tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50932428582600874702024-02-06T20:18:07.877-08:00D.O.S.E. (Devotees Opposed to Sexual Exploitation)This is a place to share my opinions about the ethical concerns of devoteeism and other related issues.dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-33209064308413056872015-08-28T03:37:00.000-07:002015-08-28T03:37:24.482-07:00Uncertainty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
I think this is a wonderful counterpoint to the inspiration porn that
occupies so much of the limited scope our media affords the disabled.
She speaks with a rawness that most actors work their whole lives to
imitate, but hers is no act. I think the curative norms in our culture
extend to how we examine and react to things like disability in society. We try to see triumph
over tragedy and think it will somehow inspire us to re-characterize
whole categories of people in our mind. <br />
<br />
Her voice bleeds authentic notes and quivers with a vulnerability that primetime prefers whispered or implied. She is not here with a handful of sugar and sunshine telling us everything will be fine. Everything may be fine, ultimately, but sometimes it hurts, and she doesn't want to hide that. <br />
<br />
It is rare that we confront moments like grief in our society, and leave it unadorned by good sentiment. The sad truth of loss is that no matter what we say or do, no matter how hard we try to adjust, loss hurts, and nothing in the world can take that away. Confrontation itself is a process that we engage in and change, and yet in so many ways it happens apart from us. Grief doesn't wait. It doesn't care that you missed the bus, your feet are cold, and the snow won't stop, it's here screaming at you and it demands your attention. <br />
<br />
And what are we to do? <br />
<br />
There is nothing in our confrontation that will make it hurt any less, because pain is its essence. Pain is the consequence of love lost. The love of family and friends may ground you, but in the end, sometimes, all you can do is hurt and keep going on. <br />
<br />
There is, of course another side to this story. There is life after disability, and it can fulfill. However for <i>some us</i>, perhaps oversaturated with stories of triumph and themes that makes us feel good, it is good to gaze more closely on the uncomfortable circumstances which came before it, and the feeling of love and loss which we may come to terms with but will never leave our hearts. dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-13156392341889736532012-06-03T05:20:00.002-07:002012-10-11T21:08:53.445-07:00Defining Devotees, Pretenders, and Wannabes/TransabledDefinitions are not to be taken lightly. Linguists will tell
you that while words may exhibit a great deal of variance based only
on context, there are some aspects which seem to be entirely
intrinsic. The study of these is called Semantics, and it is a bit of
a slippery fish.<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(0, 74, 74);"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">Let's
suppose you are trying to come up with a definition of dogs which
would allow you to distinguish every dog from everything else in the
universe. The following definition certainly seems reasonable, “A
dog is a quadrupedal land mammal with fur and a tail; it barks, eats
meat, and lives with people.” However, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basenji">Basenji</a>
doesn't bark, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Hairless_Dog">Mexican Hairless</a> is of course hairless,
and furthermore some dogs are wild. This goes on and on to what some
see as ridiculous lengths until we end up asking what is common to a
picture of a pipe, the word 'pipe', and a <a href="http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/magritte-treachery.html">pipe itself</a>. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">This
might seem too abstract and theoretical to ever apply to any of our
lives, so let's look at an historical example. Race relations as we
know them in the United States owe their legacy to a Swiss Biologist
named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Linnaeus">Carl Linnaeus</a> whose most enduring contributions to science were
his works in Taxonomy and the creation of binomial nomenclature (<i>L.
canis lupus</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> etc.) Taxonomy, you
may recall from Biology when you were made to memorize, by whatever
cheeky mnemonic, the following categories: Kingdom, Phylum, Class,
Order, Family, Genus, Species. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">It's
an old idea which ultimately stretches back to Aristotle's concept of
“categories”. So taken was Linnaeus with Taxonomy that he set out
to categorize everything in the natural world up to and including
humans. While he certainly did a great deal to advance our
understanding of and ability to talk about the natural world, in some
ways he was blithely naïve. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">Regrettably,
Linnaeus did end up classifying people according to their skin color
which naturally paved the way for more than two hundred years of
heartache and bloodshed, whose ill effects are still being felt to
this day. So, while I am certainly no Linneaus, I still feel a
measure of trepidation as I approach this task. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">Here,
I will do my best to describe as accurately as possible my community
and its various sub-groups with which I am not as familiar. While I
certainly care about doing this right, I am limited in many ways.
There is a strikingly spare amount of empirical data available about
devotees and so I have little to rely on save for my own observations
which naturally taint any effort toward objectivity. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">That
being said...</span><br />
<br />
There appear to be three primary
categories people in this community tend to fall into. The main
categories provided here have been created by these people, and are
frequently listed in this order, to describe and distinguish
themselves from others both in and outside of their community. There
are though, a number of people who occupy more than one category, or
all three.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It is wise though to treat these not as
rules of human behavior, but rather a simple guide to some of the
more common forms. There are quite likely more varieties than those
described below. One key concept stressed in this entry is that human
behavior is rarely so neatly compartmentalized. There are absolutely
cases of overlap between the three main categories, and even within
each category between its sub-varieties; thus the situation is
potentially much more complex than what is presented here. Each
person in any of these categories has a different life story and thus
a different set of circumstances from which they approach these
issues and thus the subject of dis/ability in general. It is
dangerously reductive to suggest that we could understand an
individual's current situation, development, etc. based on these
labels alone.<br />
<br />
<b>Devotees</b> <b>(D)</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
–</span> People identifying as devotees have an attraction which is
in some way connected to disability. There are devotees representing
many different ages, races, income levels, national origins, genders,
sexual orientations, and even states of dis/ability. However, one of
the only stable and unifying points found in research regarding
devotees is that something around 90-95% of them are men.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Currently amputee devotees seem to be
the most common form, though this likely changes as disability does
in society (i.e. during the polio epidemic of the 1950's) Some
devotees are attracted to or by one specific disability (i.e. right
above the knee amputees), a handful of seemingly unrelated
disabilities (i.e. quadriplegia, blindness, and cerebral palsy), or
sometimes to or by a certain class of disabilities (i.e. mobility
impairments). Some though may be <i>specifically</i> attracted to or
by the assistive devices involved, and thus the presence of a
disability in their partner is of lesser or sometimes no importance.
Thus pretenders and wannabes/transabled people end up abused in many
of the same ways. Some even prefer able bodied partners who pretend
to have a disability. This is an important distinction to draw.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Naturally there are those who may share
varying types of attractions. For example it is not uncommon to find
some devotees who are attracted to people with disabilities <i>as
well as</i> certain assistive devices involved. These attractions
though are not always in equal proportion, and this point must be
stressed. <br />
<br />
Some devotees, for example, are <i>only</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
attracted to people with disabilities, and some are </span><i>only</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
attracted to people who use assistive devices (for </span><i>any</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
reason). Some though are attracted to people with disabilities, and
people without disabilities; they can function sexually without the
presence disability or assistive devices, though they may prefer or
enjoy them from time to time. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In Psychology there
is a concept called “paraphilia” which, in the DSM: IV at least,
originally refers to a disorder whereby a person <i>must</i> have a
given non-human object present in order to achieve orgasm. This has
been somewhat revised with the inclusion of a paraphilia called
“partialism” referring to a paraphilic focus on a certain body
part (conventionally, big breasts, though in devotees this can be
understood as being attracted <i>to</i> the disability itself
<i>regardless</i> of the person involved) The general name for the
paraphilias associated with devotees are “abasiophilia” and
“acromotomophilia”, though there has been very little research
into these. Generally speaking, once a person has a acquired a
paraphilia (<i>any </i>paraphilia) or a psychologically significant
kinky attraction, they do not go away, and there are few proven
methods of eliminating these desires.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As has been
implied, not <i>all</i> devotees are paraphiliacs, though some are.
This is a phenomenon we can see repeated in BDSM culture as well.
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Bottoming-Book-Dossie-Easton/dp/1890159352">Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy</a> have talked about “kinky”
sex existing on a continuum instead of a binary
“you-are-or-you-aren't” mode of being. Some people enjoy sex
accompanied by elaborate scenarios with lots of whips, knots and
leather, and some people may enjoy the thrills of riding a fast paced
roller coaster, and having “vanilla” sex afterward. In either
case , to hear Easton and Hardy tell it, these people are playing
with the same emotional “energy”, even though each may think the
other to be weird.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
[Note: Just to
clarify any speculations which may arise, there is no known limit on
the number of paraphilias one person may have. However; in one text I
found, which had a heavy diagnostic emphasis, the authors had found
one documented case of a man who reported having nine paraphilias.
It's the largest number I, or the authors of that text, have been
able find.]</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Pretenders
(P)</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
– Pretenders, as the name implies, pretend that they have some sort
of disability or disabilities. The population for pretenders is just
as wide as that of devotees, though they have been studied even less
and there is relatively nothing empirical to draw from. Pretenders
here are distinguished from people who pretend to have a disability
in order to qualify for benefits from the government, insurance
companies, to avoid armed service, etc. Pretenders find that they are
driven to pretend not by any financial, legal, or other outside
incentive, but by the act itself.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As with devotees, it appears that amputee pretenders are more common,
though there are those who pretend they have many other types of
disabilities. Pretending, it must be noted, can be done in the
absence of assistive devices (supposing they are even necessary to
simulate the given disability), though generally it seems that the
more important a device is for someone with a given disability to
accomplish <a href="http://dictionary.webmd.com/terms/activities-of-daily-living%28adls%29">ADL</a> (Activities of Daily Living) the more
important it will be to the pretender.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Some pretenders are very secretive and will only pretend unobserved
in some safe isolated space, usually the home, though others enjoy
going out in public. Some only go out in public to relatively
deserted places or at night when they are sure they will not be seen,
though others enjoy going out in public during regular business hours
and interacting with others, some even going so far as to take full
vacations simulating their given disability. I have known a few who
sought mental health counseling and were encouraged to periodically
go out on pretending trips far away from home, as the practitioner
felt it was easily analogous to cross dressing, for which a similar
“treatment” is often advised.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are debates among pretenders who do venture outside the home
about how to behave in public. Some believe it is appropriate to use
adapted bathroom stalls, hotel rooms, ramps, and even accept
discounts etc. though others do not. This is part of a larger
discussion about to how present one's self when in public so as to
avoid defaming the disabled by acting too rude or helpless etc. It is
hard to draw a consensus here, though what I have seen from those who
have regular internet access <i>and</i> are brave enough to talk
about it, most agree care should be taken to avoid rudeness etc. Opinions
though do differ, often fervently, on whether or not to use
bathroom stalls, and other services which may cause the pretender to interfere in the life
of someone with a disability.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As with devotees there are many reasons pretenders find themselves
wanting to pretend. There are pretenders who are simply fascinated
with the given assistive devices. For example I have known some
groups of pretenders who enjoyed toying with and customizing
wheelchairs the same way some people enjoy toying with and
customizing cars. Some I've known enjoy toying with both in the same
manner. In some ways it appears as a fascination with alternate forms
of mobility which has merely found its focus.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
It is not uncommon though to hear other pretenders describing
their pretending as similar to cross dressing. This is said
speculatively by pretenders who have no history of cross dressing,
though it is also said by pretenders who have been life long members
of the transgender/transsexual/transvestite /etc. community.
Pretenders who cross dress have sometimes described their pretending
as an extension of their cross dressing. <br />
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">For
some it may have a sexual dimension. If we understand that
transvestite pretenders see their pretending as an extension of their
crossdressing, then we may infer that perhaps for some pretenders who
have a sexual dimension to their pretending it could be understood as
similar to transvestic fetishists who are aroused by wearing clothing
of another sex. Again, there are many overlaps between these three
groups, and so we can understand that the devotee who is attracted
not so much to the person with a disability as the assistive devices
involved, may find enjoyment merely in various types of interaction
with a given device, and thus </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">also</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
be a pretender, potentially at least. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There does exist a certain category of paraphilias which involves
arousal associated with certain conditions being applied to the self.
Autogynophilia involves feelings of arousal of having the genitalia
of the opposite sex. This specifically applies to male identified
people, and is curiously more often discussed than its female counterpart. It is likely then
that there are also pretenders who are aroused at the idea of being
disabled, and pretending for them may sometimes be an extension of
that. However, just because a pretender is aroused at the idea of
being disabled, and pretends to aid in this arousal, we still can not
claim that <i>every</i> act of pretending is taken toward this end.
This is one of the more frustrating aspects of classifying mental
events based only on things like behavior and stated desire. Perhaps
we will one day see neuroscience shed some light on this matter.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Pretending is not limited to simply how one acts in real life. As
social networking has reared its head certain forms of pretending
have become more common.<br />
<br />
When anyone creates a facebook
profile and uploads a picture of themselves, it is unavoidably a
picture from their past; this is the nature of the medium. Sometimes the gap between the time the photo
was taken and the present becomes excessively long, and the question
of representation and reality is raised. The postmodern philosopher
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/mar/07/guardianobituaries.france">Jean Baudrillard</a> wrote at length about such <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnUeB_eumOM">counterfeits</a>,
and their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3tr0gSNBx4&feature=related">implications</a>, before the internet was a whisper of what we
know now. Without delving too deep though, my point is that Devotees,
pretenders, and wannabes/transabled people find themselves amidst a
world of false, or at least misleading appearances, and this leads to
a number of quandries and abuses. <br />
<br />
The most common abuse we
find is that of devotees who will create fake profiles on social
networking sites, presenting themselves as disabled (often with the
aid of stolen photos), to gain the trust of disabled people, steal
their photos, and perpetuate the cycle of abuse. This is problematic
and widespread, though there is a problem here of how to classify
this behavior and its perpetrators. Is it pretending?<br />
<br />
The
definition of pretending I have been working with is this,
“Pretenders are driven to pretend not by any outside incentive, but
by the act itself.” Pretending thus is <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autotelic">autotelic</a>, to use
a technical term. It is an act performed as an end in itself. The
devotee who creates a deliberately fake profile to lure the disabled
into their gaze is thus <i>not</i> a pretender, but rather a <i>coercive
devotee</i>.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Devoteeism, like literally every other sexual kink, thought, and emotional
state, hurts no other person until it is in some way acted upon.
While there is ample room for argument about how devotees may act
upon their feelings, there is none here. This is just as coercive and
damaging as a voyeur or exhibitionist.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Wannabes/Transabled</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><b>(W/T) – </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">There are
two words in contemporary parlance to describe this group of people.
Originally, they were called wannabes, though eventually Sean from
<a href="http://transabled.org/">Transabled.org</a> felt that this did not adequately describe his
condition, and thus he created his website. Here I must digress
slightly...</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">I
have seen the claim raised that the used of the prefix “trans-”
by the transabled amounts to “cultural appropriation” of the
larger trans* community. In many ways this is based on a poor
understanding of the situation, though I can't say I blame
transpeople for the misunderstanding. You'd have to be a dedicated
reader of Transabled.org to catch Sean brining this up, but he is a
longstanding member of the trans* community. He enjoys
cross-dressing, and insofar as he created the term to clarify his
situation, and he is to some degree a gender variant individual, it
makes these already flimsy claims of appropriation more difficult to
advance.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Getting
back on topic though, people identifying as Transabled are
indistinguishable from wannabes. What is different is not their
pathology but rather how they articulate their feelings. “Wannabe”
is a crude and simplistic term coined long ago and it in many ways
misses the mark, yet despite this you will still find some people who
prefer this term to Transabled. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">There
is an interesting phenomenon called <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind.html">Capgras' Delusion</a>
which has led to a lot of interesting speculation as of late. The
patient, usually suffering from a traumatic brain injury
damaging the section of the brain which maps their body, will find
themselves utterly disavowing a certain body part. Specifically,
there was one case where a man with this delusion swore that his left
arm was not his own, but was some sort of counterfeit and demanded
that it be removed. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It is here that the famous neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran found
something of interest. We know that “errors” and “deformations”
of all sorts occur as a child is being produced in the womb. These
occur everywhere. The are genetic “errors” like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragile_X_syndrome">Fragile X Syndrome</a>, and “deformations” of the central nervous
system like Spina Bifida. There are also similar “errors” in the
development of the brain, and it would seem ridiculous to suggest
that the area of the brain which maps the body would be somehow
specially immune to the vicissitudes of human development. <br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The condition described by just such a congenital disorder is <a href="http://biid-info.org/Main_Page">Body Integrity Identity Disorder</a> (BIID), and I'm sure you can imagine how controversial the issue is. This is
especially true considering that BIID it arises in the context
created by the previous three categories.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I would argue that not every person who experiences feelings of
desiring a disability has BIID, even if they think they do. What is
different about BIID as I understand it, is that unlike the other
categories it is a bit easier to point to. Perhaps it can only be
confirmed if an autopsy is done, though it is still something which
has a more easily verifiable physical presence as opposed to feelings
or memories which may exist only as a synaptic neurochemical current
traversing the brain. However, because so little is known about BIID,
I will avoid saying anymore.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">* * *</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">What's really tragic is that despite the length of this
piece and the tedious detail I've rendered the subject in, there is
still more to cover. I have written about the three common categories
and touched on some of the possible overlaps to give you an idea of
how much more complex it may be. I have made a venn diagram which
should help explain the other possible categories,
though it must be understood that even this is shortsighted. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAqjwaIvA4TBHXpffehmPgT5eewUZzVy9w-WP4rDHsPQYSfvitiYeDoB4yqCBjDvmO-HyTA-47pO702-WKxC91ft7JBaZ9KECWvI1b_qqx7HwpO1aOBrj1-Uq0flik4iGvoZGQTDzTwfR/s1600/taxanomie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAqjwaIvA4TBHXpffehmPgT5eewUZzVy9w-WP4rDHsPQYSfvitiYeDoB4yqCBjDvmO-HyTA-47pO702-WKxC91ft7JBaZ9KECWvI1b_qqx7HwpO1aOBrj1-Uq0flik4iGvoZGQTDzTwfR/s320/taxanomie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">D = Devotee, P = Pretender, W/T = Wannabe/Transabled </span></div>
<br />
I say these are possible categories because I haven't personally seen people who I would identify as hailing from certain overlapping categories, and more importantly I haven't met anyone who self identifies with many of them either. Also, the notion of someone being both a pretender and transabled gets very tricky. Transsexual people have often claimed that they do not cross dress, but rather dress to match their true selves. It's not hard to see how such an argument could arise with transabled people. </div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Devotees, Pretenders, and Wannabes do not exist in a
vacuum, there are many other overlaps with other fetish communities.
I have run across devotee furry art before, and devotee-pretenders who were also
interested in robot porn. If you scan through most devotee porn vendors' back catalogs
you'll find plenty of instances of models fulfilling what can only be fan
requests for plenty of other fetishes, some relatively common, some
quite obscure.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Often
when considering any of these categories and the people who inhabit
them, there are attempts to understand </span><i>why</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
they feel and act the way they do. People in these categories often
undergo a similar, and sometimes more distressing version of that
experience.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"> </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">There
are many common theories, such as a deeper unconscious need for, or
attraction to, the special attention surrounding disability, or some
level of excitement derived from playing with an imbalanced power
dynamic. These rarely prove effective because too often there is a
belief that one or two of these can explain away the whole of DPW/T
behavior, though, as has been covered, when looking at human
behavior, especially an individual, there is frequently a <a href="http://www.wisdomsupreme.com/dictionary/plurality-of-causes.php">plurality of causes</a>. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Regarding causes
and motivations, if I desire to write truly then I may only speak for
myself. I have been to multiple mental health professionals employing
a variety of approaches in an attempt to understand myself. One of
the most prominent common threads held by all of them has been a
focus less on causes and cures, and more on how to accept yourself as you are, and live a healthy and fulfilling life. Perhaps others could benefit from adopting such a strategy.</div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-51155322275137784782012-04-30T06:30:00.000-07:002012-10-11T21:09:02.174-07:00Not-Me<span style="line-height: 100%;">Very recently a
dev/pretender friend alerted me to a rather interesting website which
shares the goals of this blog. “</span><a href="http://disabilitytrolls.blogspot.com/" style="line-height: 100%;">Disability Trolls</a><span style="line-height: 100%;">” is
authored by a self defense instructor who is unique in that he
focuses on more than just the physical aspects of self defense. </span><a href="http://www.not-me.org/" style="line-height: 100%;">Erik Kondo</a><span style="line-height: 100%;"> emphasizes those aspects of self-defense which are all too
often overlooked in the digital age. It is a necessary task, though
not always an easy one.</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Just <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/04/sexual-assault-awareness-month-saam.html">two days ago</a> I was writing about the problems of sexual assault, the
need for men to take an active role in preventing that, and the
particular issues that arise when we look at this within the context
of devoteeism. Erik does a fantastic job of explaining how people can
keep themselves safe. For a long time I felt like I was the only one taking active steps to counter the effects of coercive devoteeism.
