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Jul. 15th, 2003 11:48 amI had nothing to say today until ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lady_babalon linked to this:
Amputee wannabes: Why do some people want their healthy limbs removed?
Several times in the article, the plight of "amputee wannabees" is compared to gender dysphoria. The hint is that what people of both groups want is self-mutilation with the assistance of a medical doctor.
This brings up so many disturbing questions I don't even know where to start.
No, wait, here's one to start with. Does the social acceptance of one form of (so-called for the sake of argument) "deviancy" (for example, homosexuality or sadomasochism) create a social void that has to be filled with a new "deviant fringe"? IOW, if society *has* to have a class of deviants, and the deviant class of the past is now an accepted element in society, does a new form of deviancy have to take its place?
Thirty years ago Monty Python did a skit about a group of men who realized they were mice, and would meet in groups to dress the part and discuss their species dysphoria. At that time, it was absurd; today, there is a flourishing community of people who call themselves furries.
Now, when I ask a question like that, I am not casting doubt on the sincerity of the people who experience these dysphorias. Rather I'm casting doubt on the sacrosanct truth of "individuality," as our modern "cult of I" would have it.
lady_babalon linked to this:Amputee wannabes: Why do some people want their healthy limbs removed?
Several times in the article, the plight of "amputee wannabees" is compared to gender dysphoria. The hint is that what people of both groups want is self-mutilation with the assistance of a medical doctor.
This brings up so many disturbing questions I don't even know where to start.
No, wait, here's one to start with. Does the social acceptance of one form of (so-called for the sake of argument) "deviancy" (for example, homosexuality or sadomasochism) create a social void that has to be filled with a new "deviant fringe"? IOW, if society *has* to have a class of deviants, and the deviant class of the past is now an accepted element in society, does a new form of deviancy have to take its place?
Thirty years ago Monty Python did a skit about a group of men who realized they were mice, and would meet in groups to dress the part and discuss their species dysphoria. At that time, it was absurd; today, there is a flourishing community of people who call themselves furries.
Now, when I ask a question like that, I am not casting doubt on the sincerity of the people who experience these dysphorias. Rather I'm casting doubt on the sacrosanct truth of "individuality," as our modern "cult of I" would have it.
