover, husband, soulmate, who also happens to ride a pretty cool chair. But – in the end –I have found none who understands why devotees are attracted to people with disabilities, It is just there. In short – I cannot help being a devotee any more than you can help being in a wheelchair.
I am sorry that someone from our community has offended you. But before you judge us on the basis of one or a few contacts with our group – I would like to challenge you to openly ponder the following issue:
Some girls find muscular guys very attractive. In fact they would not even consider going out with the run of the mill. But do you seriously believe that being muscular would be the only attribute such a girl would consider in a longterm relationship?
I happen to find people with walking disabilities very attractive. But – wheelchair or not – that would never be enough on its own to make up a long term relationship. I have found someone whom I find physically, socially, intellectually and emotionally attractive – and the relationship is adult and consensual - I can see nothing wrong in pursuing such a partner... Why is it so wrong to find someone in a wheelchair physically attractive? Must it always start in the other end – with the social, emotional and intellectual stuff?
I have extensive experience and contact with devotees and wannabes. In this community - there is no one who would say that only the wheelchair or the disability is enough to form the basis of a partnership. I freely admit that any guy zooming past my field of vision is going to get a second glance. Call it oogling if you will..Eyecandy is always nice. The disability may be a starting point, but it is never enough on its own. Please do not judge all of us from single unhappy and insensitive encounters.
Now the wannabe side of the story. I can readily understand that you feel provoked by people who desire to be in your position for short time pleasure only. As you point out – you do not have the choice to switch your situation around at your convenience.
Again – I’d like you to open your mind to the following concept. The pure wannabe is probably not interested in you as a partner. (the devotee is the one who is attracted to you). – He/ she is interested in learning more about what it feels like to live with your disability. And the purpose is – just as you have discerned – to be able to understand more fully and to be able to pretend/ imagine what it is like to be you. Now lets leave the why’s behind for a minute – if you think about it. What is wrong about someone learning more about what it is to be disabled just like you are? I can think of no reason to call that a bad thing.
Now – the next step is to bring in the Why. Why are they interested in this knowledge. In your terminology – it is for ” the pleasure the pretender derives from passivity, the arousal from an imagined state of helplessness, the pleasure in the sympathetic and pitying responses of people on the street, the eroticism located in the passivity and helplessness imagined in a bowel program.” And – as I said before – If this is generally true – I’d be provoked too. However – my contacts with wannabees indicates another story. They are no more in control of their desires to be disabled than you are in control of your sex, or your hair color. You might think it is for pleasure – I think it is a deep and basic need. As long as people are respectful and sensitive – I cannot judge or fault them for their internal settings as to who they percieve themselves to be. Lucky is the person whose perception and reality of themselves are a perfect match…
Finally – most devotees have wannabe dreams and most wannabes are devotees. I think part of your confusion is that you mix the sexual attraction of the devotee into the wannabe need to know what it is like to be disabled. As pointed out earlier – the two co-exist, but are not the same.
To end - I hope for a world where people are not judged by sexual attraction or disabilty etc… Good luck in finding your personal Devotee!
Here’s the original piece first:
“Sunday, June 25, 2006
Disability Porn: the Observer
Sunday's Observer has a piece about disability and porn.
The newest star is Encarna Conde: "Her first film, Breaking Barriers, is, however, already the subject of debate on internet chatboards and has even had entire pages dedicated to it in the Spanish press. The reason for the fuss is that Encarna is a wheelchair user who has a muscle control disorder called ataxia. She is also president of the Association of Andalucian Ataxia Groups."
The tone of the piece is one of bemused congratulation. Another barrier broken. Another thing those crazy disabled people do -- remember the coverage about the criticism of the Danish govt, because it pays for PWD to have sex with professional sex workers?
I'm conflicted.
On the one hand, I think it is important for PWD to be recognised as fully sexual beings. Ellen Stohl accomplished some of this work when she appeared in Playboy in 1987. And wasn't there a fuss! From the disability community -- everything from exploitation to not enough wheelchair -- and from those who oppose porn on principle. On the other hand, while I usually maintain a fairly sex positive attitude and I can understand, even sympathize with the arguments that interpret sex work as a positive choice for some women, I know that sex work is not always positive, that the viewer cannot tell from looking at the image, and that in every day life not every sex worker's rights are protected. This limits my ability to go for porn without many, many reservations.
The disability perspective is what bugs me: journalism like this and perhaps even the film itself provides fodder for a rather large community of wheelchair pretenders and wheelchair fetishizers. Yes: run this Google search; you will soon see what I mean. And, yes, I know that there are distinctions between wannabees, pretenders, fetishizers, and devotees. For now, however, I am linking them as a group of people to whom disability porn might be relevant.
OK. More disclaimers. I think it is Ian Hacking who once argued that psychiatric diagnoses are self-fulfilling loops -- there is no illness until there is a diagnosis (probably in his the Social Construction of What? -- and given what I know about the history of things like Alzheimer's Disease and schizophrenia, I am partial to some of these points). Nonetheless, I do believe in the possibility of BIID (bodily integrity identity disorder). I am not a scholar on these topics; I recommend reading the work of disabled (amputee) and feminist scholar, Alison Kafer:
www.overground.be/features.php?page=OUT&lan=en, www.disabilityworld.org/June-July2000/Women/SDS.htm
More prosaic studies of some of the issues are Carl Elliott's piece in The Atlantic (subscription required) and Robin Marantz Henig's piece in the NYT (also subscription).
I am worried about the effect on those of us who are PWDs.
We are not there for your sexual pleasure; I have a friend who removed all reference to herself (in so far as is possible) from the Net because she kept getting creepy email from devotees.