Interestingly, the <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/02/devotees-disabled-mutually-repressed.html">entry where I discussed this</a> receives
most of the traffic of everything I've written to date. I can't be
sure of who is reading my writing, but given the massive and
consistent increase in traffic I had immediately after being listed
on <a href="http://devguide.org/">DevGuide.org</a>, I assume most of them are devotees. <br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's quite
invigorating to see that, in regards to Facebook, what he's saying is
nearly a carbon copy of what I've been telling people for a long time
now. The principles of staying safe online aren't horrendously complex (though Facebook seems aggressively intent on changing that), so on some level this is to be expected, though it does make
me smile to finally hear someone echoing in earnest what I have been
saying all along.<br />
<br />
Erik has a very thorough understanding of
self-defense, especially at the physical level. He runs a non-profit
teaching self-defense which is admirable in itself, but also a number
websites and blogs exploring these concepts specifically as they
relate to the disabled. However, anyone able bodied or not can stand
to learn something from listening to him speak and reading what he
has written. When it comes to his "<a href="http://defeatviolence.blogspot.com/">5D's</a>” the guy
really knows his stuff.<br />
<br />
He approaches the issue of devoteeism
from the perspective not only of a self defense instructor, but of an
inveterate wheelchair user as well, specifically, that of a
paraplegic. Just as my devoteeism gives me a certain perspective on
devotees and disability, so does his disability influence what he
encounters and how he interprets it. Everybody operates within some
kind of context. <br />
<br />
This isn't just me being pedantic, it's
actually quite relevant if you look at how he conceptualizes the
issue. Here is a quote from the first article on his site. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“A
<i><b>Disability Troll</b></i><i> </i>is a general term the describe
people on the internet who are actively searching and “trolling”
for people with disabilities on the internet. Trolls come in many
forms:</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li><div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%;">
<i><b>Wheelchair
Pretenders</b></i> – People who pretend to have a disability. The
most common Pretender is someone who deceives people into thinking
they are a wheelchair user. Pretending to be an amputee is also
common.</div>
</li>
<li><div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%;">
<i><b>Devotees</b></i>
– People that are attracted to people with disabilities
specifically because of the existence of the disability.</div>
</li>
<li><div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%;">
<i><b>Disability
Fetish</b></i> – People who have an unusual sexual attraction to
actual or pretend disability.</div>
</li>
<li><div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%;">
<i><b>Disability
Stalkers</b></i> – People who actively seek out and stalk people
with disabilities.”</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
What is really commendable on his part
is how he tries to distinguish between sub-groups. It's practically
charitable to see anybody actually taking the time to explain that
we're not all one and the same. There are a diversity of experiences
within our community, and it is very refreshing to see someone
attempting to tease them out a bit.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
Despite this, I don't think Psychology
or Human Sexuality have been a persistent area of study throughout
his career. He doesn't seem to be familiar with paraphilias as a word
or on a layman's level. Even technical terms like “abasiophilia”
and “apotemnophilia” have evaded his apprehension. We can learn a
lot by examining how he uses and doesn't use words. To begin, there
is the little double entendre he employs with “troll”. He
juxtaposes “troll”, a word referring to monstrous beings of
Scandanavian folklore, and the <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll">internet slang</a> term for a willfully
disruptive person, with “trolling” which means to fish with a
baited line trailed behind a slowly moving boat. It's a great way to
catch red herring.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
You'll notice that items three through
four are actually written and titled very generically to apply to
really any disability, which follows how the phenomena has been
observed to occur according to both official academic sources and
informal evaluations by devotees themselves. However, his first term
is titled, “Wheelchair Pretender”, not something like “Disability
Pretender” as we might expect. People interested in amputation, who anyone could tell
you are by far the most common through every facet of Devotees, Pretenders, and Wannabes, are an afterthought.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
It is worthy to note that his entire
site, “Disability Trolls”, is written to suggest that it covers
the subject in a general sense. However, if you'll read through all
of the elements listed, you'll find they all involve people in
wheelchairs, almost exclusively due to spinal injuries. Indeed, his
experience has led him to believe that, “The most common Pretender
is someone who deceives people into thinking he is a wheelchair
user.” He operates very clearly within the context of a paraplegic,
and this has certainly shaped his understanding. In a similar way,
you'll find out a lot about my proclivities as a devotee by examining
what I link to, and thus I too am no stranger to such a bias. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br />
What
bothers me though is that Erik attempts to act in many ways as an
expert on devotees when he is anything but. He has no knowledge of
what John Money, Alison Kafer, or V.S. Ramachandran have written
about us, nor their reputation as researchers and theorists.
Overall, he is sparsely informed on devotees, and even then only a specific subset, and while this is
bad in itself, it regrettably impairs his work in advocacy and
prevention as well.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
“Devotee Trolls” focuses almost
exclusively on what happens on Facebook. As someone who has been
doing the exact same kind of work he has I can assure you this
problem stretches much farther than just one web 2.0 destination. He
doesn't seem to have familiarity with negotiating Yahoo's byzantine
network of links to submit a takedown request, or chasing down a
photographer so they can make the request as well, or what a pain it
is to try and explain to someone in Eastern Europe with only Google
Translate at your side why their photos haven't been taken down, and
how to stay safe in the future.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
He doesn't know how horrible it feels as
a devotee to have to let someone know that everyone commenting on
their vlog has ulterior motives. He doesn't know how horrible it is
to have someone hate you anyway. Furthermore though, he doesn't have
the kind of understanding of this condition that comes with growing
up alone and afraid, knowing you are different, knowing you must
hide, knowing you are stuck feeling this way and that you must find a
way to live with yourself that neither harms others nor yourself. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
In
a better world, he wouldn't make these mistakes. He wouldn't make
these mistakes because he wouldn't know about us. He wouldn't have to
do the work that we do. He wouldn't have to write everything he has
written, and neither would I. We should not have to write anything,
because this problem should not exist. This is an absolutely
preventable problem, and it starts not with the victims, but the
perpetrators. <br />
<br />
As I've pointed out <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/02/examining-coercive-devotees-process-of.html">before</a>, coercive devotees who steal and take pictures know their actions to be improper. Despite this, they manage to inure their negative
feelings and convince themselves that what they are doing is in no
way wrong or harmful. I don't want to retread old ground by
reiterating everything I've already said about <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/04/sexual-assault-awareness-month-saam.html">Jackson Katz</a> and the problems of <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/search/label/Coercion">coercion</a>. This is in part
because it would be redundant, but also because it would obscure
a newer point of grave importance to devotees the world over. <br />
<br />
First,
we must retreat a bit a consider how Erik Kondo, or anyone in his
situation, has come to write about devotees.
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
Overwhelmingly these narratives of
devoteeism as <i>only</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> coercive
arise from negative experiences, either direct, anecdotal, or
observed. When devotees are discussed in disabled circles it is
almost always the result of, or quickly accompanied by, one or more
stories of devotees abusing people with disabilities, either online,
or in person, or by lying to them in a relationship. This is how we
arrive. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Thus,
it becomes very easy to conclude that </span><i>all</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
devotees are predatory and coercive. Reasoning in droves with
swiftness and ease they absolutely do reach and preach this
conclusion to the detriment of the rest of us. This is one of the
more frequently vexing aspects of discussing devotees at all.<br /><br />It
is wrong though to blame the disabled for doing so. Given the greater
likelihood for physical and sexual assault the disabled face, they
are only acting in their best interests. It is, of course, vital that
we seek to correct these distortions, though if you've ever tried
doing this, you can understand what a difficult endeavor it proves to
be. Indeed, we have a pre-existing stigma placed on us, and this
phenomena only works to create and reinforce false notions of
devoteeism as unavoidably coercive. <br /><br />When a coercive devotee
steals a photograph, or sends someone a lewd message they harm the
disabled. I've also argued that they end up <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">harming themselves in the process</a>. They also end up harming the rest of us. Those of
us who do not act coercively must live with the burden they have
created. Much of the stigma and oppression we face is a direct result
of their selfish actions. <br /><br />The utility of a single stolen
photograph produces more harm for a greater number of people than the
fleeting happiness it produces for the devotee who stole it. We,
devotees opposed to sexual exploitation, are also victimized by their
actions, and as such it is not merely through a duty to others, but
to ourselves as well, that we ought to work, as Erik has done, to end
these predatory practices. <br /><br />Indeed, there are safe spaces of
healthy, non-abusive, consensual devoteeism and we ought to work to
ensure those grow. I've talked at length before about the <a href="http://paradevo.proboards.com/index.cgi">ParaDevo boards</a> commitment to railroading anything even suggestive of coercion, and
of course the <a href="http://paradevostories.blogspot.com/?zx=6981cdebcee1611">ParaDev blog</a> which nurtures a community of devotee
fiction (no pictures) which allows devotees to express their
sexuality without involving people with disabilities. </span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"> </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">There
is hope. I believe that we can peacefully coexist with the disabled
online and off. However, before this can occur, we must change our
thoughts and actions on the issue of coercion in our communities. It
is not enough that we merely cultivate and nurture communities of
healthy deovteeism, but we must also work actively in opposition to
coercive devoteeism. We can not afford to turn a blind eye to these
failings in ourselves, nor in others. <br /><br />If you are currently
engaged in coercive practices, I want to let you know that you don't
have to. What you're doing is bad, but you can change. There is a way
out, and there is no shame in speaking to someone if you feel you
need help. This means putting others needs before your own pleasures.
It may not be as “fun” as what you have come to know; though
sometimes the most painful person to have to lie to is yourself.</span></div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-62766897224617004402012-04-29T08:47:00.000-07:002012-10-11T21:09:12.172-07:00Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM)I had the idea for this blog, name and
all, jumping around in my head for a year or more before I finally
got down to actually committing my thoughts to writing. As such, it's
genesis is a bit more complicated than <a href="http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/">other blogs</a>. There were a number of sources that lit a fire in me, most
prominently my own experiences. One source which has informed me more
than others though has been the work of <a href="http://www.jacksonkatz.com/">Jackson Katz</a>.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Our
world has many problems, but one of the more prominent issues I can
decisively point toward is the lack of familiarity the man on the
street has with Jackson Katz's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exzMPT4nGI">oeuvre</a>. His work focuses on prevention
of rape and violence against women. Generally I find most people I
know would agree that these are certainly problems and that the world
would be a better place if their incidence were as low as possible.
However many will head for the hills when they hear that he is a
feminist. <br />
<br />
Feminism has a particularly nasty reputation due to
the distortion of its image in the media (for example, <a href="http://www.snopes.com/history/american/burnbra.asp">bra burning never happened</a>), and the tendency for a saddening number of people to
frame it, unfairly, in terms roughly derived from particular sub groups of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism">Second Wave</a> and/or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_feminism">Radical Feminists</a>. A coworker of mine once remarked, “I'll tell ya what feminism says. It says sex is bad and men should go away.”
Generally, I find many people I talk to who react negatively to feminism have a view somewhat similar to this. <br />
<br />
This isn't
true for a number of reasons. For the same reason it is wrong to
declare that <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/03/all-devotees-are-rapists.html">all devotees are rapists</a>, it is wrong to
declare sex negativity and misandry as foundational elements of
feminist theory. In fact the field is so diverse that use of the word
'feminism' is eschewed in many circumstances for the more appropriate
“feminism<i>s</i>”, whose pluralization alludes to the diverse array of perspectives held on the issue.<br />
<br />
What though is “the issue”?
<br />
<br />
Well, that's difficult to summarize. If you study racism,
you'll find that there are different definitions of “racism”, and
as such there are different definitions of what exactly “anti-racism”
is, and how we ought to appropriately respond to it. Personally, I
have always loved the work of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks">bell hooks</a> (she prefers to spell it
with all lower case letters). She is a <u>very</u><span style="text-decoration: none;">
prominent writer in the feminist movement, comparable in notoriety
and respect to the likes of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audre_Lorde">Audre Lord</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Dworkin">Andrea Dworkin</a> to name but
a few. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="text-decoration: none;">She
has the unique ability to write with a professional level of
precision without becoming over-encumbered by the pretentious
magniloquence that marks so much academic writing. What's more, she
is conscious of this phenomena. One of her most accessible books is, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feminism-Is-Everybody-Passionate-Politics/dp/0896086283">Feminism Is For Everybody</a></i> which I recommend to
absolutely everyone. Years before that she wrote a very influential,
and yet still quite accessible, text called </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feminist-Theory-From-Margin-Center/dp/0896086135/ref=sip_rech_dp_10"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Feminist Theory: From Margin To Center</span></i></a><span style="text-decoration: none;">,
and yet in </span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Feminism Is
For Everyone</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
she rightly points out that the academic tone of her previous work
rendered it inaccessible to people who didn't have a similar
educational background or reading ability. She linked this primarily
to classist tendencies, though this being a dev blog I can't help but
consider how, in the context of verbal learning disabilities, it is
to some degree ableist as well. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">I
bring bell up for many reasons. One is because, like Jackson Katz, I
hope more people expose themselves to her ideas. Of particular
interest to me is her definition of Feminism. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> “Simply put,
feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and
oppression. This was a definition of feminism I offered in </span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Feminist
Theory: From Margin To Center</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
more than 10 years ago. It was my hope at the time that it would
become a common definition everyone would use. I liked this
definition because it did not imply that men were the enemy. By
naming sexism as the problem it went directly to the heart of the
matter. Practically, it is a definition which implies that all sexist
thinking and action is the problem, whether those who perpetuate it
are female or male, child or adult. It is also broad enough to
include an understanding of systematic institutionalized sexism. As a
definition it is open ended. To understand feminism it implies one
has to necessarily understand sexism.”</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br />See? It's nice and
simple like that, unlike other <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/">pretentious wind bags</a>. This is the first paragraph of </span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Feminism
Is For Everyone</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">,
and the entire book is just the same. It cuts right to the heart of
the matter in smooth, simple, unadulterated language. Not only is
feminism for everyone, but so is that book, and more importantly the
ideas it communicates. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Often
I meet people who seem to be, or are, afraid of feminism on many of
the grounds my co-worker was, yet bell's work happily sidesteps
these. She does this at the very fundamental level of feminism's
definition, however she also takes it on much more explicitly. In
</span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Feminist Theory:
From Margin To Center</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
she devotes an entire chapter to the subject titled, “Men: Comrades
in the Struggle”, and later on in </span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Feminism
is for Everybody</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
she has another chapter dedicated to the issue called “Feminist
Masculinity” which deals with much of the same material. <br /><br />My
reason for bringing all of this up is that April is <a href="http://www.nsvrc.org/saam">Sexual AssaultAwareness Month (SAAM)</a>, and I feel it is appropriate that I address
the issue before the month is out. By no means is it a “fun” topic to
cover. I would much rather write about how “normal” devotees are,
instead of focus on how our communities perpetuate abuse and assault
through direct action or merely turning a blind eye. Yet the issue of
sexual assault relates to much of what I have written about since
this blog's inception. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">To
begin with, I ought to define my terms. One definition of sexual
assault which I found to be particularly interesting reads, “Sexual
assault can be verbal, visual, or anything that forces a person to
join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. It can happen in
different situations, by a stranger, in an isolate place, on a date,
or in the home by someone you know. </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Sexual
assault and abuse is any kind of sexual activity that is unwanted</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.”
I particularly like that last part, hence the added emphasis. <br /><br />The only problem I have
with this definition is that it is open ended enough to include
merely feeling attracted to someone as sexual assault, if we are
going to go so far as to define sexual attention as something like,
“seeing someone and feeling aroused”, this becomes problematic because
arousal isn't always an intentional process. Sorting out the finer
points of this definition is another blog for another time, and
perhaps one day I'll get to that, though for now it is a suitable
definition for discussing the troubling situation of devotees and the
disabled.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/abasioinfo/">Many</a>, <a href="http://paracathy.com/">many</a>, <a href="http://www.ruthmadison.com/disability-and-devoteeism/">many</a> devs have tried to assert that, “<a href="http://normalsane.blogspot.com/2012/03/mustrespondtomadness.html">...we're fucking normal.</a>” However, by focusing on the issues of the very
real stigmas faced by devs (and more generally every sexual
minority), we often end up, whether intentionally or not, ignoring or
minimizing the issue of sexual assault/abuse of the disabled in the
Devotee/Pretender/Wannabe (DPW) community. Noted devotee and
pretender ParaGirl regularly hosted stolen pictures on her blog until
her now infamous interview with <a href="http://www.newmobility.com/articleView.cfm?id=11958">New Mobility</a> after which a
reader pointed out she was indeed engaging in abusive behavior by hosting stolen photos in her photo stream on her blog. <br /><br />To
her credit she quickly took the pictures down with no fuss. What is
interesting to note is that <a href="http://paracathy.blogspot.com/2010/07/better-to-be-thin.html">in the past</a> Cathy has made use of “we
women” language suggesting that she is certainly no
opponent to this issue of sexual assault and abuse. This seems to suggest that she and likely other devs would rather turn a blind eye to issue facing our community.<br /><br />I've been authoring his blog since late January,
and despite getting on the front page of <a href="http://devguide.org/">DevGuide</a> (<u>the</u>
site for devs online), and reaching close to 10,000 views there still
is little said in our community of this. Picture stealing is the
dirty secret most devs would rather ignore. This is wrong. This is
sexual abuse. There is no way around this. <br /><br />I've
talked about this before, and the answers are the same. Despite what
some may say, it absolutely does harm the disabled, though that is
not where it ends. This harms their friends, their families, and in
<a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/03/problem-of-presence.html">many ways</a> it arguably <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">harms devotees</a> as well.<br /><br />Jackson
Katz <a href="http://www.preventconnect.org/podcasts/20110606-TDV2010-JacksonKatz.mp3">rightly points out</a> a common fallacy in our thinking about issues
of rape and sexual assault. We often characterize these issues as
“women's issues”, when in fact men are responsible for between 97
and 99 percent of rape and sexual assault (yet, most men do not rape). By branding them as
women's issues, the onus is in many ways tacitly placed on women to care about, and fix
the problem. To a degree, this seems like an unexamined ideological
relic from the time when it was believed that women invited rape by
dressing or acting in a promiscuous manner. <br /><br />Rape and sexual
assault are men's issues. In this same fashion we may understand the
sexual assault that is picture stealing and trading as a devotee
issue. It is our failing, and we ought to be doing more to put a stop
to it. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br />This is slightly different from Katz's approach
because this crosses sex and gender lines. While gay devs are in the
minority there are gay male devs who have stolen and traded pictures
without the model or photographer's consent, and, as we have seen
with ParaCathy, lesbians are not by their gender, sex, or orientation immune from doing the same. That
being said, one of the more consistent points in both the academic and
amateur work available on devoteeism points to an overwhelmingly
heterosexual male population. Indeed, such appears to be true of all
paraphilias according to official sources. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Regardless,
we ought to do something. Jackson Katz has put together a <a href="http://www.jacksonkatz.com/topten.html">fantastic list</a> to help those of us asking, “What is to be done?”
While his focus is on men's roles in ender gender violence, I
encourage you as you read this to substitute the word “devotee”
for “men” and “people with disabilities” for “women” (or
appropriate derivations thereof). </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /> </span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">10
THINGS MEN CAN DO TO PREVENT GENDER VIOLENCE</span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center>
<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
<colgroup><col width="256*"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border: none; padding: 0in;" valign="TOP" width="100%"><ol>
<li><div align="LEFT">
Approach gender violence as a MEN'S issue
involving men of all ages and socioeconomic, racial and ethnic
backgrounds. View men not only as perpetrators or possible
offenders, but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive
peers
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
If a brother, friend, classmate, or
teammate is abusing his female partner -- or is disrespectful or
abusive to girls and women in general -- don't look the other
way. If you feel comfortable doing so, try to talk to him
about it. Urge him to seek help. Or if you don't know
what to do, consult a friend, a parent, a professor, or a
counselor. DON'T REMAIN SILENT.
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
Have the courage to look inward. Question
your own attitudes. Don't be defensive when something you do or
say ends up hurting someone else. Try hard to understand how
your own attitudes and actions might inadvertently perpetuate
sexism and violence, and work toward changing them.
