Original in Spanish: Transabled
I just learned that transabled people exist (from trans + disabled): people who feel they should have some physical impairment they don’t have, and try to get it. Things like becoming paraplegic, cutting off their penis, mutilating an arm, being blind…
Then the guy in the video goes and says this is not a pathology.
“Darwin Award material” is my first thought.
But then I think a bit more, and I get tangled. I suppose it’s not comparable to sex reassignment surgery, because needing to be aligned with a gender is much more understandable than with a disability, I suppose, even with all the collateral damage that a sex change involves… right? I mean, one thing is a matter of identity, you ARE a man/woman but you are IN a wheelchair, even if indefinitely.
Actually, if you stretch me, I can escalate it to getting breast implants, anus bleaching, tattooing your face or removing a rib. Is the difference between pathology and health marked by the degree of “damage” you’re willing to endure in exchange for that identity? The damage/result ratio?
I think I’m very confused, or something.
Someone throw me a rope, because I don’t see it clearly and I even feel bad about it.
(Facebook, 2015-06-03)