My chair is not a sexual object. I want to be seen for myself. Not my disability.
I am angry that these people parasite off the civil rights that were so hard earned because disability, for them, is a choice. An ideal lifestyle... For example, I caught one pretender asking how a "wheeler" could manage a certain journey on the NY subway. This just got my goat. The subway is so f***ing inaccessible; the times I have been caught when an elevator is broken, when I have risked my health to drag myself upstairs, had to ask for help to carry my chair, when I have gone deliberately out of my way because I have caught the wrong train and the next 12 stations are inaccessible and I cannot even consider walking that day. All this? And this person is expecting one of us to respond so she can fake being part of our world? (I googled her and found her at a pretender site). She doesn't live the daily struggle of trying to get a taxi, of things being out of reach, inaccessible and if she does experience them, they are a pleasurable part of her world. Something she can interpret as authentic disability experience. Sh*t.
I hate wheelchair pretender fiction: the pleasure the pretender derives from passivity, the arousal from an imagined state of helplessness, the pleasure in the sympathetic and pitying responses of people on the street, the eroticism located in the passivity and helplessness imagined in a bowel program. Yes, I have read lots of it --and I am annoyed by the fact that almost every writer works from a negative understanding of disabled life, that they revivify old, tired stereotypes, that they have no active, positive understanding of disability culture. I'm POed that almost every piece I have read imagines social relations, sexual relations, professional relations from a position of passivity and self-denying long sufferingness. GET A LIFE.
And for every woman who is a pretender, there are a number of women who are told by their medical professionals that it's all in their heads. As I read the bulletin boards (and in my own experience), far too many women are still subject to "hysterical diagnosis." Pretending is not a cause, but as public awareness goes up on the topic, it certainly won't help.
In that pretenders exploit people's goodwill (even goodwill born of bad stereotypes), pretending is a breach of the social trust that we have in one another. It's dinner time. Wizard is smiling gently. We have planned to walk into downtown and eat at a restaurant there. I wonder whether anyone will look at us and wonder whether I am a pretender or if he is a devotee.
Bitterly.
By Wheelchair Dancer at 7:13 PM ”
And now – my response:
I belong to the group of people you seem to despise so much. I am a devotee. I belong to a minority – just like you. I have used much time and effort trying to understand my devotee side. I have talked extensively about the why’s of our being to devotees, wannabees and disabled people alike. It is a common enough topic with my lover, husband, soulmate, who also happens to ride a pretty cool chair. But – in the end –I have found none who understands why devotees are attracted to people with disabilities, It is just there. In short – I cannot help being a devotee any more than you can help being in a wheelchair.
I am sorry that someone from our community has offended you. But before you judge us on the basis of one or a few contacts with our group – I would like to challenge you to openly ponder the following issue:
Some girls find muscular guys very attractive. In fact they would not even consider going out with the run of the mill. But do you seriously believe that being muscular would be the only attribute such a girl would consider in a longterm relationship?
I happen to find people with walking disabilities very attractive. But – wheelchair or not – that would never be enough on its own to make up a long term relationship. I have found someone whom I find physically, socially, intellectually and emotionally attractive – and the relationship is adult and consensual - I can see nothing wrong in pursuing such a partner... Why is it so wrong to find someone in a wheelchair physically attractive? Must it always start in the other end – with the social, emotional and intellectual stuff?
I have extensive experience and contact with devotees and wannabes. In this community - there is no one who would say that only the wheelchair or the disability is enough to form the basis of a partnership. I freely admit that any guy zooming past my field of vision is going to get a second glance. Call it oogling if you will..Eyecandy is always nice. The disability may be a starting point, but it is never enough on its own. Please do not judge all of us from single unhappy and insensitive encounters.
Now the wannabe side of the story. I can readily understand that you feel provoked by people who desire to be in your position for short time pleasure only. As you point out – you do not have the choice to switch your situation around at your convenience.
Again – I’d like you to open your mind to the following concept. The pure wannabe is probably not interested in you as a partner. (the devotee is the one who is attracted to you). – He/ she is interested in learning more about what it feels like to live with your disability. And the purpose is – just as you have discerned – to be able to understand more fully and to be able to pretend/ imagine what it is like to be you. Now lets leave the why’s behind for a minute – if you think about it. What is wrong about someone learning more about what it is to be disabled just like you are? I can think of no reason to call that a bad thing.
Now – the next step is to bring in the Why. Why are they interested in this knowledge. In your terminology – it is for ” the pleasure the pretender derives from passivity, the arousal from an imagined state of helplessness, the pleasure in the sympathetic and pitying responses of people on the street, the eroticism located in the passivity and helplessness imagined in a bowel program.” And – as I said before – If this is generally true – I’d be provoked too. However – my contacts with wannabees indicates another story. They are no more in control of their desires to be disabled than you are in control of your sex, or your hair color. You might think it is for pleasure – I think it is a deep and basic need. As long as people are respectful and sensitive – I cannot judge or fault them for their internal settings as to who they percieve themselves to be. Lucky is the person whose perception and reality of themselves are a perfect match…
Finally – most devotees have wannabe dreams and most wannabes are devotees. I think part of your confusion is that you mix the sexual attraction of the devotee into the wannabe need to know what it is like to be disabled. As pointed out earlier – the two co-exist, but are not the same.
To end - I hope for a world where people are not judged by sexual attraction or disabilty etc… Good luck in finding your personal Devotee!
People who are wheeling because of BIID tend to not do anything to attract attention and prefer to just be allowed to get on with our lives without any undue fuss. (I am generalizing here...I've met conscientious pretenders and people with BIID who have done stupid things (myself included).)