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
If you suspect that a woman close to you is
being abused or has been sexually assaulted, gently ask if you
can help.
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
If you are emotionally, psychologically,
physically, or sexually abusive to women, or have been in the
past, seek professional help NOW.
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
Be an ally to women who are working to end all
forms of gender violence. Support the work of campus-based
women's centers. Attend "Take Back the Night"
rallies and other public events. Raise money for
community-based rape crisis centers and battered women's
shelters. If you belong to a team or fraternity, or another
student group, organize a fundraiser.
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
Recognize and speak out against homophobia and
gay-bashing. Discrimination and violence against lesbians
and gays are wrong in and of themselves. This abuse also
has direct links to sexism (eg. the sexual orientation of men
who speak out against sexism is often questioned, a conscious or
unconscious strategy intended to silence them. This is a
key reason few men do so).
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
Attend programs, take courses, watch films,
and read articles and books about multicultural masculinities,
gender inequality, and the root causes of gender violence.
Educate yourself and others about how larger social forces
affect the conflicts between individual men and women.
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
Don't fund sexism. Refuse to purchase any
magazine, rent any video, subscribe to any Web site, or buy any
music that portrays girls or women in a sexually degrading or
abusive manner. Protest sexism in the media.
</div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT">
Mentor and teach young boys about how to be
men in ways that don't involve degrading or abusing girls and
women. Volunteer to work with gender violence prevention
programs, including anti-sexist men's programs. Lead by
example.</div>
</li>
</ol>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-82634258737828337542012-04-22T04:19:00.000-07:002012-10-11T21:09:36.006-07:00Vox Dei<span style="line-height: 100%;">This is a companion piece to my </span><a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/04/vox-populi.html" style="line-height: 100%;">last entry</a><span style="line-height: 100%;">.</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Thomas Aquinas was
an interesting guy. He wrote during the eleventh century, a time when
not only the ability, but the opportunity, to read or write were
still quite rare compared to anything we have known in the past
century. Despite this he still managed to pen a vast twenty two
volume work, <i>Summa Theologica</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
exploring his ideas. A lot of his concepts were copied very closely
from Aristotle and reinterpreted in theological terms, though I don't
think that makes them any less relevant. <br /><br />Indeed he is
frequently regarded as one of the more important Christian
philosophers. He was made a saint in 1323, but that's far from where
his honor ends. In 1567 the Roman Catholic Church liked him so much
that they gave him a fancy title, “Angelic Doctor of the Roman
Catholic Church”, which gave his writing a special authority in all
matters Roman Catholic. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Central
to Aquinas's thought is the notion of rationality. He believed that
the architect of the universe was a supremely rational being. As
such, the very fabric of the universe, or rather existence itself,
was based in rational terms. Thus, Aquinas felt it was up to
humans to use the natural light of reason to discover what he called
the “Natural Law” and discern between “good” and “evil”.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Now,
Atheists have done a lot of work to separate the notions of
rationality and theism, even painting theism as inherently
irrational, yet despite this you will still find people who believe.
Regardless of your perspective on whether or not there is a god, or
no god, or thousands of gods who are really just emanations of
Brahman, I argue that it is important to consider theological
arguments if only because they are still so influential on so many
others. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">For
Aristotle, “the good” was that which all things strive after, for
Aquinas, it was slightly different. “Good” is an end, and all
things which humans have a natural inclination to are thusly “good”.
This desire for the good was one of many natural inclinations people
have including a natural drive for intercourse, and the preservation
of human life (the two do pair rather well together). </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Again,
</span><i>Summa Theologica</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, is a
vast work spanning twenty two volumes, so my distillation of Aquinas
is a little simplistic to say the least. However, if we are to
conclude that it is rational to treat others fairly, equally, and
with a general respect for their inherent dignity as humans, it does
seem to apply, in a Thomist sense, that these are more than just
“good” ideas. Indeed, while planning this entry I came across
Martin Luther King using this exact argument in his famous “<a href="http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html">Letter From A Birmingham Jail</a>”. </span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><br /><br />“All
human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are
endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">This
is Article I of the U.N.'s <a href="https://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> adopted in 1948 after WWII. While it was the first
document of its nature to gain such global recognition and
participation, it wasn't the first time ideas such as these had been
put forth. In the late 1700's these very same Enlightement ideals
were at heart of both the American and French Revolutions. </span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><br />“Men
are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may
be founded only upon the general good.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><br /><br />This
is Article I of the <a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp">Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen</a>, which was penned when the rebels in France overthrew King
Louis XVI and prepared to recreate their government on just terms. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-style: normal;">Liberty
consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else;
hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits
except those which assure to the other members of the society the
enjoyment of the same rights.” </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">This
is Article IV. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">If
we are to accept these as just principles, then we must accept their
full consequences. This often stretches further than we would like to
imagine. That is the problem of dealing in absolutes like “all
human beings”. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">This
extends naturally to the disabled, and as devotees, if we wish to be
treated equally, as every other marginalized and oppressed group
does, then we ought to act in accordance with such a maxim. This
means taking care to ensure that our actions do not bring harm to the
disabled, their families, or anyone else for that matter. I've spent
a great deal of time focusing on <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/03/problem-of-presence.html">just</a> <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/02/devotees-disabled-mutually-repressed.html">this</a> <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/02/examining-coercive-devotees-process-of.html">point</a></span>.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Though
such a powerful idea stretches even further.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5093242858260087470" name="firstHeading"></a>
<span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Non-Discrimination_Act">ENDA</a> is the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act. The basic idea is that it will prevent
discrimination in hiring and employment for LGBTQ people. It's a
fairly basic, even “good”, idea. It is one which, matches quite well
with much of what we've already read (providing that we control for
the blatant sexism from Aquinas up through the French Revolution)
That being said, it has never managed to pass. <br /><br />In 2010 ENDA
looked like it had a chance of </span><i>finally </i><span style="font-style: normal;">passing
and there was a lot of buzz about it not only in LGBTQ circles, but
in the media at large. This cause célèbre was so great that arch
conservatives decided the best way to combat the horror of gay,
lesbian, bi, and trans* people being able to work without being fired
based on their orientation and/or identity was to start lying about
it. <br /><br />One of the more notable efforts came from the Traditional
Values Coalition (TVC). This was <a href="http://www.traditionalvalues.org/content/action_alerts/30651/ENDA%20Would%20Normalize%20The%20Dirty%2030">their take</a> on the issue, </span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><br /><br />“</span><span style="color: black;">In
the next few weeks, President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and their
homosexual and transgender allies will attempt to ram through the
so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%;">
<span style="color: black;">What
you may not know is that ENDA normalizes and provides special federal
protection for 30+ bizarre sexual orientations listed by the American
Psychiatric Association – the so-called “Dirty 30.” These 30+
fetishes include behaviors that are felonies or misdemeanors in most
states.</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%;">
<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ENDA’s
“</span></span></b><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Dirty
30</span></b><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">”
includes such bizarre criminal acts as incest, pedophilia,
prostitution, beastiality, and cross-dressing</span></span></b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span></span><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">If
we don’t act today, Obama and Pelosi will normalize these disorders
by federal law on April 21!</span></span></b></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%;">
<span style="color: black;">In a
moment of candor, liberal Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) openly admitted
on the House floor that the “Dirty 30” would be covered by
federal law. In fact, he wants the Dirty 30 to be given special
protection! In his own words: “all of these philias and fetishes
and isms that were put forward--need not live in fear because of who
they are.”<span style="font-style: normal;">”</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Of
course <a href="http://politicalcorrection.org/blog/201004090003">none of this was true</a> of ENDA or the American Psychological
Association who they slavishly reference.
It is worth noting that the TVC has such a strong record of providing
blatantly false information as tried and true fact, that they have
been listed as a <a href="http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/the-hard-liners">hate group</a> by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Of course they habitually maintain that as a matter of
faith, and thus, supposedly, natural law, people ought to be allowed
to continue biased employment. Puzzling.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">This
is an explosive issue on its own, but becomes particularly relevant
to devotees when we examine the “Dirty 30” that has the TVC in
such an uproar. <br /><br />Here is what <a href="http://www.traditionalvalues.org/data/sites/73/pdfs/SexualOrientationsDSMRev.pdf">their PDF</a> on the so-called
“Dirty 30” has to say. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-style: normal;">What
Is A ‘Sexual Orientation’?
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">"Paraphilias"(formerly
called sexual deviations) listed in the Diagnostic and
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">(Washington:
American Psychiatric Association, 2000). This list includes both
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">paraphilias
coded by the APA and paraphilias (not otherwise specified – NOS).
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">This
is not a complete list of paraphilias, but only a sample.* These are
deviant
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">sexual
orientations or sexual attractions that are still considered
abnormal.
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">1.
Apotemnophilia - sexual arousal associated with the stump(s) of an
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">amputee
”
</span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Yup,
number one on the list is good ol' apotemnophilia. Amp devs. They
somehow forgot about abasiophilia, and I'm not sure why. Maybe they
thought it would be redundant to list two philias which link sex and
disability. Or perhaps they thought it was realistic to expect the
“filthiest” of Democrats to support amp devs, but laughable that
they would consider anyone else. It doesn't really matter though. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">What's
happening here is devotees are being used as a pawn by the right to
advance their homophobic agendas. What is lost in the fracas over Gay
and Trans* rights is how we are being used, framed, defamed, and
abused. As the right attempts to pin us to the LGBTQ movement in the
hopes that our “dirtiness” would delegitimize them, we are
disowned by “normal” society. Following naturally from there, the
LGBTQ movement disowns us because we are seen as delegitmizing and in
doing so pushes us down as well. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">In
the end you find both groups arguing, though not so explicitly, that
we don't deserve this same protection which everyone else does. This
isn't based on any process of rational thought, but rather the
mechanisms of politics, power, and popular appeal. Our rights are sacrificed
and forgotten, and in doing so they work to betray the universality of
human rights that has been proposed for well over two hundred years
across the world. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
idea of human rights is that they apply to <i>all</i> humans. The problem with bills like ENDA is one of strategy. It
provides but a pinprick in a canopy of oppression. I will concede it
is a fitting and necessary pinprick, but still one which accomplishes
just an iota of the grand project of human rights. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">In
the end we will waste more energy by trying to pass legislation which
enforces human rights for one group at a time. Why ought we support a
bill that does not solve the entire problem, but only a portion of
it? Why ought we accept as legitimate governance which <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/04/george_w_bush_and_torture_america_s_highest_officials_are_responsible_for_the_enhanced_interrogation_of_prisoners_.single.html">does not act in line with the ideals which it claims to uphold</a>? Why would we stand
idle in the face of such flagrant hypocrisy? </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-style: normal;">...though
I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as
I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of
satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love:
"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let
justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing
stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I
bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin
Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so
help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the
end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And
Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half
free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be
self evident, that all men are created equal . . ." So the
question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of
extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?
Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the
extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three
men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were
crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were
extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The
other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness,
and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation
and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”<br />-<a href="http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html">MLK</a></span></div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-4801957096099688472012-04-07T05:54:00.000-07:002012-04-07T05:57:10.645-07:00Vox Populi<style type="text/css">
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This past week I was happy to discover
that a <a href="http://normalsane.blogspot.com/">new dev blog</a> had popped up adding another
perspective on the dev phenomenon. Normalsane, authored by
'letskeepshitreal' seeks, as practically every devotee writing about
devotees has, to correct and clarify the many misconceptions about
us. The core message can be succinctly summarized in this quote,
“...we're fucking normal.”
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With frustrated enthusiasm and brash
wit 'letskeepshitreal' sums up what we, and literally every other
marginalized group everywhere, have been saying since time
immemorial. We deviate yes, but in a harmless way. Everyone says it,
and still no one seems to care.
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See, the interesting thing about
devotees, is that we're indistinguishable from everyone else. We walk
among you. You might already know us and have no idea at all. We're
your friends, family, co-workers, retail clerks, doctors and lawyers.
You can't identify us if you're a Psychiatrist or a Judge, or a cop,
or even a person with a disability. There is nothing special about
how we look, or walk, or don't walk even (I know of at least one dev
with MS). We love and fuck like everyone else, that's why so many
marriages last until we decide to do something few people ever truly
do, we are honest about ourselves.
</div>
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However, this doesn't just apply to
devotees, it applies to thousands of other marginalized groups. The
crux of it is this: If we are to accept that this argument we make on
our own behalf is valid, then we must extend that to other groups as
well. We're talking about something bigger than just ourselves. <br />
<br />
It
is not enough that we as devotees argue merely on our own behalf,
surely that will never get us anywhere, there simply aren't enough of
us to do anything substantial, and more importantly, it represents
poor reasoning. You can argue on behalf until you're blue in the
face, but it won't matter until you take a step to something larger,
and more important.</div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Devotees
are just one subset of a larger oppressed and maligned group.
Perverts. We don't hurt other people, we act in line with consent, we
love our families, and pay our taxes. It is for this reason that I
speak of “coercive devotees”, in order to clarify the weakened or
more often absent distinction between devotees who are merely
perverts, and those who act like creeps. Those of us who are merely
perverted, kinky, exotic, or whatever word you like, all face varying
levels of discrimination. Much of what I've written here on the past
months can be easily applied to other groups. </span>
</div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">We do
have our own unique social issues, for instance I have never seen
quite as much fuss raised over casters as I have over devs, but the
uniting principle among us is one of ostracism, and an imposition to
silence. We are told, without explicit instruction, to be quiet or be
shunned. The world would prefer to imagine we do not exist, unless it
wants to laugh at us, a phenomena I've written about
<a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/abyss-gazes-also.html">before</a>.<br /><br />If we as devotees, seek to one day move beyond this,
we must work for a more sex and kink positive culture. There is no
other option. Working alone as devs is both ignorant and inefficient.
As devs we ought to see the common bond we have in other pervs and
work to build alliances. This involves encountering our own
prejudices and surely is not an easy task, but a necessary one if we
desire not only our own liberation, but fair and equal treatment for
all.</span></div>dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-67025295874156861462012-03-29T00:04:00.011-07:002013-10-04T00:30:58.868-07:00A Few Words About RollModelz.info<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is a companion piece to <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/03/bunch-of-words-about-chairem.html">yesterday's blog</a> about <a href="http://www.chairem.com/">Chairem</a>'s shady history </div>
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Devotees for some reason, more than other pervs, seem to have latched on to <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">Yahoo! Groups</a> as a way of congregating and sharing materials. I'm not sure who came first or why, but there are plenty of them, in English, Spanish, some German, a few I think were in Czech or Polish but I'm a bit fuzzy on that. <br />
<br />
There were attempts at a Google group once as I recall, and for a while in the late 90's, when Geocities web rings were still the hip happening thing, there was a decently successful group run through, I think, the Excite! search engine etc. though I might be getting that wrong. It could have been Lycos or AltaVista or another one nobody remembers or cares about. </div>
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Somehow all of them managed to be less embarrassing than this...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGw8tV4hYIutx1_XrZjrULzcfxEMwTlfJTaKO34UF_tVk7h4Lg4bwZgn0b_gbQ5JtC9TATtEA6cm9e3mv8Tfr-CPELiQt65XnChCuhk7JLXRuPFD0fBnmgmv97F67V9mkh38BMjSUKRCf9/s1600/56+kbps+of+pure+sexy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGw8tV4hYIutx1_XrZjrULzcfxEMwTlfJTaKO34UF_tVk7h4Lg4bwZgn0b_gbQ5JtC9TATtEA6cm9e3mv8Tfr-CPELiQt65XnChCuhk7JLXRuPFD0fBnmgmv97F67V9mkh38BMjSUKRCf9/s320/56+kbps+of+pure+sexy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In any case, for over a decade now, probably longer, the Yahoo groups have played a pretty big role in supporting the dev community. There have been too many to count that came and went over the years with just as many themes. Some were dedicated to particular athletes and models, or discussion, or picture trading, or a selection of three or four disabilities, and many combinations thereof. Predictably though the most common groups centered around trading pictures.<br />
<br />
For a long time small groups would spring up where some guy would post a smattering of his favorites. A few even achieved some slight degree of longevity, eventually though someone else would come along and create a new group with new favorites and so on and so forth. It went like this for a while leading to a very disjointed network of groups hosting clippings from magazines, brochures, encyclopedias, and of course stolen and candid pictures as well. You'll remember, this was before social networking was even a shadow of the beast we know today.</div>
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At one point whose date I can't recall, though I'm sure this was at least on or after 2001, things began to change, and a structure emerged amdist the chaos. “Ordo Ab Chao” as they say.<br />
<br />
There was, and still is, a group called 'aestheticalparaplegicgirls' or APG for short. The name is kind of silly. Never in my lifetime have I heard someone append an '-al' to the end of 'aesthetic' to render it adjectival. However, the purpose of language is to effectively communicate an idea which that name, despite its quirky interpretation of grammar and overall clunkiness, does just fine. </div>
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Most groups prior to this had been open to the public, or merely required you to register so spammers and other undesirables could be screened out. This had a new catch. To join APG you were required to first submit to the group owner via email three <i>new</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> pictures of disabled women. They couldn't be 'old' pictures which had been in circulation before. Additionally the women had to be sufficiently attractive, though this was left to the moderator's discretion. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The group, though drawing smaller membership than others before it, was a success and soon the mod began creating new groups to keep up the flow. APG2 came, and then APG3, and it went on up into at least the 40's as I recall. Most groups containing around twenty or so pictures. What I found most interesting about these was the utter absence of pictures stolen from existing dev porn vendors. Oh sure there were plenty of lifted vacation pics from someone's personal website and other ethically vacuous “prizes”, but these groups, even the clones dedicated to sharing video clips, never seemed to cotton to the idea of stealing from someone who was selling. Though with everyone else it never seemed to matter.<br />
<br />
I don't know if they are still making new groups, the format seems largely defunct at this point. I stopped paying attention years ago and finally left once I realized there was something more important than myself, but I gather that devs have moved on to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/">other</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/">web</a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">2.0</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/">destinations</a>. However, these groups are still operating. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Now the problems with this are obvious. It continues and encourages a pattern of coercion and exploitation of disabled women by devotees (men and women alike). It does more than that though. In a very literal way it treats them as currency, reducing them to their physical attractiveness. They are treated as an abstraction, a means to an end and not an end in themselves, and thus robbed of their humanity in the service or chasing yet another twinkling of ephemeral bliss. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">This same quasi-Kantian horror I have been complaining about <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">since this blog's inception</a> is wrought into something greater than itself not only in terms of its ability to produce content, and thus exploitation, but also in that it exaggerates the negative aspects of the relationship between devotees and disabled women. In a nutshell, APG is a feminist's nightmare. Through it, men become very literal literal hunters, and women, or their representation, very literal prey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The same way deer are prized for their antlers these women are prized for their bodies (albeit here through a somewhat different set of values than the dominant culture). A whole economy was generated around these women as expressed through various media. Three pictures earned you access to three groups showcasing twenty more pictures apiece. Ten pictures or one sufficiently long video clip earned you access to three groups with a few video clips. It is worth highlighting the fact that candid and stolen material was held in equal regard to others. There was no distinction. <br />
<br />
At this point it would be expected of me to point out, as I have before, that there exist plenty of websites where disabled men and women will gladly share of themselves what they care to for a nominal fee. They do, and it is generally agreed upon that these are preferable in terms of ethics, consistency, and quality, to networks which trade all sorts of media including stolen or candid pictures. However, that paints far too rosy a picture of the status quo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">In 2007, not long after Madonna Long made her departure from Chairem official and founded <a href="http://www.rollmodelz.info/">Roll Modelz</a> emails like these began being posted to the first APG's utterly desolate message board, and thus forwarded to anybody who hadn't opted out of receiving emails from the group. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FfUos-zCiXifHsXoFXuh6rn9IMH-FhPgYOnIs18K2MprZHZR7W-hm7cJTSMWWGLAybFysmS8ZmdS2IRTxISv5U0i0t-n-XwyawOO8jJqHcYmuqJqmT8jpnNGU8TMOg6KgrVZ5pxFMYxg/s1600/Oct+22,+2007.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FfUos-zCiXifHsXoFXuh6rn9IMH-FhPgYOnIs18K2MprZHZR7W-hm7cJTSMWWGLAybFysmS8ZmdS2IRTxISv5U0i0t-n-XwyawOO8jJqHcYmuqJqmT8jpnNGU8TMOg6KgrVZ5pxFMYxg/s320/Oct+22,+2007.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Oct. 22, 2007 </div>
<br />
Funny story about Rob by the way, he had been posting in dev groups on Yahoo for years and was that rare open minded person with a disability who didn't care what devotees thought. He finally started modeling for Roll Modelz and put out two videos before someone recognized him and told them he was a pretender.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0q-gKJ8sPo-TiKbNKa-mo20dBr_9ML8uERa_VB2kmfZK9zpoeMM2YcokveO3LR1lbvAIshV031uEy-LqRhVwHmKqo3vH9TkFh2srHQzZ51lEn6nVIHXlo4icDnZJhwZivVifgmIMDhWWY/s1600/Take+Thence+The+Tantalizng+Treat+Today+Thou+Taint+Thrashing+Twit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0q-gKJ8sPo-TiKbNKa-mo20dBr_9ML8uERa_VB2kmfZK9zpoeMM2YcokveO3LR1lbvAIshV031uEy-LqRhVwHmKqo3vH9TkFh2srHQzZ51lEn6nVIHXlo4icDnZJhwZivVifgmIMDhWWY/s320/Take+Thence+The+Tantalizng+Treat+Today+Thou+Taint+Thrashing+Twit.png" width="255" /></a> </div>
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Jun. 3, 2008</div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Even Shannon, from <a href="http://shannonsden.com/">ShannonsDen.com</a> tried advertising like this. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTHpInR9A2H7o-uG830svgEc9J3KQIlMpHhOEInQcy6i4cEpX3uoAfwmQKeoW2snrY6Hf8NvRKUnHtoulsSKARVFVVuASyUxAPQCQbR2XgumRzTiPjkntJjPh5jKedICLtz4LOhwxGjYX/s1600/Dec+4+2007.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTHpInR9A2H7o-uG830svgEc9J3KQIlMpHhOEInQcy6i4cEpX3uoAfwmQKeoW2snrY6Hf8NvRKUnHtoulsSKARVFVVuASyUxAPQCQbR2XgumRzTiPjkntJjPh5jKedICLtz4LOhwxGjYX/s320/Dec+4+2007.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"> Dec. 4, 2007 </span></div>
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When Madonna, Zaria, <a href="http://www.disthis.com/artman/publish/article_10.shtml">Kim Barreda</a>, and others tried producing '<a href="http://www.chloemagazine.com/">Chloe</a>' their magazine for disabled women, they used the same account to advertise in the same way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTZXfVrNMOtv-Grae_nQocwdoBMGh3Sxhsxm2ToLR3ShWXf323Dg-qVxCVCC16bGL-rlkY3cXvwADiR6qwE1NZkiGYNrONbFw_asmcLE5Ncx4lsihNRR8_ee8vPkFBqohN9chnX-qoQEV/s1600/Feb+5+2009.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTZXfVrNMOtv-Grae_nQocwdoBMGh3Sxhsxm2ToLR3ShWXf323Dg-qVxCVCC16bGL-rlkY3cXvwADiR6qwE1NZkiGYNrONbFw_asmcLE5Ncx4lsihNRR8_ee8vPkFBqohN9chnX-qoQEV/s320/Feb+5+2009.png" width="232" /></a></div>
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Feb. 5, 2009</div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Madonna is an intelligent businesswoman, and took the right step, as practically every other dev vendor has, of setting up a promotional group on Yahoo. Hers was called 'meetdisabledmodels'. It served as a hub for announcements about upcoming Roll Modelz releases, sales, and new models.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">It's not uncommon for models and agencies to release promotional material solely through their Yahoo group. <a href="http://www.paraprincess.com/">ParaPrincess</a> releases exclusive video previews that way, Shannon posts periodic update photos through hers, and <a href="http://www.candisland.com/">Candi</a> used Yahoo and YouTube before settling into Facebook as well. In fact you'll quite often see different vendors advertising on each other's pages. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The problem though comes when you advertise on dev pages like APG. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">It makes good sense to advertise to your target demographic where they will see your ads. Most devotees convene in groups centered at least in part around trading pictures etc. However, when these groups are exploitive, mechanistically so in regards to APG it is difficult to justify drawing a profit from groups like these without soiling one's hands. The devotees, whose presence you rely on for effective advertising, have congregated for the sole purpose of consumption, coercive, exploitive, and otherwise. They would not be there if it were not for the given media present, and they draw no distinction between that which was obtained with the model or photographer's consent, and that which wasn't. What does it say of a vendor who refuses to distinguish between groups which make this distinction?<br />
<br />
Advertising in these groups has the subtle effect of tacitly condoning their activities. If instead Roll Modelz, Shannon's Den and every other vendor were to publicly decry this coercion </span><i>and</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> refuse to advertise in these places it would send a very different message. Moreover, by placing itself alongside these images stolen and otherwise, it embeds itself within the stream of coercive devoteeism. These sites are just another hub for yet more images distinguishable in practical terms only by their price. </span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Pay sites are often referred to in arguments over devoteeism as proof that the exotic attraction to non-standard bodies is not inherently coercive. The problem is that, in the case of these two vendors, it isn't. It recalls Foucault's rejected thesis in his </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-History-Sexuality-Vol-Introduction/dp/0679724699"><i>History of Sexuality:Vol. 1</i></a><span style="font-style: normal;"> speaking of all manner of repressed sexuality in the Victorian era (a large part of which was LGBTQ sexuality), “If it truly was necessary to make room for illegitimate sexualities, it was reasoned, let them take their infernal mischief elsewhere: to a place where they could be reintegrated, if not in the circuits of production, at least in those of profit.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Devotees have a knack for seeking out their desired content online. I've seen TV shows and movies in over five different languages get passed around; obscure stuff, hidden or forgotten and dredged up again. More to the point, they already have their own <a href="http://www.devguide.org/">networks</a> devised for keeping each other abreast of every new development on the web including those in the Yahoo groups. </span> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Even then these networks still catalog coercive groups. What I think we're missing here is an opportunity to recreate devoteeism, or at least take that which is healthy and respectful, and separate it from that which is not. Individual vendors, and agencies have an opportunity to help change the face of devoteeism in a real way instead of simply offering lip service to notions of change. <br />
<br />
It's not likely to put a dent in profits either. One of the best examples of a dev porn agency, and indeed one of the most well known outside of devotee circles, is <a href="http://www.gimpsgonewild.com/">Gimps Gone Wild</a> (GGW). I don't keep extensive records or anything, I've just been milling through an inbox bloated with nearly a decade of unread emails. However in this meager record and my own naturally flawed memory I can not find evidence of GGW or their now defunct non-nude counterpart Enabling Elegance advertising outside of their own space. Neither can I find evidence of Candi, Leah, or most of the other individual vendors doing it. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">So, while it's hard to accept that Roll Modelz may be helping encourage and profiting from coercive devotees, one out of three massive agencies (all disabled owned and operated), plus the majority of individual vendors, do not take advantage of these. Chairem has been exploitive under past management, Roll Modelz hasn't thought through their advertising, but by and large exploitation among vendors is the exception, not the rule. There are problems in the devotee community and we ought to bring them to light and try to find practical solutions, but thankfully most of them seem simple enough. Generating the will to implement them is another story.</span></div>
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dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-60593755876897568502012-03-27T05:46:00.003-07:002012-04-09T00:41:49.798-07:00A Bunch of Words About Chairem<style type="text/css">
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So <a href="http://www.chairem.com/">Chairem</a> is having a sales contest (again). </div>
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7 women, 21 videos, and you get to vote, with your money, for your favorite. Her prize is at least professional videography services, and sexy new lingerie. Maybe one day she can hope to afford a chair as nice as the one in the silhouette. Perhaps she gets a share of the profits too, though the flyer seems reticent to discuss that end of the deal. Mind you, my skepticism is not without warrant. Chairem is a company with a very shady history of abusing not only their models, but their customers as well. </div>
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For those of you who don't remember, Chairem originally operated under the moniker “GMRD” which stood for something like “Greenfield Medical Research and Development”. It was a company founded and run by Playboy's own Miss August 1987, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharry_Konopski">Sharry Konopski</a>, the “Broken Bunny” who sustained a career hampering spinal cord injury at the height of her fame. </div>
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They had more to do with developing photographs than medical research, a ruse they perpetuate to this day, though most devs didn't care. The name was weird, but <a href="http://www.sexypara.com/join.htm">others</a> will use names like “Tropical Productions” so devs can keep their credit card statements relatively presentable. Theirs though proved to be more of a sham than others.</div>
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As an aside I do want to note that Chairem has never claimed to provide pornography to anyone. To quote from their front page, “<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>THE MATERIALS PROVIDED HERE ARE FOR MEDICAL OR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY AND CONTAINS NOTHING PORNOGRAPHIC.</u></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">” The emphasis is all theirs, as are the logical inconsistencies. Officially pornography is defined as, “Pictures and/or writings of sexual activity intended solely to excite lascivious feelings of a particularly blatant and aberrational kind, such as acts involving children, animals, orgies, and all types of sexual intercourse”, or, “Material that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement”. How they can reliably claim this while selling videos like “Simone's Personal Foot Fetish” and “Delicia's Brace Erotica” or holding contests where the winner gets to record themselves wearing sexy lingerie for you is beyond me, but that's America for you.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
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Caveat: I don't have anything official to back this next part up. It's all rumor. </div>
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According to some people in my community, GMRD was run in Canada, on paper at least while it was primarily operated in the U.S. The Canadian birthright lit the way for legal chicanery which effectively held their models in more or less permanent and unnegotiable contracts. They weren't allowed to market themselves any way except for through GMRD, or with GMRD's prior approval.<br />
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It was in 2007, around the time all of this was rumored to have ended, that Madonna Long a.k.a. Venus left them and eventually launched <a href="http://www.rollmodelz.info/">Roll Modelz</a>. Chairem was more than happy to “wish her well” with this email they sent April 4<sup>th</sup> of 2007.</div>
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“<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hey everyone, I hope you'll join me in wishing Venus good luck and good <br />
health. She has agreed its time to venture out on her own.<br />
<br />
If you have purchased a Venus video from Chairem INTERNATIONAL before <br />
April 4th, please be sure to download your order before May 4th when <br />
all Venus materials will be removed from our server.<br />
<br />
As is the case with any model who leaves Chairem INTERNATIONAL, we do <br />
not offer their materials for sale. Anything produced by Chairem <br />
INTERNATIONAL has been destroyed and all original model materials <br />
provided by the model has now been returned to them. Also, please <br />
remember that any future purchases with any model, once they depart, <br />
are no longer secured by Chairem INTERNATIONAL, the name you have come <br />
to trust for over 7 years.<br />
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Best regrds Venus! [sic]</span>”<br />
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Best regards indeed. Her agency quickly absorbed a few of their other models, and eventually began recruiting some of their own. This was the first time Chairem had any competition from another agency outside from Gimps Gone Wild (GGW) which didn't have quite the same history of poaching their talent. At some point around this time they decided the best thing to do was rebrand their product, thus the name “Chairem INTERNATIONAL” (presumably a portmanteau of “Wheelchair” and “Harem”[and yes they always spell it like that with all caps, don't ask me why]).</div>
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Again, I can't confirm the validity of this part of the story about Chairem, it's just rumor. If someone wants to correct me on this then I am more than willing to listen. </div>
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Overtime, Chairem seemed to shift to providing more and more models from the third world, or at least those where it's still not uncommon to find people with polio (a disease which has been nearly eradicated across the globe). There was even one hilariously awkward point soon after Roll Modelz began poaching their talent and all the rumors about unfair, if not overtly exploitive labor practices, that Chairem produced a ridiculous group video with their entire stable of models south of the border which was titled something like “We're family and stick together.” Given the circumstance and what was flying through the air at the time it seemed less like a genuine statement from the models, and more like a veiled threat from the producers. </div>
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Ahh, the failings of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_system">studio system</a> again rear their head. Though thankfully it was much more hilarious this time round.<br />
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Really though, when you get past all of the ridiculous titles and poorly written emails, it's not very funny at all. In the U.S. Being disabled comes with a serious set of disadvantages, and being female comes with its own as well. The intersection of these two categories combine to create something much worse. Furthermore, most of Chairem's models these days come from Central or South America. The brightest lights on that content are the up-and-coming Brazil whose gap between the rich and poor would make the U.S.'s 1% blush, the laughable Venezuela, and the once hopeful Mexico whose combined drug violence and lingering effects of NAFTA have done a lot to reduce the faith of investors hoping to make a quick buck off of strawberry yields. In short you have people who would be economically disadvantaged wherever they lived in the world, hailing from economically disadvantaged countries. Countries which may even be further behind in first world basics like accessibility and fair hiring practices.</div>
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For Chairem this makes good business sense. If they can reliably pull a profitable amount of capital from any given, marginally successful model, then they ought to take advantage of that in any way they can. It will maximize profits which will, with any luck, help them stay ahead of their competition. </div>
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It even seems sort of philanthropic in a way. Disabled women, an already doubly disadvantaged class are given the opportunity to make a tidy a profit considering the actual filming for each video or photoset might take an hour or two. This small amount of labor can, in theory at least, provide a stream of capital which though it surely winnows over time will be worth more than a full day's labor would have been otherwise. </div>
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Delicia Hermosa, is the shining example of this. She's produced a great body of work with marketing and delivery handled for her by Chairem for a share of her earnings. She's produced just shy of thirty videos, the most of anyone in the site's current stable of models, which ranges from polio and paraplegia, to amputations and birth defects. In fact she ended up gaining control of the company after a few catastrophes.<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></span><br />
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The problems with the philanthropic view are manifold and varied. The idea of behind this philanthro-pornography or “non-erotic educational materials featuring beautiful women in sexy lingerie” is that it looks to an imperfect world, and sees capitalism, a system which necessarily produces poverty, exploitation, and inequality, as the solution to issues of poverty, exploitation, and inequality. This more general notion of philanthropic capitalism has been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAMbpQ8J7g">debunked</a>, and this isn't a blog about politico-economic systems so I'll continue past this diversion. However, everyone should pay attention to <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_722089261"></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavoj_%C5%BDi%C5%BEek"><span style="font-size: small;"><span dir="auto">Slavoj </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span dir="auto">Žižek</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span dir="auto">.</span></span><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAMbpQ8J7g"> </a></div>
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In my opinion Chairem has always been the industry leader in tacky bullshit and promotional gags nobody really cares about unless they're giving something away, and even then it feels too contrived. They have a proud legacy of unforgivable typos and awkward phrasing littering <u>everything</u> they produce in writing. I do not exaggerate when I say everything. Some of the more recent silliness can be forgiven because I'm positive it's written by Delicia herself, and I'm pretty sure English is her second language. You be the judge. </div>
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<br />
“<span style="font-size: x-small;">DELICIA LEG BRACE EROTICA PART 2<br />
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It is March 31 and this year I chose to use the full leather and the legbraces with a short skirt and white stockings then I stepped outside for a walk.</span>”</div>
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This is a hilarious legacy that stretches back well beyond Delicia though. This is an email that was sent out to a devotee group in 2005. </div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5093242858260087470&postID=6059375587689756850&from=pencil" name="yui_3_2_0_1_13328441438222748"></a> “<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hello everyone. GMRD, Inc. is the only legitimate, incorporated <br />
company that assists model in marketing materials to the devotee <br />
community. We presently represent 12 models ( see attached web <br />
adresses) and house a library of over 25 hours of devotee DVD's.<br />
<br />
If your thinking about making the move to becoming a model, contact <br />
us and we'll share with you the benifits of going with a Modelling <br />
company that protects the content of our models materials, provides <br />
documented records of all sales transaction that occure in your <br />
behalf and most of all, we treat out models with the greatest <br />
respect.<br />
<br />
We have a customer base of over 2200 and growing and can provide you <br />
with a positive cash flow.</span></span></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">”</span></tt></div>
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<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">Somehow upon my first reading I managed to quash the automatic reflex to delete this, and there it sat in my inbox for seven years until I dug it up a few weeks ago and had a laugh. I'm not going to name the guy who wrote all these but if you've followed Chairem at all in the past few years you're probably used to his flagrant abuse of text sizes and colors. </span></tt> </div>
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<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">It was like that, but never ending. </span></tt> </div>
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<tt class="western">“</tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Chairem INTERNATIONAL doesn't have to beg you to tell us what to <br />
film... we know what you're looking for and continue to strive to make <br />
it happen! We also know that our customers are gentlemen and dont <br />
spend a lot of time talking about their attraction and that's what <br />
truly makes Chairem INTERNATIONAL customers unique and respectable <br />
people.</span></span></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">” May 8</span></tt><tt class="western"><sup><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">th</span></sup></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">, 2007</span></tt></div>
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<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">They've always been unique and respectable what with their contests and trash talking that made them come across as little more than desperate, but the fun doesn't stop there. In January of 2008, they went for the big one.</span></tt></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5093242858260087470&postID=6059375587689756850&from=pencil" name="yui_3_2_0_1_13328441438227205"></a> <tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><br />
</span></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“</span></span></tt><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">When Rick contacted me about his idea for a devotee community he called <a href="http://www.newgendev.org/" target="_blank">www.NEWGENDEV. ORG</a> He shared his vision for his forum. The forum was to be a community where people can share their (non commercial) material, open dialogues on different topics and could do so without being bombarded by SPAM. To achieve this he needed sponsorship support. I wasn't quick to respond.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Once we agreed that no commercial material from any active vendor would be shared and that our sponsorship would give Chairem exclusive rights to be the sole sponsor, We agreed to fund his community for three months. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is why we agreed to sponsor it...</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5093242858260087470&postID=6059375587689756850&from=pencil" name="yui_3_2_0_1_13328441438227199"></a> <span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Your yahoo groups were once yours to share in. Chairem found them a great way to promote ourselves. Then as others vendors began posting promotions in the same fashion, it soon got out of control. Now your groups are nothing but billboards on the Internet highway. That's one of the reasons we ended our use of Yahoo groups for promotions. [Note: Every email transcript I've posted was received through a Yahoo group</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5093242858260087470&postID=6059375587689756850&from=pencil" name="lw_1332845753_0"></a> <span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So the end results are this, Chairem INTERNATIONAL is happy to provide basic funding for <a href="http://newgendev.org/" target="_blank">NEWGENDEV.ORG</a> to allow you to return to having a community free of constant advertising. Chairem INTERNATIONAL has no control over the content of NEWGENDEV.ORG and takes no responsibility for it's content.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The membership has grown to over 1005 members, you have been communicating with each other and posting. NEWGENDEV.ORG is fast becoming the most active group I have yet to see. Rick has done a good job of keeping most issues to a minimum and I have yet to see any of our material posted without our approval. Everything has growing pains and only mature business people look beyond small obstacles towards a positive future. You as active members have proven there is a need and demand for such a community.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We have agreed to fund NEWGENDEV.ORG for an additional 6 months. We will continue to be active sponsors and offer promotions and specials to <a href="http://www.newgendev.org/" target="_blank">www.NEWGENDEV. ORG</a> members.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I want to congratulate everyone in creating a community for yourselves on the Internet.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.newgendev.org/" target="_blank">www.NEWGENDEV. ORG</a> , your devotee community on line.”</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><br />
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<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">If ever the argument was to be made that devotees are inherently socially inept, one would have to look no farther devotee groups for proof. With the sole exception of the <a href="http://paradevo.proboards.com/index.cgi">ParaDevo Boards</a>, dev groups that aren't centered around sharing pictures etc. never last, and even the ones based around sharing don't always fare too well. NEWGENDEV.ORG was unique not in that it failed, but rather how. </span></tt></div>
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<tt class="western">“</tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hello everyone.<br />
<br />
Today, I regret announcing that I am retiring as President of Chairem<br />
INTERNATIONAL.<br />
<br />
In the last 6 months, I have lost 2 friends, a family member and faced<br />
difficult health issues with a member of our family. On Wednesday, 30th<br />
of January I experienced a minor heart attack that took me to the<br />
hospital. This coming week I will be undergoing major tests and all the<br />
pleasures that anyone who experiences this encounters. I am releaving<br />
myself of everything stressful in my life.<br />
<br />
Over the last 2 years I have been fortunate to know a wonderful person<br />
who is responsible and honest who I feel confident handing the<br />
operations to. She has been involved with the operation of Chairem since<br />
Dec 6, 2006.<br />
<br />
Delicia stepped forward and has taken over all operations of Chairem<br />
INTERNATIONAL as of Thursday Jan 31st. I will remain to assist in the<br />
transition period and will continue to provide service maintaining our<br />
websites.<br />
<br />
All our models have been notified of what has happened and they remain<br />
committed to working with Chairem INTERNATIONAL. The first model I<br />
contacted was Sharry Konopski who assured me her commitment to our<br />
goals and to Chairem INTERNATIONAL no matter how many times she is<br />
contacted by others.<br />
<br />
In closing, I want to thank all Chairem INTERNATIONAL fans and friends<br />
for your support over the past nine years. I assure you that the legacy<br />
of Chairem INTERNATIONAL, our original goals, our dedication to<br />
individuals with disabilities and their loyal friends will continue<br />
under the leadership of Delicia Hermosa.<br />
<br />
My best regards,</span></span></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">” Feb. 3</span></tt><tt class="western"><sup><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">rd</span></sup></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"> , 2008</span></tt></div>
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<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">This was continued...</span></tt></div>
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<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><br />
<br />
“</span></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">To all members of this group.<br />
I'd like to make a formal and public apology to the President of <br />
Chairem INTERNATIONAL, Delicia Hermosa, all the models of Chairem <br />
INTERNATIONAL and to you the general public.<br />
<br />
In October 2007, I started a community called NEWGENDEV.Org under <br />
the ownership name of Rick Shannon. The idea was for a community <br />
for individuals to share their collections without having promotions <br />
from commercial vendors.<br />
<br />
It was my intent to create this community and be the sole sponsor of <br />
the site in an attempt to block any other vendor from marketing in <br />
the site. My goal was to have an exclusive location for the <br />
community to share and also, to be able to post promotions on behalf <br />
of Chairem where no other media outlets could respond.<br />
<br />
I created the site without the support of Delicia or the models of <br />
Chairem and hid that I was in fact the owner of the site. I <br />
apologize deeply to Delicia, my friend and all those who have known <br />
me over these many years. Those who know me best, know this is much <br />
out of character.<br />
<br />
Recently NEWGENDEV encountered a "suspect member" who used the site <br />
to offer some of our legitimate members a "private file of his <br />
favourite pictures." Those who accepted the file were asked for <br />
their email address to send it to. The "suspect member" then started <br />
sending thousands of spam messages. In turn, The same person has <br />
gone into yahoo groups and gained access to other persons email <br />
addresses and done the same. Be warned: When you post a message in <br />
yahoo groups ( and a member has their account set to receive emails) <br />
they can see your full email address. This person has used this <br />
information to spam members in many groups.<br />
<br />
I do not know where this person began this campaign of spamming or <br />
why. I have since closed NEWGENDEV. Even Delicia Hermosa has been <br />
effected by these email spams.<br />
<br />
As many of you know, I experienced a heart attack in January and I <br />
have retired from Chairem INTERNATIONAL. I have given full control <br />
to Delicia Hermosa and I have no direction in the operation of the <br />
organization. I ask for the forgiveness of my friends, for <br />
compassion from vendors who I showed none too and that the devotee <br />
community can heal from the damage I have caused. I have not been <br />
active on the internet to be aware of the goings on, nore do I spend <br />
time in groups any longer. This, like many things I have felt <br />
passionate about I have set aside with no plans to return.<br />
<br />
Please understand that this reflects on my poor judgement and should <br />
no way be attributed to Delicia or any of the Chairem Models.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,</span></span></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">” Feb. 20</span></tt><tt class="western"><sup><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">th</span></sup></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">, 2008</span></tt></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">So, in a ludicrous attempt to corner the "lucrative" disabled fetishist market, they accidentally dropped an a-bomb on the community they were trying to foster, in addition to any associated groups. I'm not sure how connected his heart attack was to all of this, but I felt like he included way more personal detail than was necessary for someone who was simply announcing his retirement. <br />
<br />
Despite all of this I cannot fully shame Chairem. They've done some outright shady if not illegal stuff in their time. Yes they are annoying, but that's really just being competitive, and when they sell more the models do benefit; this is undeniable. More than that though we do share a common dream.<br />
</span></tt></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><tt class="western">“</tt></span><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sharry Konopski, Deeyana and myself are very pleased to share with <br />
you this special announcement that comes with a short history lesion.<br />
<br />
In Dec 1999, Deeyana, Sharry and I set forth to develop a modeling <br />
group, that would allow a model the ability to create media for <br />
individuals with a unique attraction in a fashion that was safe for <br />
the model and dignified. <br />
<br />
We established a Mission Statement which remains unchanged to this <br />
day ( you may view out mission statement in our file section. Our key <br />
objective was to eliminate the demand or desire to view media deemed <br />
covert, "candid" or stalking. We three believed that if quality <br />
material was made available by models with consent to being filmed, <br />
that media collected by using a hidden camera would be of less <br />
interest and would no longer be in vouge.<br />
<br />
The internet is filled with shared clips of unsuspecting women, <br />
transferring from their wheelchair to their cars, women with <br />
disabilities walking through malls unaware they are being followed <br />
and video taped. Mothers and daughters enjoying themselves with <br />
family at Disneyland and other public locations became targets for <br />
hidden video that was then sold and shared on the internet.<br />
<br />
In May of this year, I was approached by the person who has spent <br />
nearly 50 years collecting this material who told me he was no longer <br />
interested in selling it (because it had stopped selling). He <br />
approached me with the cost to buy his complete collection ( 640 <br />
hours worth approx) that spans from home movie 8mm taken in the <br />
1950's to the high quality DVD video of today. Many of you own his <br />
work.<br />
<br />
On April 1, 2007 I received a legal and binding agreement from Bob <br />
Edmonds to sell to me the rights and all materials he has collected <br />
that has become known as the Crutchman collection. In return for <br />
payment, Mr Edmonds released all materials including the <br />
original "Sharry Konopski devotee video" and a multitude of other <br />
known models materials was presented to Chairem INTERNATIONAL.<br />
<br />
Mr Edmonds as you have seen in many yahoo groups has retired from <br />
selling video. The materials he sold in the Crutchman catalog has sat <br />
in a large box beside my desk since early April. With over 60 video <br />
tapes purchased at a premium, there was no question as to what I <br />
would do with them.<br />
<br />
I am happy to announce that all materials purchased from Bob Edmonds <br />
have been received in good faith and have now been destroyed. They <br />
will never be seen again and as agreed in our legal agreement, Mr <br />
Edmonds will no longer be selling his collection on the internet or <br />
any other marketing means. Let me be clear, these materials bought <br />
from Mr. Edmonds have been destroyed by Chairem INTERNATIONAL.<br />
<br />
While portions of this material is still being sold by Kroespage and <br />
others, Chairem INTERNATIONAL and myself, NAME WITHELD remain <br />
committed to ending the demand for covert video that robs a person of <br />
their privacy and dignity.<br />
<br />
I want to thank Bob Edmonds for discharging this material and ending <br />
a long career marketing and covertly video taping in this fashion.</span>” May 26</span></tt><tt class="western"><sup><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">th</span></sup></tt><tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">, 2007<br />
</span></tt></div>
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<tt class="western"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;">Of the two of us, I'd say they've done more to combat candid filming than I have with my little blog.</span></tt></div>dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-32530515800253948732012-03-09T02:55:00.002-08:002012-10-11T21:09:45.305-07:00All Devotees Are Rapists<span style="line-height: 100%;">Is it true?</span><br />
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<br />
The notion itself is ridiculous, and somehow it is still able to mutate into a question or a statement of fact. Still we must reply, no. Devoteeism is so often <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/02/examining-coercive-devotees-process-of.html">linked with coercive behaviors</a> that it becomes easy for the uninitiated to fall prey to such a ridiculous argument. I've seen it happen before, and argued against it, but it never really matters. </div>
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The mere concept of devoteeism, apart from its actual practice, is enough to light many tempers aflame, and it is here that most of the detractors to devoteeism lose their rationality. It is ridiculous to propose that <i><span style="font-weight: normal;">all</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> devotees are rapists for a number of reasons. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To begin with, it is generally unwise to speak in absolutes. This is just a general principle of theory. It is rare indeed to find a rule to which there exists </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;">no</span></u></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> exception. This is even more problematic when we attempt to explain human behavior. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Take cross-dressing for example. Looking at cross dressing only as it applies to men (or those born into male bodies), we can find a number of reasons for this behavior which have wildly different origins.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In gay culture there is drag, once called 'camp', which has a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088782/">historical legacy</a> of crossdressing as a method of parodying straight culture and normative gender and sexual roles. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Next we have transsexuals. Generally speaking, Transsexuals, who have been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder, have the brains of women, or at least with many typically female traits, within a male body. In technical terms it has been argued that their behavior is not actually cross dressing because they dress to match their true selves. This is to be distinguished though from transgender people, who simply enjoy taking on the role of the opposite sex but do not feel as though they were born into the wrong body.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Then there are Transvestites, which generally fits what many would think of as the “typical” cross dresser. However, even this isn't complete. There are Transvestites who simply enjoy dressing in and of itself, and then there are Transvestic Fetishists, who find they are aroused by cross dressing. In a technical sense this can be distinguished from Autogynophilia wherein a man is sexually aroused by thinking of himself as a woman. </span></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This is nowhere near where it ends. There are hijras, two-spirits, androgynes, intersexed, bigender, genderqueer, genderfluid, pangender, metagender, and many <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender">other labels</a> for describing the feelings and motivations leading to behaviors like cross-dressing. Further complicating this is that the above categories are imposed on humans by humans. They are attempts to organize and distinguish human behavior, and yet they are imperfect. Humans don't always stick to or within just one of these at a time or over their lifetime. <br />
<br />
It would be ignorant to say all cross-dressers are like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/">Wild Bill</a> and it is equally ignorant to say all devotees are rapists. However that isn't to say that there aren't some links between a violent sexuality and a fixation on the disabled. There definitely are.<br />
<br />
I've seen amputee groups where pictures have been traded of girls, and it more often seems to be girls than guys, tied up with one or more of their limbs chopped off, blood streaming out from the stump(s), usually accompanied by fearful, teary eyed looks of terror. While some devs clearly gravitate toward this it actually occupies a separate fetish entirely, called "guro". The one caveat I can offer, though sadly without any tangible proof, is that in my experience over the years it has been more common to find dev groups which openly and vocally prohibit such violent imagery. It may be disturbing, but this is the truth of human sexuality. Some people, as they mature, find themselves sexually excited at scenes of violence and suffering.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The same thing happens with rape.<br />
<br />
There does exist the sub-genre of “rape porn” which involves simulated rape filmed with the explicit intent of causing arousal. Within this sub-genre of film it is possible to find material which features the abuse of disabled women. Of course this sadly has its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP_68w43NmU#t=5m33s">real life counterpart</a> as well. I have also met self identified wannabes who enjoy, non-sexually, the notion of having a spinal cord injury, and, sexually, the idea of being raped. Ideally, for this person it was both at once. </span></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But which is the devotee? The rape fetishist who enjoys the enhanced power dynamic (physically at least) of a disabled partner, or the wannabe who enjoys being raped? The wannabe I knew did not identify as a devotee. Of course, I can not be <i>absolutely</i> sure, but she never seemed intimately familiar with any of the common devotee locales, and as such I'm inclined to believe her.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">What though of the rape fetishist? A quick jaunt into any of the numerous books about BDSM culture will show you people who enjoy the act of rape and/or being raped in a fantastic or fetishistic sense, and yet do not engage in <i>actual</i> rape. I have often read that rape is more concerned with power and control than anything explicitly sexual. I think most of this argument has grown from a desire to quash the fallacy that women invite these attacks by dressing or acting provocatively. While it is true that women do not invite rape upon themselves, and that fault lies entirely on the sexual offender, I have never been able to find a case of a gay man who raped women. Though to counter that there are definitely cases of ostensibly straight men raping and otherwise sexually assaulting other men. </span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In attempting to define the rape fetishist as either a devotee or not a devotee, we must first examine how we define a devotee. If our definition is a simple one such as, “A person who is, at least in part, attracted to people with disabilities, or a certain type of disability.”, then the answer would appear to be a murky, “Maybe.” </span></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As we have seen with cross-dressing it is difficult to make broad assumptions about what motivates a given behavior. I think it is certainly possible for the rape fetishist to be a devotee, and for devotees to be rapists, and for rape fetishists to be simply fetishists and not sexual predators. You don't need to explore BDSM culture very long before you find people talking at length about the ethics behind “rape scenes” and “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consent_%28BDSM%29#Consensual_non-consent">consensual non-consent</a>”. </span></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The fact is that sometimes the rape fetishists mentioned above will meet the wannabe and they will find their mutually reinforcing weirdness makes for a wonderful and satisfying relationship. Sometimes that happens and that is as far as it ever goes. In fact, noted dev blogger ParaGirl has written <a href="http://paracathy.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-be-careful-what-you-wish-for.html">before</a> about playing scenes integrating both disability and consensual non-consent with her girlfriend, Heather. </span></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So we know there are some connections between rape fetishists, and devotees, but there isn't really any empirical evidence about the overlap between the two. Though this may be true I think it is at least possible to infer some trends. <br />
<br />
To begin with, I do have my biases. I'm generally unacquainted with “rape porn” save for a single unhappy accident while searching through poorly labeled torrents once upon a midnight dreary. And, yes, I crowed, “Nevermore.” I am, quite predictably, far more acquainted with devotee porn. </span></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">There is some slight overlap. Candi, of <a href="http://candisland.com/">Candisland.com</a>, did make a movie, as far as I know, at the request of her fans called “The Intruder”. I've never seen it, but here is how it is described on her <a href="http://www.candisland.com/store/movietheatre.php">site</a>,</span></span></div>
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“<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>This one is so scary. My cameraman has been watching me and breaks in to have his way with me. He takes my chair and I have to crawl and drag myself across the floor and through the house to find a phone. Was it only a dream?</i>”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">All 35 minutes of it can be yours for just $199. Dev porn is certainly rare, and most people involved in its production know this and take full advantage of its inflated demand. It normally trades at premium prices compared to virtually everything else “normal” (normal here can refer to anything you'd commonly find in a sex shop, which actually gets <a href="http://www.sugardvd.com/category_definitions/dvd">quite</a> <a href="http://www.wholesaleadultvideo.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=3">bizarre</a>). Still though, a quick browsing of Candi's store will show you that she routinely offers videos 1/3 longer than “The Intruder” for ¼ of the price. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Generally the average price I've seen for dev porn hovers somewhere around $1 per minute of video. If this price is derived due to its rarity on the market, then we can infer that, within the dev network at least, rape porn or anything suggestive of it, is even more rare. Indeed, this is the only video of its kind of which I am aware. </span></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The caveat here, is that, as far as I know, “The Intruder” was made based on the requests of her fan club. Candi, and many of the other Dev agencies will allow devs to make very specific <a href="http://www.candisland.com/store/custom_request.php">special requests</a> for a price which often varies, though I do seem to recall often falling somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000. It could be that there exists an army of dev rapists who also enjoy rape porn, but are economically oppressed and rarely able to finance multiple ventures. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Indeed, Candi has no qualms about keeping special requests private if you prefer. It is entirely possible that there is a mountain of secretly recorded and distributed rape and non-con dev porn floating around out there. Still though, when I have looked at devotee fan art and fiction, both of which involve a time cost and little more, there is still a startlingly low incidence of rape and related incidents. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So, are devotees rapists? Maybe some of them are, but the bulk appear to be normal people with an exotic kink who are simply interested in seeing and enjoying what turns them on. Rarely does that include scenes of rape or other forms of coercion. So, while many devotees may engage in <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">coercive behavior</a>, it appears to rarely be rape, and more often as a means to an end, and rarely an end in itself. </span></span> </div>
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dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-74212431986353713382012-03-02T15:02:00.001-08:002012-10-11T21:10:03.114-07:00The Problem of PresenceDevotees, like everyone, have an obligation not to bring harm or needless suffering upon others. There are a lot of ways the argument can evolve from this premise, but I feel that an imperative starting point, especially given the state of relations between devotees and the disabled in the information age, is to examine how we violate this obligation as it regards the disabled. In the past I've talked about both the <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">explicit</a> ways in which devotees impair and harm the disabled. Though there is still more to consider.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Now the basic premise I've set up in the past is one which says that you do not take what is not freely given. Unless you have consent, it is not right to copy and trade someone's pictures, videos, etc. This does even extend into the issue of piracy, and the byzantine network of groups at Yahoo are no stranger to leaked photosets, however I would argue that it is OK to set speculation on piracy aside <i>for the time being</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. There are much more pertinent issues to consider. </span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Prior to the internet we did not see the same kind of widespread networks for fetishists, whereby a man in Sweden could form a directory that would connect thousands of people from the U.K. and Germany to the U.S. and Australia in an instant. Devoteeism as we know it today is a thoroughly modern phenomenon. Indeed while it still relies on old methods, it has expanded with the internet, for better, or worse, into Facebook, and MySpace, Flickr and most obviously YouTube. <br />
<br />
These are fantastic tools for sharing and allow devotees, and really every other fetish group to do the same. Fetishists have become so ubiquitous that they have created <a href="https://fetlife.com/">their own social networks</a></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. For those of you who remember how the dev webrings and IRC chats ran in the 90's, it seems like things have definitely come a long way since then. The problem is that everyone else has come along too, including the disabled.<br />
<br />
I like to believe that devotees and the disabled can peacefully coexist without hurting each other, though realistically I know this won't be possible without a bit of work. <br />
<br />
The fact is that where YouTube and every other Web 2.0 success story have done wonders for devs, they have done wonders for everyone. Now we're all existing in much closer proximity. Devs and the disabled are no longer cordoned off into our own separate islands of webspace, but for once we're all sharing certain areas, like YouTube. The problem, as always, is that some devs don't know, or don't care, when they might be hurting or interfering with the disabled. <br />
<br />
There are a lot of obvious ways this occurs. There are plenty of devs who will contact disabled women on YouTube pretending to be disabled and hoping to make contact. It's a long heart breaking story, which anyone familiar enough with the issue has no doubt heard or participated in more times than they'd care to admit. While this is one of the more explosive consequences of the presence of coercive devs, and perhaps even a byproduct of devs in general, it is not where the negative effects end. <br />
<br />
In</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Psychology_of_disability.html?id=rEJBUaWGh_sC" style="font-style: normal;">The Psychology of Disability</a>, Carolyn Vash recounts how, while initially acquiring a disability may be a traumatizing experience leading many down a long path of depression, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. People who acquire disabilities do learn to adapt and overcome their setbacks and blossom into a happy and fulfilling life. One of the key difficulties she identifies in this process is that of convincing the newly disabled to accept that this is a possibility, though she points out one of the best tools in helping them adapt and overcome is being in contact with others who have endured similar setbacks and emerged fulfilled, sometimes even more than before. <br />
<br />
It does not take any magnificent stroke of the imagination to realize how YouTube, Facebook, or Flickr could play a significant role in helping people who have acquired disabilities adapt and overcome by allowing them to connect with others and work toward healing and self acceptance. Yet we can also understand just how much damage devotees can cause in this delicate process by poisoning the well. Perhaps at this time, more than any other, our presence alone is most damaging. <br />
<br />
There have been plenty of cases of people in rehab for spinal cord injuries and amputations who have uploaded a video of themselves on an FES bike, or parallel bars, or just recuperating in the hospital who have found themselves the unwitting objects of the devoted gaze. Devotees already earn a bad name for impairing the lives of the disabled online, but as <a href="http://www.philosophyofinformation.net/Welcome.html" style="font-style: normal;">some have pointed out</a>, as our society becomes increasingly integrated with the internet, and embraces public sharing, what we mean by “life online” grows less and less distinguishable from “life offline”. When I was growing up we used to measure our amount of time spent “on <i>the</i> computer”, though with the advent of smart phones it is easier to speak of our time “away from <i>a</i> computer”. <br />
<br />
Our presence and its effect has the potential to expand greatly in the next few decades depending on the supply of <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/09/29/you-dont-bring-a-praseodymium-knife-to-a-gunfight?hidecomments=yes" style="font-style: normal;">rare earth metals</a> amongst other things. Whatever the case, we have an obligation to ensure that we do not negatively impact the lives of the disabled through our actions, which at some points may extend to include our presence alone. <br />
<br />
When you see videos posted from rehab, do not favorite them, do not 'like' them, do not save them, do not share them, do not post comments to them. Keep them out of the dev network entirely. These are people who are in the midst of an oftentimes painful and jarring transition, one of the more vulnerable periods in someone's life, and it is to be left alone that they and others enduring such a trial may learn and prosper from this. Your presence serves only to pollute the process and bring harm to those you would love. <br />
<br />
Furthermore...<br />
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There is a very common argument that devotees use when they are berated by the disabled for having their feelings at all. It has been stated many ways in many different languages but generally runs as follows, “The disabled dislike devotees because they cannot accept their disability.” The belief here is that if, and only if, the disabled could come to understand that their bodies are ultimately no different in value from those of the able bodied, that there is no shame to be had in crutches or a leg bag, that they possess equal capacity for love, discovery, style, grace, power, and yes even sexiness, that they would come to realize that there is nothing wrong with someone appreciating what they have to offer. <br />
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<a href="http://www.disthis.com/artman/publish/article_10.shtml" style="font-style: normal;">Some disabled people</a> have come around to the idea, though I find it ultimately too reductive and simplistic to apply to everyone. After all, there are many other terrible reasons why a disabled person may dislike devotees which has nothing to do with how they view their bodies. However, if you accept the common dev argument, then does it not follow that you ought not interfere with the very delicate process of adjustment to one's new body which can lead to such negative opinions of devs? </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Harassing the disabled in rehab only works against your own interests.</span></span></div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-11256735937352146692012-02-13T07:01:00.000-08:002012-10-11T21:10:43.709-07:00Shame, Suicide, & All ThatIn her speech on “Lessons in Leadership”, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tstm1NPl1Zw">Mallory Weggeman</a> does a good job of pointing out that there are a number of secondary costs which come with disability. She speaks primarily in relation to her own paralysis, though many of her statistics seem to apply quite well to the broader spectrum of disabilities in general.<br />
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“<i>Statistically, I will never hold a job. Statistically, I'll never graduate college. I'll never have a long term relationship. I'll never have a family. I'll spend most of my days in and out of various hospitals...I have a life expectancy of about fifty now because of depression and suicide...”</i></div>
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It is painful to listen as her voice cracks and strains with what sounds like sadness as she reads these off, no doubt in some small way encountering some of the stark realities she and many others like her must navigate. She cares deeply, and likely on some primal level still feels the fear any of us would associate with having such predictions applied to ourselves. Indeed, at one point she refers to having once thought of paralysis as a nightmare. Of course though her speech does not end on that note.</div>
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“<i>You figure out how to get along with your life. You make choices about how to fit your desires in. If there were a way to make it go away, I would probably do that. I am face to face with the heartbreaking realization that it is staggeringly unlikely that I will ever be loved...The choice I have now is to spend my life in bitter regret for the life that I could have had, or to accept myself as I am with pride.”</i></div>
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These are words which indicate a struggle for self-acceptance fought within a world indifferent to your strife. They speak of the need to accept yourself and your circumstance and move on, despite what staggering likelihoods may remain. They speak of two roads from which we may choose, reducible to extremes of 'life' and 'death'. These are the words of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhjGDnBYpGU&list=UUkVFAb0w162JGgFdk1v8Cog&index=16&feature=plcp">devotee</a>.</div>
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What is often lost in the common discourse over devoteeism, is that it's not all fun and exploitation. Indeed, for some it is neither. I haven't known a single dev who didn't feel hopeless or depressed in some fashion, for even just a moment, no matter how short lived, regarding their deviant status. The fact that joins Mallory and our quoted dev is that they both have a minority status, and the torment of searching for self acceptance.<br />
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Suffering from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAgplgTxfc">depression</a> does a lot to<a href="http://www.webmd.com/depression/news/20070906/depression-a-big-factor-in-poor-health"> shorten your lifespan</a>. People with depression are more likely to suffer <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110310173202.htm">kidney failure</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110920163211.htm">strokes</a>, or die of <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102190352.htm">breast cancer</a>, and it can weaken your <a href="http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/depression/articles/10_ways_depression_hurts_your_health.aspx">immune system</a> meaning you'll spend more time sick or seeing the doctor. Depression can disrupt your <a href="http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/depression/articles/10_ways_depression_hurts_your_health.aspx">sleep patterns</a> (and poor sleeping habits can have a host of negative effects on their own), it can raise your <a href="http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/depression/articles/10_ways_depression_hurts_your_health.aspx">blood pressure</a>, if you're a <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health-wellbeing/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501238&objectid=10771604">dad</a> your children are more likely to have behavioral, emotional, and social problems, you'll have <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pain-and-depression/AN01449">more pain</a>, and pain actually <a href="http://www.ygoy.com/2010/10/22/can-depression-increase-pain-perception/">hurts more</a> when you're depressed.</div>
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In fact, most suicides are committed by people suffering from depression. Furthermore, suicide is more common among the divorced and those who live alone. People may roll their eyes, but there is a link between LGBTQ suicides and discrimination. Yes there are differences, though I don't see any reason why that same phenomena couldn't transfer to other groups.</div>
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While all of this is a heavy burden to consider on its own, what is truly shocking is that the greatest predictor of a future suicide attempt is a past suicide attempt. As a devotee, you can be more likely to go there, and if you survive, you're more likely to go again. </div>
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I've been there.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRh7UXNoeM-25lbuaUKR_UhuQeupbfkPwPbzk40J6PIInMs-kdnLVsarFe4z28HCUisY84HzbAMgNsWqaQJaBY7w1FZ48ShO75Ij719CKWUCrAXCvKwpNyAbVRNWNMLRrnsuxs97_pHPf4/s1600/IMG_20120212_223156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRh7UXNoeM-25lbuaUKR_UhuQeupbfkPwPbzk40J6PIInMs-kdnLVsarFe4z28HCUisY84HzbAMgNsWqaQJaBY7w1FZ48ShO75Ij719CKWUCrAXCvKwpNyAbVRNWNMLRrnsuxs97_pHPf4/s320/IMG_20120212_223156.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i> <span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the rope I tried to hang myself with.</span></i></div>
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I've been there specifically because I hated myself because of my feelings, and it sucks.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This is the shell from the gun I had in my mouth.</i></span></div>
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This is the part where I'm supposed to tell you it doesn't have to be that way and that there is hope and happiness in your future, but it all depends on whether you can bring yourself to accept and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Loving-What-Four-Questions-Change/dp/1400045371">love what is</a>. I'm supposed to tell you that you should <i>never</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> commit suicide and that if you ever feel like it you should call </span><span class="st"> <i>1-800</i>-273-<i>TALK </i></span><span style="font-style: normal;">immediately. </span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">You should, but I say this with a measure of hypocrisy. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Honestly, I've never believed the “<a href="http://www.itgetsbetter.org/">It Gets Better</a>” campaign. It's a good strategy, and a nice sentiment, but I can't believe that the universal “it” will naturally improve with time. I was assaulted in my workplace once only because I was “homosexual”. Of course he never bothered to sit down and have a conversation with me about my orientation etc., but that I deviated from the heteronorm at all was enough to incur his wrath. It wasn't the first time. I've worked other places where I was harassed almost daily and threatened as well.</span></div>
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Sometimes, especially tight times like these, you can get stuck in those places. Sometimes it really doesn't get better. You can come to terms with yourself, and that's important. Though other people change on their own time, and tend to be slow and fearful about the whole process. Sometimes things just stay the same.</div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-36055122227646858662012-02-12T02:50:00.000-08:002012-10-28T19:28:26.791-07:00Devotees & The Disabled: Mutually OppressedI went through a long period of my life where I wanted to study the disability rights movement, and the politics surrounding ableism in society, but I felt that as a devotee it was inappropriate. I felt that this was not my, or <i>any</i> devotees place. My thoughts on this have shifted since then.<br />
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Currently I believe it is actually beneficial for devotees, the transabled, pretenders, cast fetishists, foot lovers, furverts, <a href="http://imgur.com/SjS2j"><i>Star Wars</i> enthusiasts</a>, and even the disabled to study disability. I believe that there are many barriers we erect without being aware, and this is especially true for devotees. </div>
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However, the study of disability by a devotee need neither be one of self flagellation nor of some abstract sexual urge, but rather one of self-advocacy. As some have pointed out, in the West we are held back by an antiquated system of values surrounding sex inherited from the Victorian Era when the act lost its value in pleasure, and instead became one of pure procreation. This system of cultural values is largely what dictates where the devotee finds themselves relative to everyone else. </div>
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However, there is something else at work which makes the devotee perceived as more bizarre than say a balloon fetishist or a furry. I believe that in part there is a strain of ableism. </div>
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Of course, devotees are no stranger to the fact that there is a stigma surrounding disabled sexuality. Though of course devotees carry their own stigma. In <i><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Gendering_disability.html?id=yJOfB3aEfU8C">Gendering Disability</a> </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(which every devotee should read), there is a paper which details the experiences of one researcher who took a serious academic look at devotees. She mostly limited herself to lurking on one board for amputee devs, but what I read was unnerving.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Having grown up a child of the internet generation, I was in many ways raised into sexual maturity amongst a “culture of devoteeism”, as I imagine no person in the history of the world before me has done. I generally thought I had a very good idea of what devotees were like and what they did and did not do, yet what I read here shocked me. </span>I do not mean to downplay the seriousness of issues surrounding the abuse of the disabled by devotees with cameras, but I had honestly suspected that, as far as the internet is concerned, it got no worse than that. I was wrong. </div>
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The group observed in this paper was fond of sharing their “sightings”. This refers to sharing stories of something as simple as seeing an amputee in the mall, or a blind person on the sidewalk. While unnerving, this seems to be ultimately harmless enough. However, there is a darker side. These people also felt that there was nothing wrong with posting the time and location of these sightings, along with detailed descriptions of the people they saw. </div>
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It is an old and sad truth, which only grows sadder with age, that the disabled are <a href="http://www.normemma.com/advocacy/artsexassault.htm">overwhelmingly</a> <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16905675">more</a> <a href="http://www.aahd.us/page.php?pname=health/research/abstracts/violence">likely</a> to be the victims of sexual assault as compared to the able bodied. When you view the behaviors of these devotees, building the infrastructure for and even tacitly encouraging, stalking, it is easy to understand why we have the reputation we do. What I have read suggests that disabled children comprise the bulk of victims though, so this isn't a phenomenon quite attributable to most devotees.</div>
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I believe that devotees are created, not born. As such it becomes important to look at the factors which influence this. The problem we must acknowledge before beginning this is that we do not know why or how devotees are created. </div>
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Freud had a <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/219848/Sigmund-Freud/22605/Sexuality-and-development?anchor=ref386115">theory</a> that as children there are certain moments where their minds become susceptible to influence and whatever they happen to observe they will become fixated on. His reasoning went that because children were often crawling on the floor around the age when this “fixation” happened, that it explained the high prevalence of foot fetishes. More recently the neuro-scientist <a href="http://aditismirage.blogspot.com/2011/02/exploring-neuroscape-of-phantom-limbs.html">V.S. Ramachandran</a>, who everyone should know of by now, has made some interesting proposals regarding “neural crosswiring” along the areas of the brain responsible for mapping the body, and the area responsible for sexual function. </div>
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I realize that there are a number of theories out there, thus far none of them proven regarding acquisition of paraphilia. However, I feel that it is quite appropriate for us to understand that regardless of how a given paraphilia, in this case devoteeism, is acquired, the world in which the afflicted find themselves has an effect on how they understand themselves, and act.</div>
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The dominant stereotypes we hold about the disabled are overwhelmingly negative. These too owe their present manifestations in part to a harmful historical legacy. Things have improved since the <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=DxLlLsBanUYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">Bronze Age</a> when the disabled were not allowed inside Jewish Temples , or the <a href="http://www.paperlw.net/html/Sociology/200807/21-8209.html">Medieval period</a> when they were dressed up as court jesters and abused for entertainment. Indeed we've come a long way, and yet we still have a long way to go. </div>
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The truth of the matter is that human sexuality stretches far beyond our average conception. For example, your grandmother may still masturbate. The disabled are fully sexual beings though this is quite often ignored, or even more absurdly, and harmfully, treated as taboo. </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> This image represents one of the only instances in recent pop-cultural media where the subject of disabled sexuality has been directly addressed. Also, due to reruns and syndication it is one of the most repeated, giving it greater cultural influence than others.</span></i></div>
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The mechanism through which this occurs is one of imposed silence. It would be political suicide these days for someone to publicly oppose the notion of disabled sexuality, but we have many things to say about that which is done, and less to say about that which is left undone. Ignorance is easier, and harder to detect. </div>
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In this way whatever calls to mind a positive association between “disability” and “sexuality” is met with the same, or an even harsher retribution. While things are <a href="http://uniter.ca/view/5902/">changing</a>, there is a large part of the world that wants to ignore disabled sexuality. This is where we come in.</div>
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In some sense you can argue that the mere existence of devotees naturally works in opposition to this repressive force. The traces we leave behind online, especially in places like YouTube, scatters the notion of disabled sexuality further. We unwittingly carry the message, though rarely in the best of ways. </div>
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It broaches the silence imposed on the subject calling it to attention. Now, much can be said for the damage likely caused by someone's first notion of an association between “disability” and “sex” being YouTube slideshow of stolen pictures, though I do hold hope that more <a href="http://www.sinsinvalid.org/performers.html">positive</a> <a href="http://sexuality.about.com/b/2007/10/26/access-sex.htm">efforts</a> will counter this. Though devotees wishing to leave behind the shame they often experience for their exotic desire have an imperative to do more than this.</div>
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I have heard countless devotees discuss the issue of shame, guilt, and even suicide. I've been there myself, more times than I'd like to recall. If we do wish to one day see a new world where we may live not merely without shame, but perhaps even with pride, if we care not just for ourselves, but for our fellow devotees, and even for those not born yet, then by all means we ought to take an active role in helping create it. </div>
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This begins at the personal level. Every devotee must strive to deal with their feelings with integrity. We ought not hurt, nor take advantage of others. As I've said <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">before</a> this means that you can't simply take every picture and video you find. This may not sound like it is the most appealing option, but if you agree that you don't want to hurt those you love, then you won't.</div>
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This goes farther than just what you use though. Streetsie is a blog with a lot of devotee content, some of it poorly written and obviously fictional, but still of interest to the well informed dev, however, I don't go there. In addition to all the writing they produce, they have a gallery dedicated to sharing photos. Some of these are fine, but the vast majority are not. I don't give Streetsie my traffic because doing so would be supporting their community of coercive abasiophilia. </div>
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While we may work for the creation of a new world through passivity, that is not enough. We can refuse certain material, and ignore certain websites, but this is just a refusal to contribute to their project, and does nothing to stop them. We must do more. </div>
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I used to spend a lot of time pontificating to coercive devotees that their behaviors were terrible, immoral, and hurting the disabled as well as themselves, and after months and months of work it barely had an impact. I heard people parroting my arguments from time to time, but it was without sincerity. When I stopped preaching, I stopped hearing my echo. </div>
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We can not stop devotees, or anybody for that matter, from acting on impulse ignorance, though that does not mean that we can't work to reduce the incidence of it. </div>
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In my experience coercive devotees will rarely listen, though the disabled are another story. I would encourage everyone to do what I do, and take an active role in warning the disabled about coercive devotees. We are still by a large a rare topic of conversation amongst the disabled, and thus there are many who wander the net unaware.</div>
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The simplest strategy is, “If you see something, say something.” </div>
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Time and again I have seen disabled people on YouTube who unwittingly become the object of dev admiration. Sometimes they realize it, though more often they don't. Here is where you can help. Send them a message. I've sent plenty of these over the years. It doesn't have to be anything dramatic, but explain to them that they might be getting some attention they didn't expect. Let them know what they can do, and how to stay safe in the future. At the end, and this <i>always</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> goes at the end, add something to this effect. “Again, I'm sorry if this has shocked or hurt you in any way, while some devotees do bad things, we're not all bad people.” <br />
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It's nice and subtle like that. You are being straight and honest with them by disclosing your status as a devotee (which you </span><i>ought</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> to do) in a gentle way, while pointing out, with your message as tangible proof, that not all devotees are coercive. Also, it's at the end. You never know what someone's past with devotees may be like. If it's bad, then they might hear devotee and head for the hills. Trust me, always put it at the end. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">This part is often controversial enough. I have been on the receiving end of a very harsh stream of devoted vitriol for doing this. To be honest it hurts. I wish we could all get along, especially the small group of people who know what it feels like to live with this condition, but in the end it is worth the effort. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">There is one last strategy I would encourage everyone to take up. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">It is not merely enough that we warn the disabled as they are violated. It minimizes the amount of harm caused, but we must also invest in more preventative measures. If we can stop the problem before it starts, we can win the game. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">I once combed through Google trying to find every Spinal Rehab center I could. Most of them, curiously, did not have any way of being contacted by email. I was too embarrassed to use a phone, but I gathered together about all ten or so I could find that allowed for email contact and sent them a message. I asked that they try to include something in their program which would help their patients understand the importance of privacy settings. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The advent of the information age has had far reaching effects and in many ways society is still learning how to adjust to those changes. In general people have a lack of proper education regarding the internet and digital media. Rehabilitation is the first place to begin explaining to the disabled that it can be wise to act cautiously. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">If we act in this way our actions help us two-fold. To begin we work to quash the efforts coercive devotees, stopping their treachery as and before it happens. Further though we work to spread awareness of those devotees opposed to sexual exploitation.</span></div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-57061337945362621042012-02-11T03:10:00.001-08:002012-10-11T21:11:01.516-07:00Creating Good LivesI came across something rather interesting in light of yesterday's <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/02/examining-coercive-devotees-process-of.html">post</a>.<br />
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I was doing some <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sexual-Deviance-Theory-Assessment-Treatment/dp/1572302410">reading</a> about human sexuality and <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/abasioinfo/">Abasiophilia</a>, the technical term for devotees of non-amputation related mobility impairment, when I came across a few fleeting references to an interesting, and allegedly successful theoretical approach to helping sex offenders. The interesting thing about the “<a href="http://www.goodlivesmodel.com/glm/Home.html">Good Lives</a>” model is that while it was designed initially for sex offenders it has shown success in helping a diverse array of non-traditionally coercive populations, transvestites for example, appropriately manage their feelings and accomplish their goals while not hurting others <i><span style="font-weight: normal;">OR </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">themselves.</span></span> I'm still getting acquainted with it, and, as with every theory, it does have its <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20937794">detractors</a>, though I feel the general principles of the model are in line with what I've been discussing. </div>
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The devoted are, to put it gently, exotic. We definitely deviate from the norm. I'd argue that this is very likely true cross culturally as well. The common argument coming from a layman's perspective on evolutionary psychology raised by academics, the devoted, and the disabled alike is that humans have a hardwired tendency to seek healthy mates who display a capability for child bearing, and that the physically disabled are thusly disadvantaged in pairing and mating. This has led to a number of <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=8x9J35ZdHmAC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=pom+bottle+waist+to+hip+ratio&source=bl&ots=nzONI8l4wC&sig=UVDtmiwPnTbZDfyjq8dbYVs-tug&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lCA2T8KNJe3YiQKi-ODLCg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=pom%20bottle%20waist%20to%20hip%20ratio&f=false">theories</a>, some slightly more <a href="http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2011/05/27/racist-science-an-evolutionary-psychologist-on-black-women/">ridiculous</a> than <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19118-why-men-are-attracted-to-women-with-small-feet.html">others</a>, regarding attraction and mating.</div>
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As sexual minorities we're presented with our own set of disadvantages, a few of which surely overlap with those of the disabled. We all feel the pressure to meet a mold that does not fit us. It is one which ignores and in some cases works against us. The notion of a disabled sexuality, or a sexuality which appreciates the disabled is treated as a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240515/">joke</a>. Despite this, the devoted of every stripe and fancy are not condemned to a life of sexless banality. <a href="http://curvaceouschristen.weebly.com/blog.html">There</a> <a href="http://www.amputeegoddess.com/">are</a> <a href="http://www.natalies-palace.eu/">other</a> <a href="https://encrypted.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=parapriness&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.paraprincess.com%2F&ei=pkg2T5vuBo3ciQLT7-2VCg&usg=AFQjCNGNyn2JqFdGd8Q9RN6O5vJnuF4dsA&cad=rja">healthier</a>, <a href="http://www.paradevo.net/fiction.html">safer</a>, <a href="http://d-models.tajvdz.nl/">non</a> <a href="https://encrypted.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=gimps%20gone%20wild&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gimpsgonewild.com%2F&ei=sko2T5WLB5PRiALbvpT-CQ&usg=AFQjCNEytq6Z7_J-xXyqnodJ0UGtpdxHPw&cad=rja">coercive</a> <a href="http://mitglied.multimania.de/jessypretend/">options</a> <a href="http://www.candisland.com/">available</a>. </div>
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There is something interesting to consider in light of this though. </div>
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If we are to assume that there are outlets for devoteeism some of which are “better” than others and which do not promote coercion, then we naturally also assume that some are “bad”. Just as we do not yet know what causes paraphilias, whether coercive or otherwise, or what exactly leads someone to become a sex offender, we also do not know how to stop it. We can run as many episodes of <i>To Catch A Predator </i><span style="font-style: normal;">as we want, but child sexual abuse will, sadly, still occur. Further, people will continue to fantasize about the sexual abuse of children. The same applies to devotees and literally every other possible sexual preference or turn-on. You can not stop it, you can merely change how and where it flows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">If we assume sexually coercive or exploitive behavior is wrong, then we must also assume behaviors which promote sexual coercion to be wrong as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">So let's take your average dev. I assume that they A) have a given set of sexual desires and that B) they will seek an outlet for these desires. Generally here I'm assuming a generic </span><i>person</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> with abasiophilia. The sparse academic literature on Abasiophilia and related “disorders” points out, as anyone could have told you, that these primarily afflict men. While I certainly agree that it's silly to divide the world into only male and female, most of the population identifies as one of these two and it is a decent starting point for looking at human sexuality. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-A8GvUehq4">Computational-Neuroscientists</a> working within the paradigm have produced some interesting initial findings regarding the differences between male and female sexuality. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Assuming this generic dev though, there are a number of options they are presented with. There are many obvious sources for satiating this desire, and some of those involve coercion, or taking advantage of material obtained through coercion (I call this indirect coercion). There are though some factors mitigating where a given devotee will go to satiate these desires.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">By now most everyone on the internet is familiar with with the “troll”, that person who engages in disruptive or outright anti-social behavior often simply because they can. Trolls are everywhere, and sexual minorities are no stranger to their presence in their communities. What I find interesting is that trolls are in a unique position to affect the behavior of devotees. They are, in some ways, like dogs herding cattle, nipping at their heels to keep them in groups. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Trolling is a latter day pass time which generally involves finding idiots, and the internet has plenty of those, and mocking them relentlessly, sometimes treading into <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/internet-troll-jailed-for-defacing-tribute-sites-seeks-bail/story-e6frg6nf-1226042048555">morally</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-14897948">legally</a> questionable areas. Though really anyone can be trolled. I think though it is possible for there to be, in the parlance of 4Chan (and I cringe saying this) “trolling for moralfags/great justice” This isn't really anything new. Anyone familiar with the internet at large can tell you about infiltrating websites like <a href="https://encrypted.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=stormfront&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stormfront.org%2F&ei=3kM2T-3-C8PXiQL_qtySCg&usg=AFQjCNFNwuhFNiuGpx6fU-n1OOzw7QyHWg&cad=rja">Stormfront</a>. Indeed, Anonymous recently <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/anonymous-hacks-neo-nazis-finds-ron-paul.html">hacked</a> a white supremacist group disrupting their operations and conclusively linking Ron Paul to his despicable history of <a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/23/9657848-not-buying-the-ron-paul-defense">racism</a>. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Regarding devoteeism, trolls have the ability to provide incentives for various behaviors. Consider the following...</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">If you troll devotees everywhere, that means on fiction sites, picture sites, video sites, discussion groups, really cool blogs (</span><i>wink</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> <i>wink</i>) then there is really no difference. Sure, men will probably still gravitate toward visual media, but by and large they're going to get trolled equally no matter where they go. However, if you troll unequally, then some areas will inevitably become preferable to others. In effect there is an ability to help guide devs away from coercive behaviors and toward non-coercive ones. Again, this applies to really every sexual quirk. </span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"> </span> <br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">I'm trying to expand on a point I raised <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">a while ago</a>. When we are treated like trash, it is ridiculous to expect us to behave any other way. We are still responsible for our own actions and by all means ought to place a concern of others suffering over our own sexual gratification, and indeed, <a href="http://paradevo.proboards.com/index.cgi">some devs do</a>. Though just as we must be careful of the consequences of our actions, so too must trolls and literally everyone else. </span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"> </span> <br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">There is <a href="http://evidencebasedprograms.org/wordpress/?page_id=120">some</a> <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111117141203.htm">evidence</a> coming out now which finds that treating juvenile offenders on an individual basis is rarely successful compared to approaches which involve treating the entire family. This works to help alter the environment the offender is operating in, and help provide more incentives to improve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Food for thought. </span>dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-55377851352919045052012-02-10T04:50:00.000-08:002012-10-11T21:11:10.329-07:00Examining The Coercive Devotee's Process of JustificationI recently found a quote by a man on a dev group, both of which I'll keep anonymous. This was posted in response to an article by a girl, who either was abused (if so I believe electronically), and/or became privy to the electronic abuse of the disabled by devotees. What is key to note about her article is that it seeks to call out primarily devotees who steal pictures from social networking sites. As with him, she will remain anonymous.<br />
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I want to share and discuss this because here we can see, in the raw, one example of what the process of justification is like for a coercive devotee. It is key to remember that writing of any sort is not a pure record of thought, but rather functions similar to the way the <a href="https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=jackson+pollock&hl=en&client=ubuntu&hs=MCB&channel=fs&prmd=imvnso&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=Cws1T6zLBseWiAKdl-2jCg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1440&bih=781">splatter paintings</a> of Jackson Pollock which, many say, provide us with a visual record of the artist's movements. We see emotion and thought processes here expressed only after being presumably filtered through the black box machinery of this man's mind. What we have is the input and the output. What we don't know though is even more. <br />
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We are not privy to the context this man was operating in, aside from what he provides us with, and even then that could be flawed information. As a point of due diligence, I do not know if the article I read had been edited, so he could be responding to an entirely different text from what I saw. Moreover, we don't know what of the information he actually absorbed, or how much he read, or how long he spent thinking about it. He may have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol, or have a series of co-occurring “disorders” which in some way remove him from the “standard” model of a devotee we each create in our mind when approaching issues such as these. <br />
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This is entry level academic hokum, but I feel it is important to keep in mind when attempting to interpret this. We can spend all day raising hypotheticals, and many of them would be pertinent, but the overall message we should acquire from this is one of modifying our approach to include caution. Normally we could hope to follow the maxim of, “Trust but confirm.”, yet here we have a quote and only a quote to dissect for meaning. All that being said, this is a personal blog, and I'm gonna let myself play it a bit fast and loose.<br />
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<i>“I must admit to feelings of guilt about videos and photos taken surreptitiously,<br />
some of them by me. I sort-of justify it to myself by arguing that it's no more<br />
than an extension of a bloke admiring and watching a pretty woman, but I don't<br />
completely convince myself, I must admit. In the end, it boils down to this: I<br />
didn't ask for this quirk in my personality which attracts me to disabled women,<br />
and I can't get rid of it (and believe me, I've tried: I've been through agonies<br />
of guilt and shame when I was younger), and it does nobody any harm, unlike some other sexual - shall we say - eccentricities. I wouldn't dream of harming a<br />
disabled woman in any way, and have had mutually fulfilling relationships with<br />
two: my ex-wife, who is blind and has other disabilities, and with whom I'm<br />
still good chums even though we've been divorced for 21 years, and a friend who<br />
is quadriplegic due to spinal muscular atrophy. The latter knows all about my<br />
attraction to disabled women, and accepts it.”</i><br />
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First let's condense the facts as they are presented.<br />
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He says he has felt guilt over the existence of exploitative material some of which he produces. He argues that creating a physical record of what he sees is equal to a mental one. Yet he admits that even this does not work to totally convince him. <br />
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Here we see his second justification which goes as follows: 1) I am devoted not by choice. 2) It is an ineliminable aspect of my personality 3) It doesn't hurt anybody. He then compares it to other sexual quirks, yet hesitates to name them. <br />
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He goes on to say that he actually doesn't want to harm disabled women. He adds, as proof that he has had two “mutually fulfilling relationships” with two disabled women, one being his ex-wife, and the other being simply a friend. He clarifies that his friend knows “all about” his feelings and accepts it. <br />
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Okay, so while he says he feels guilt over the material, and that he has even produced some himself (perhaps he is still “producing”), I think it is also fair to assume that he “uses” it, if you know what I mean. We have two processes of justification for this, the first of which seems to play the role of a placeholder in his mind. He defends the act itself by equating the creation of a physical, swappable record (and knowing devs, I think it's fair to assume he's done a bit of swapping) with a personal memory. His rather abnormal behavior is held as equal to a natural even arguably somewhat involuntary tendency of humans in general: to remember a pretty face, etc. <br />
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He seems to say it to make himself forget that he feels bad, and it works, at least temporarily. Yet there is something inescapable. He feels that this is an ineffective argument, and it's quite presumable that he doesn't really believe pictures and film are not the same as a wandering eye.<br />
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Here we encounter his second process of justification, which is composed of three main parts. Now, unlike the above, the first two thirds of this don't seek to defend the act itself, but rather focus on him. He denies responsibility for his feelings both in their genesis and continuation. Next he claims that he actions taken on behalf of these feelings, “don't really hurt anyone”. He accomplishes this last piece by comparing it to the vaguely worded “sexual eccentricities”. <br />
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So, reading into this a bit...<br />
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He denies control of his feelings, and, by some degree of extension, his actions. There is a common argument you'll find crop up among men which says, though often in many more well veiled words, that they need pornography. It is sometimes upgraded a level whereby some men will claim they <i>need</i> or <i>deserve</i> sex. This is a very common justification for rape, especially cases of marital rape. We see this argument presented in its infant form here, though significantly declawed. <br />
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The article he was responding to drew a very pointed comparison between devoteeism and pedophilia, and I believe that it is at least this to which he compares his fetish. It is worth noting that pedophilia, despite the findings of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Kinsey#Controversial_aspects_of_his_work">Kinsey</a> and other facts pedophiles use to defend their actions, almost always leads to at least a few “bumps in the road” for the child in question (which is not to say that victims are irreparably damaged mind you). Pedophilia, when physically manifested upon a child through any medium, can be understood then as inherently damaging, regardless of intent.<br />
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More to the point though, I do wonder what exactly his quadriplegic friend knows. Certainly she's privy to his attraction, but what of these behaviors he has trouble justifying simply to himself? Does she know? Does his ex-wife? If no, how would they feel if they did? Would they feel violated suddenly finding this out about him? <br />
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So looking at his distillation of the pertinent facts of his situation, does this justify his behavior? He knows two women he assures us he has never violated, and while he feels bad about his other behavior, he never chose and is unable to alter his feelings. Are his actions beyond harm? Should he be allowed to photograph and film women without their prior knowledge and consent? <br />
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As I've said <a href="http://www.dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">before</a>, actions like these are not harmless. While he may not dream of harm to disabled women, he certainly executes it by blocking out some parts of his conscious awareness. Stealth filming etc. may appear to be initially absent of harm, but these acts still carry potential to be harmful. As the internet continually embraces sharing and becomes more widespread, the potential for harm and potential magnitude of this harm rises even further. With every iPhone and PC produced his justification grows weaker. <br />
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Furthermore, as I have said in earlier posts, I believe that this behavior is harmful to him. What he's going through is a process known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance">cognitive dissonance</a>. That alone is generally identified as “bad”. However, he is also allowing himself to lose sight of the humanity of others and the consequences, or at least potential consequences, of his actions. He is allowing himself to literally dehumanize others, and thus in some ways remove his humanity. He willingly subverts his own capacity for reason in favor of an animal drive.<br />
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Still though, he didn't choose this, and he can't do anything about it. Does he then have some right or need for material featuring disabled women? <br />
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No. <br />
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There is no way around this. Even he knows this, but tries to forget. That he is successful in this task explains why sexual exploitation on the part of devotees is so prevalent. Even those with a conscience are able to hide themselves from it, in the pursuit of greater gratification. <br />
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If he lived in a vacuum absent any human contact whatsoever, then perhaps we could take some small measure of pity on him but such is not the case. He clearly has regular somewhat private internet access. There are plenty of resources for him to get his rocks off looking at women and men who are entirely consenting. Thanks to the same internet that allows his exploitation to expand beyond his control or knowledge, he can even get a lot of this material for free. <br />
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Though with pornography we do encounter a number of arguments in opposition. I'm saving these for a later blog, suffice to say, there are some, and not all of them are poorly wrought. <br />
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Let us be more than fair and assume though that, for whatever reason this relative abundance of dev porn just doesn't work for him. Maybe he's blind or severely visually impaired, maybe he just can't get off without looking at stealth footage, maybe he's too poor to afford stuff priced at roughly a dollar a minute, maybe he is a pedophile and can only get off to footage of girls well below the legal limit. It doesn't matter. Is this poor, helpless dev then left with nothing else but his little old imagination to get off with (<a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/2010/06/22/one-reason-why-humans-are-special-and-unique-we-masturbate-a-lot/">a trait entirely unique to humans by the way</a>)? <br />
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Actually, no, he's not.<br />
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Even pedophiles, those latter day dalits, have the ability to craft intricate and artful fiction to their heart's desire. Actually, I'm not positive about that. Maybe it is illegal for pedophiles unless it's sanctified as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lolita-50th-Anniversary-Vladimir-Nabokov/dp/0679723161">art</a>, but with devotees such a provision doesn't matter. Whatever disability or combination of disabilities, or devotee mashup slash fiction you like, you can write it to your heart's content. <br />
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In fact, many do. There's already a number of thriving communities built around this exact behavior. Now, not all of them are perfect. In fact I've found more than I would like which are run side by side with picture trading. Some even incorporate pictures into their stories. It might sound ridiculous on its face but you can take even something as banal as the <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/">internet fan-fic</a> and turn it into a real life coercive sexual experience. <br />
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My, the ingenuity of the human intellect!<br />
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The painfully obvious points I am arguing are as follows.<br />
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1) There is never a proper justification for stealth filming and other coercive practices.<br />
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2) Devotees have a plethora of other options for satiating their desires.<br />
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3) I hope this guy and other devotees can one day come to admit to themselves that they do feel bad about what they are doing and that there are other, healthier, ways they can joyously and non-coercively express their sexuality.dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-31915939592668880172012-01-27T10:55:00.001-08:002012-10-11T21:12:07.662-07:00The Abyss Gazes Also<span style="line-height: 100%;">In my last </span><a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/pushing-wrong-way.html" style="line-height: 100%;">post</a><span style="line-height: 100%;"> I touched on how we may project attitudes in line with integration and equality while promoting values which are anything but. I realized I had more to say about this, though from a slightly different, and perhaps more controversial angle.</span><br />
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There is a clip on YouTube, which, if you watch all the way to the end you will learn, is really just an extended ad for Jerry Springer's internet TV show. Sitting just shy of one million views, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA43DS2c12c">I'm Happy I CutOff My Legs!</a>” features a transabled* transwoman who did just that. As someone who is sympathetic towards trans people of every stripe and BIID I naturally look upon this as rather exploitive. However, in regards to Jerry Springer such claims to this effect in defense of any group are hardly new, especially so once we're off TV, and on the internet.</div>
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Jerry is a man who, when he sat down to tell the world the story of his life, felt that the best way to sum himself up was with a single word: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ringmaster-Jerry-Springer/dp/0312974043"><i>Ringmaster</i></a><span style="font-style: normal;">. Clearly he seeks to draw a comparison between himself and the dapper gentlemen of days long since past who presided over the thrills and chills of a traveling circus. However, Jerry, unlike a ringmaster, does not preside over three rings of trained professionals displaying their talents, but a seemingly endless cavalcade of otherwise unremarkable people who for one reason or more fall outside the bounds of what is “normal”. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Enter Sandra. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">What I was struck by upon my first viewing was Jerry's use of pronouns. If you're not familiar with politics in gender variant sub-cultures, there is a great deal of fuss rightly raised over the proper use of pronouns and how we gender individuals. Jerry, despite his reputation, seemed more than happy to oblige. This small act of conciliation though comes right after saying, “The story on today's show could be the most bizarre story we've done in our fifteen year history.” Upon hearing this the audience begins to cheer and clap in anticipation. </span>He goes on to say, “This is really crazy. My guest began wearing women's clothing at age twelve, <i>and </i><span style="font-style: normal;">became a transsexual at age thirty five. </span><i>But </i><span style="font-style: normal;">that's not the unusual part of this story.” </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Jerry begins by letting the audience know that what he has to tell them is crazy. However, he has to clarify that cross dressing and transsexualism are not what is crazy about his guest. It feels awkwardly redundant to say this, but Jerry Springer's show has earned it's bread and butter by gleefully exploiting homophobic attitudes in American culture. You can see the smiles and laughter already bubbling up from the audience at the mention of gender variance. After fifteen years one could expect something like that to have become blandly repetitive, but apparently such is not the case.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">What knits their brows together though is what he says next, “At the age of fourteen, she decided she didn't want her legs. So, one year ago she took a saw-” He cuts himself off here to retrieve a circular saw from a stage hand and begins to milk the crowd telling a joke and revving the tool before he continues. Raising the steel machine over his head, it's blade loudly spinning, he shouts, “So one year ago she took a saw just like this...and she cut off her own legs.” </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">I'm interested in how, while acknowledging that Sandra injured herself and that it is indeed behavior which deviates strongly from cross cultural norms, his attention is drawn </span><i>not</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> primarily to her motive. The highlights provided, which we must remember function ultimately as an advertisement for his show, spend the least amount of time focusing on this. I think it is through a close observation of the video that we may better understand what Jerry, his audience, and most importantly, the editors, find most fascinating. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Television is an audiovisual medium, but derives most of its impact from its visual aspect. Film scores are consciously designed to be unobtrusive, and indeed, the history of film begins with a succession of related images entirely absent of sound. Thus, I posit that we may gain a greater insight into the values, attitudes and intention at work here by paying closer attention to how the camera is used than to what is said. Actions, after all, speak louder than words.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Sandra comes out wearing an outfit with a black and red floral theme, and some fake, or so I assume, pearls on her wrist. She wears a skirt which falls over her knees, and is clearly not ashamed of her stumps, though she doesn't appear to be particularly proud of them either. If her constant squirming is any indication, she actually seems slightly nervous to be on stage; a reticent act in Jerry's circus. Regardless of what she chose to wear though, I think it is interesting to note the amount of shots taken which focus primarily on Sandra's stumps. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">At first, we observe her head on in a classic talk show angle with the camera seated somewhere in the house. She is captured in the frame such that her stumps swing just barely above the floating title of the show, “I'M HAPPY I CUT OFF MY LEGS” Jerry circles around to begin questioning her, and the next shot we see is from the floor looking up with Sandra in profile facing the left side of the frame. Her body and wheelchair take up over a third of the screen in the immediate foreground. Her head is cut in half by the top of the frame in favor of a shot which puts her knees at the center providing a close up view of her stumps. Jerry is in the background, but the camera's focus is trained on Sandra's absent legs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The shot slowly exaggerates itself as they continually cut back between the two angles established thus far. The camera pulls in closer and closer until her head is no longer in the shot, a shot they hold even as she responds to his questions. Next, they cut to a medium range shot,, capturing her at a roughly forty five degree angle, again the camera is looking up from below. Perhaps it was intentional that this shot lets the viewer see part way up Sandra's skirt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The film cuts and Jerry's editor takes us to a point later in the interview where Jerry asks Sandra, “What did you try to do to get your legs cut off?” As she tugs her skirt back over her knee to show it in full and illustrate with her hands a litany of painful methods, we see a shot which I estimate has never been used so extensively except within devotee pornography. The most extreme close-up thus far is taken, such that the entire screen shows her stumps as her fingers and palms dance across them. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">It pans up to her face for a second or two before panning back down and then cuts even more briefly to Jerry for a reaction shot. Then it cuts back to her stumps. Again it cuts, and we have a new angle, showcasing, again, her stumps. At this point it becomes an exercise in redundancy to explain how they continually revert to slowly exaggerating shots of her stumps even as she is responding to Jerry's questions. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">If this was <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/sioncampus/06/20/aimee.mullins/">Aimee Mullins</a>, or <a href="https://encrypted.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=oscar%20pistorius%20nyt&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2012%2F01%2F22%2Fmagazine%2Foscar-pistorius.html%3Fpagewanted%3Dall&ei=8PAiT5C3O8rUiAKKwq3ABw&usg=AFQjCNGpDGi_KqRHQmLjcp5Xdl1oo8tQ_w&cad=rja">Oscar Pistorius</a> this would immediately be deemed exploitation. It would be elementary though to simply draw a comparison between transabled and disabled individuals and leave it at that. In Sandra's case, there is no comparison to draw; she is disabled. It would also miss the more important point. </span> </div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5093242858260087470&postID=3191593959266888017&from=pencil" name="poll"></a><span style="font-style: normal;">What is the purpose of Jerry's show? Why do people continually gather both in person and at home, to watch the events unfold? If you watch Jerry's pitch at the end of the clip his final words are, “...the craziness never ends.” Jerry isn't the ring master of a circus. He runs a very literal freak show. In an<a href="http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9811/18/springer/index.html"> interview</a> with CNN, he once said, “I'm doing a show about outrageousness. That's what I'm hired to do.” My copy of Webster's dictionary defines outrageous thusly, “1. Involving or doing great injury or wrong. 2. Very offensive or shocking.” Given his emphasis on craziness it's fair to say he probably means to refer to the second definition. Though it is wise to consider what this could mean given the first definition. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">What we see in Sandra, and more generally in anyone who has graced Jerry's stage, is a person who so strongly deviates from our norms that we feel no guilt in profiting from their pain, literally in Jerry's case. Sandra, in part because of her gender variance, though also definitely because of her active pursuit of disability, is stripped of her dignity. What is shocking is what occurs once we no longer view people as people. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Regardless of your perspective on disability, we all heal the same. Sandra's stumps are in no way objectively different from those of someone “normal”. Sandra though is no longer human, and as such the usual decorum (read: facade) no longer applies. She is a freak who merely appears human, and we thus allow ourselves to poke, prod, stare, and laugh as we can not normally permit ourselves to do with any other disabled person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">With Sandra there is an opportunity for us to observe deviant bodies without the burden of a quasi philantropic pretense as in </span><i><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/arts/television/04heff.html?ex=1299128400&en=163859fe12597e42&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">LittlePeople, Big World</a>.</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> Neither are the producers and editors burdened with constructing a show to accommodate such a facade. Her other deviances allow us to place her back at that level of the “untouchable” class, the court fool, where so many disabled used to reside centuries ago. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">You may still wish to deride her, and that is to be expected. Though it would be ignorant to act as though bearing one's self so absolutely and honestly, not only on stage, but on camera as well, is somehow easy. The most common fear, in the West at least, is public speaking, which ranks even higher than death. As Jerry Seinfeld pointed out, “That means that at a funeral you'd rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.” Sandra though is not giving a eulogy, or a keynote address. She is talking about a part of herself few people have ever spoken of so openly. In fact, due to the the presence of cameras and the internet, this is likely the most candid anyone has </span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u>ever</u></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> been with such a wide audience about feelings like these. Sandra knows she is different. She knows people are laughing. She knows what they must think. All this, and she still went on. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">As with devotees who expose their own ruthlessness when they take advantage of the disabled, when we strip Sandra of her humanity, we lose a little of our own. Rather, we expose the true depth of our moral character. Jerry Springer has earned his bread and butter by giving us permission to express the latent hatred and brutality we otherwise politely seek to hide. We may laugh at what is in front of the camera, but the real show lies behind it.</span></div>
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"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Nietzsche </div>
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* I just want to be clear on my terms here. When I say “transabled” I mean it to refer to anyone who has willingly permanently disabled themselves, in the absence of extenuating circumstances (i.e. temporary psychosis, insurance fraud, to avoid enlistment in the armed services, etc.) I distinguish this from BIID which I understand largely as it is defined through the work of <a href="http://biid-info.org/Ramachandran,_V.S.">V.S. Ramachandran</a>. BIID, to me, refers to a specific condition of the brain wherein the neural map of the body does not match it's physical state. People with BIID may become transabled, but not all transabled people have (rather, have had) BIID.</div>
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It is far from a flawless definition, but it is constructed to serve the purposes of this post, and </div>
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not necessarily any official diagnostic purpose or the larger dialogue around the subject. </div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-46489887710976128762012-01-26T05:48:00.001-08:002012-10-11T21:11:46.517-07:00Pushing The Wrong WayThis April the Sundance Channel is planning to air a new 14 episode reality show called “<a href="http://www.sundancechannel.com/push-girls/">Push Girls</a>” which seeks to provide a glimpse into what life is like in Hollywood on four wheels. It stars <a href="https://encrypted.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=auti%20angel&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autiangel.com%2F&ei=DlUhT5bRKNToiAKivtHGBw&usg=AFQjCNHahB80ozFbahWSCw1gqjQqDUak7g&cad=rja">Auti Angel</a>, <a href="http://tiphanyadams.vpweb.com/">Tiphany Adams</a>, <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/602020">Angela Rockwood</a>, and <a href="http://newmobility.com/articleView.cfm?id=11826">Mia Shaikewitz</a>, who devotees will likely remember from Ms. Angel's "Colours N. Motion" dance crew, amongst other efforts to popularize wheelchair dance throughout the years.<br />
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To quote from the show's website, “In the same way "Murderball," winner of the 2005 Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, took the lid off the competitive world of “wheelchair rugby,” Sundance Channel is bringing an unfettered, uncensored glimpse at what it means to be sexy, ambitious and living with paralysis in Hollywood with PUSH GIRLS, a new original non-fiction series from producer Gay Rosenthal.”<br />
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If you're not familiar, Mrs. Rosenthal's work I'll give you a tiny review. </div>
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Long ago, in the 90's, TLC was more than a colorful R&B trio, it was also “The Learning Channel”. Playing Robin to the Discovery Channel's Batman, it cut its teeth playing educational documentaries that fell outside of Discovery's emphasis on nature. As with History, and other educational channels, it gradually warped and morphed its way out from under the onus of educational content until the mid 2000's when its focus shifted to reality based dramas like Gay Rosenthal's <i>Little People, Big World</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. Here is how the show describes itself, “Parents Matt and Amy Roloff are both little people -- 4 feet tall -- but they are determined to succeed in a world that isn't always accepting of differences.” </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">It was a success, and two years later along came Gay Rosenthal's </span><i>Ruby</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> on the Style Network. Again, I will let the show speak for itself. “Savannah resident Ruby Gettinger is beautiful, charming, charismatic and at one time weighed a life-threatening 500 pounds. With no-holds-barred honesty and unwavering optimism, Ruby shares the story of her personal struggle to lose weight and get healthy,”</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">And so, now we come to 2012, with the Sundance Channel bravely seeking to step out and do what no one has done before, to make a real change in the world of entertainment, by showing how poorly integrated it is. Except, it's been done before, and it doesn't change anything. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Shows like these have already been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/arts/television/04heff.html?ex=1299128400&en=163859fe12597e42&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">rightly</a> <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2006/03/little_people_big_world.html">criticized</a> for having more to do with letting us stare while making us feel good about it than imparting any tangible change. In some ways it recalls the <a href="http://dosedevs.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-film-consent.html">voyeur scene</a> from </span><i>The Cost Of Living</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, or a less honest version of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA43DS2c12c">Jerry Springer</a></span><i>.</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> Their tacit premise is that through familiarity boundaries will be broken. Yet this plausible premise is shackled by a fundamentally flawed approach.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">There is a common complaint laid against devotees which says that we </span><i>only</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> see the disability, not the person. While I can't say that it's </span><i>never</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> been true, I certainly doubt that it's </span><i>always</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> been true. I feel much more confident making that claim about the entertainment industry. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2087916/Push-Girls-Meet-wheelchair-bound-stars-groundbreaking-new-reality-show.html">The Daily Mail</a> happily misquoted Angela Rockwell as saying, “Our common denominator is our wheelchairs...” She meant to say “is not”, as you can see in the interview they did at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n_ayBg2AMI">Sundance</a>, but the mere presence of the error suggests a telling Freudian slip on author's part.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">I applaud their effort because as anyone could tell you, lack of exposure is definitely part of the problem. However, this seeks to solve that problem the wrong way. It is dangerously simplistic to say the only problem is one of underrepresentation. Certainly that exists, but it works to magnify the additional problem of poor representation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">We rarely see the disabled portrayed in our media, and when we do it is most often the story of their injury or an update about their recovery on the nightly news. Say what you will about devotees, but if you look at say, the fiction of an out proud devotee like <a href="http://www.ruthmadison.com/">Ruth Madison</a>, and compare it to what news channels often run, I think you'll find more than a few differences. What you'll find is the root of the problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">When we cast minorities as the other, when we point out and focus on their differences, we run backward against attempts at integration. They are treated as separate and thus unequal. They are not placed alongside us, but on a stage in front of us, often accompanied by a great degree of fanfare. I'm reminded of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cfhhb">Britain's Missing Top Model</a>, which spent a lot of time and money in marketing pointing out how groundbreaking they were to ever think of having a reality show about the disabled. You can practically hear them saying,“We're an incredibly forward thinking network, see we treat THESE DISABLED PEOPLE OVER HERE, THE ONE MISSING AN ARM, AND THE WHEELCHAIR-PERSON, I MEAN UH PERSON IN A WHEELCHAIR just like anyone else really.” There are though, some wonderfully notable exceptions to this. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">In the UK there was Hollyoaks, a soap/drama about good looking rich white kids dealing with all the ups and downs of being good looking rich white kids. They hired an actor who was actually disabled and barely mentioned her disability, and even then, only lightly. Then there was <a href="http://www.beeswaxfilm.com/">Beeswax</a>, an indie film which was notable for having a paraplegic protagonist whose injury, disability, or possible hope for a cure, never came up. It never mattered, and it was an utter breath of fresh air that sadly soon ran stale. For every Hollyoaks, or Beeswax, we have easily ten or twenty cases of the helpless invalid, the relentless fight for a cure, or the athlete who won't let anything hold them back. <br />
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The honest approach </span><i>Push Girls</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> seeks is of course better than practically everything that's been put to film since the television was invented, but it will be just another a drop in the bucket unless the media is willing to take more concrete steps to change the climate it's operating in. Here's hoping. </span><br />
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“All television is educational, the only question is what is it teaching?” - Nicholas Johnson, former chair of the FCC</div>
dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-3282345010600543982012-01-23T06:21:00.001-08:002012-10-11T21:12:00.085-07:00On Film & ConsentThere is a wonderful <a href="http://www.dv8.co.uk/projects/costoflivingfilm">Dance/Art film</a> I that I think everyone interested in the politics of dis/ability would enjoy. “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTX7cWGjbu8">The Cost Of Living</a>” is a highly lauded exploration of many social issues through dance, dis/ability playing a prominent role. It uniquely blends dance, with acting, and even a light narrative, to provoke our thought through a mixture of approaches, some subtle, some very blunt.<br />
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One of the more disturbing points in the film comes when the character “David”, played by David Toole who has no legs, is confronted by a man with a video camera who continually follows him, blocking his way, while we hear a series of rude questions. The scene works on a number of levels. </div>
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To begin with, the questions asked such as, “Why do you have no legs?”, “Do you blame God for how you were born?” “Can you masturbate?” “Do you have an asshole or do you shit into a bag?” have a very literal context to them. It may sound striking to some, but such questions by strangers are not an uncommon part of life for the disabled. </div>
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The questions though, are asked by a narrator, and the cameraman appears to remain silent. These are questions that we all ask, though perhaps not so deliberately. The narrator may be providing the inner monologue of the cameraman, but also in some ways that of David when he is so rudely observed. The message here, and indeed a fundamental element of dance, is that we do not need to speak to make ourselves heard. </div>
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The other important point here is that while the camera obviously functions as a metaphor for how the able bodied relate to disability, and for how it feels to be stared at, it can, in the context of devoteeism be understood very literally as well. </div>
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There is a problem amongst devotees, as in society, which is as old as the camera itself, and which has grown in proportion to its use and ubiquity. Being filmed or photographed by rude strangers is, sadly, not an uncommon part of life for the disabled. There are still videos on YouTube to this day of disabled people who have been covertly filmed by devotees for purely sexual purposes. Judging by the video quality and clothing worn by people, some these were taken in early nineties or late eighties. They have traded hands enough times that they have survived the shift from analog to digital, and <b>they are still around</b>. </div>
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As I <a href="http://www.legalandrew.com/2007/10/11/photo-law-your-right-to-take-pictures-in-public/">understand </a><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/2008-04-17-public-photography_N.htm"> it</a>, <i>legally</i> there is nothing wrong with this. When you are in public you lose your right to a reasonable expectation of privacy. In fact, I've heard the same rule applies if you are sitting in your living room with the windows open. What is legal though may not always be what is right. </div>
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My premise is that suffering, in its many forms, is something “bad” and ought to be avoided whenever possible. Furthermore, humans ought to be treated with a certain set of rights some of which grant them freedom from suffering needlessly. I claim that the kind of filming in question, and the proliferation of its product harms both parties in a number of ways.</div>
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To begin, filming harms the subject.</div>
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The most obvious scenario is one wherein the subject is filmed, and becomes aware of the filming, or its intent. This can happen before, during, or after the fact, and still be damaging. It feels silly to have to explain this, but believe it or not it can be incredibly scarring to find out that you have a secret cadre of online admirers discussing in detail your every recorded move. What is missing in this interaction is a word which is important in many areas of life, but most especially in all things sexual. That word is <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consent">consent</a>. </div>
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As a word and concept, consent has a long history of being linked to sex. Webster and the OED have traced its earliest use to the thirteenth century, being derived from the Latin “consentire” which held virtually the same meaning, suggesting its use in Latin goes back even further. It is linked with ideas like “<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/age%20of%20consent">age of consent</a>”, whose earliest use was in 1504 and refers to “the age at which one is legally competent to give consent especially to marriage or to sexual intercourse” </div>
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What is interesting is that often with these films it is obvious that the person in question is taking great care to avoid being seen or noticed. I think this is important because it points to the thought process of the person who is filming. They do not expect to gain consent for their actions.</div>
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They seek to blend in or avoid being seen filming because they know there is no consent. Assuming that the first page of Google results are correct, and we have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public, we do still have some say over how our images are distributed. If you've ever been around a documentary film crew, you'll know how adamant they are about securing someone's permission (consent) to film them. I think that we ought to have an extended provision in our law which grants us security from having our image filmed, shared and traded for sexual purposes without prior consent. </div>
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Regardless, it can be argued that if the subject does not find out they are being filmed, then there is no harm. This is problematic for a number of reasons. To begin with, there is no way of guaranteeing that the subject or one of their relations will <i>never</i> find out that they will be, are being, or have been, filmed. Again, there are videos which date, conservatively speaking, from the early nineties, which are still bouncing around the net today, sometimes with multiple copies in multiple locations, and more new ones are popping up all the time. This was once a stronger argument but as the internet becomes more and more user friendly and embraces sharing, it becomes increasingly weaker. </div>
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Still though, even in the absence of the internet I argue that it is harmful and there are two reasons for this. To begin with, by ignoring the subject's lack of consent, or rather, by working <i>actively</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> in opposition to it, you are not respecting them as human beings. By filming, sharing, or even viewing these, you are ignoring the </span><i>person</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> on the screen. This is literally de</span><i>human</i><span style="font-style: normal;">izing. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">What I have described thus far encompasses most of the common arguments I have met with regarding this pattern of behavior. I have seen the discussion go around a number of times, more often in disabled circles than devotee ones, and with rare exception does it stray beyond these basic arguments. I feel though that there is something we have yet to consider.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">While engaging in any part of this process of filming is indeed disrespectful, dehumanizing, and harmful to the subject, but it also is not healthy for the person who does the filming. I think that when we treat others in such a way we are not respecting ourselves. There is more to us than some crazed and lecherous passion which ignores our victims and snaps back at them when they complain. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Outside of its own circles though devoteeism is practically linked with indignity. You'll most assuredly be trolled, flamed, stalked, and otherwise harassed for talking openly about it. Your friends, family, and anyone else in your social circle are very likely to leave you or grow distant. Merely the mention of this has been the cause for more than one divorce. Furthermore, as I understand it, there is nothing which will protect you from being fired for your feelings. It is dangerous to be a devotee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">On one hand devotees feel this, and know that it is wrong. We seek to be treated fairly and equally, on a just basis, a basis which is often informed by if not in advocacy of, human rights. Yet I have seen many with this sentiment turn a blind eye when their actions violate the rights of another. I once saw a dev board online where a man with an SCI who felt hurt by his ex, who also had an SCI, posted all of her contact information and even some pictures. We were the hounds to which the forsaken were thrown. We were a weapon. We were the worst thing that could happen to someone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Consider for a moment the effects of this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">I have read a few books regarding the interaction between people and disability at a personal and sociological level. One interesting theory I found discussed how society can be an actively disabling agent. When we treat people like they are disabled, when we link it with concepts of frailty, dependence, and indignity, we are a source of impairment stronger than any condition they may have. We can build all the ramps we want, but that is hardly where the change must end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">So, perhaps we can understand that as we in society can be complicit in disabling, and its deleterious effects on the individual, so too can those who are not devotees understand that they are complicit in indignity, and the following undignified behavior. When we are constantly told that we are less than human, it is contradictory to at the same time expect us to act as humans. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">I want to be very clear about this next point. This </span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">does </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u>not</u></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> excuse the actions of someone who takes part in this process of covert filming etc. Regardless of how poorly you are treated that does not give you the right violate the rights of another. This is true if you are a devotee, or a jilted ex-boyfriend. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The solution I see involves a recognition and respect of the humanity in each of us. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The fact is that as devotees are stripped of their dignity, they are often stripped of their ability to love. It is believed that any attraction the devotee feels toward someone with a disability is </span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u>only</u></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> fetishistic in nature. There is a denial of the possibility of there ever being anything more. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">I claim that if you really love someone, you can't help but respect them as people. To love is to respect. If, as devotees, we do love someone, be they able bodied or otherwise, we will absolutely respect their wishes. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">In closing I did want to include this interesting little anecdote I found in the first edition of </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Disability-Springer-Rehabilitation-ebook/dp/B0055FFAVE"><i>The Psychology of Disability</i></a><span style="font-style: normal;"> by Carolyn L. Vash which I will quote at length.<span id="goog_1312520309"></span><span id="goog_1312520310"></span></span></div>
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“<span style="font-style: normal;">Another side of human acceptance is illustrated by a story told by Marya. A bilateral, above-knee amputee, she had been married to Emory for over three years when he confessed to her once night that he had, since early adolescence, entertained fantasies of having relations with women such as herself; and that her disability had been a prepotent source of his attraction to her initially. By then they had established a solid marital relationship and were viewed as an ideal couple by many of their friends. Marya recalled,</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"> 'I wanted to die. I wanted to vomit. Actually, I wanted to kill him. But somehow, the next morning, when he begged me not to leave him, because he had grown to love me for many other reasons, I weakened. He had trusted me enough to tell me something that still bothered- no, terrified-him. He had given me love and support and now he was asking me to accept </span><i>his</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> disability-a psychological problem that he was repulsed by and didn't understand. I agreed to stay if he would go to a psychiatrist. That was a ten years ago, I don't know that he has completely resolved all of his hangups, but our marriage is a good one...and whatever crazy thing he has for my stumps, he is a lovely guy I'm glad I held onto.'”</span></div>
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If you really don't believe me you can find this quote on page 97 of the <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=rEJBUaWGh_sC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false">second edition</a> which Google has provided. </div>
<span style="font-style: normal;"></span>dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5093242858260087470.post-71085922690129488122012-01-23T00:43:00.000-08:002012-01-23T00:43:14.446-08:00The Basic Idea<style type="text/css">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The basic idea here is to explore those realms of “devoteeism” which I feel are all too often ignored. Primarily, I am concerned with the ethical concerns of devoteeism which, if they are considered at all, are often left for last (at least in our conversations). I tossed the idea of this blog around for a long time, but have continually put it off. I have no idea how frequently I'll be posting, or how long each entry will be, so I do apologize for that unpredictable nature.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I hope to begin a dialogue about how we, as devotees, act, and what the effects of those actions are on others. I have no qualms though about deleting comments from people who are being disruptive in any manner. I do happily invite dissenting opinions and other perspectives, so long as you conduct yourself calmly and maintain a respectful atmosphere toward all. </div>dosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569590804689284555noreply@blogger.com0