Attraction to disability

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Attraction to disability is a sexualised interest in the appearance, sensation and experience of disability. [1] It may extend from normal human sexuality into a type of sexual fetishism. Sexologically, the pathological end of the attraction tends to be classified as a paraphilia. [2] [3] Other researchers have approached it as a form of identity disorder. [4] [5] [6] The most common interests are towards amputations, prosthesis, and crutches. [1] As a sexual fetish, attraction to disability is known as devotism, and those with the fetish are known as devotees. [1]

Contents

History

Until the 1990s, it tended to be described mostly as acrotomophilia, at the expense of other disabilities, or of the wish by some to pretend or acquire disability. Bruno (1997) systematised the attraction as factitious disability disorder. [6] A decade on, others argue that erotic target location error is at play, classifying the attraction as an identity disorder. [5] [7] In the standard psychiatric reference Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , text revision (DSM-IV-tr), the fetish falls under the general category of "Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders" and the more specific category of paraphilia, or sexual fetishes; [8] this classification is preserved in DSM-5. [9]

As fetish subculture

Desires to pretend to be disabled and acquire a disability are extensions of the pathological disorder. About half of all devotees occasionally pretend (43 percent of Nattress [1996], sample of 50). Avowed "wannabes" seem to number not more than five percent of the devotee-wannabe population, though Nattress (1996) found 22 percent of his sample of 50 had wanted to become disabled. Accordingly, Bruno (1997) considers those affected by versions of the paraphilia under the broad heading of Devotees, Pretenders, and Wannabes (DPWs), as used here. [6]

Well over half of DPWs have felt this pathological attraction since childhood, as typical in paraphilias. The Amelotatist (see References) found that 75 percent of its sample of 195 were aware of the attraction by age fifteen. Those attracted often cherish early memories of a sexuoerotic tragedy (a "first sighting") involving an object of their future attention, often an older member of the opposite sex, as stereotypical in paraphilic etiology. About a quarter report discovering the paraphilia in puberty and a few in maturity.

The aforesaid has given grounds for the attraction to disability to be represented as the continuum Bruno (1997) termed factitious disability disorder. [6] At its less-intense devotee end, there is sexualised fascination with the existential aspects of disability and its appearance. In its middle pretending area is strong desire to reproduce the sensations of disability. At its intense wannabe end is an imperative to acquire a disability which may prompt self-harm.

According to DPW fetishists, their attraction does not appear to pose dangers to DPWs' partners or third parties. However, it can be noted that the DSM-IV includes this paraphilia within the diagnostic criteria of psychiatric pathology. Fetishists raise objections to the characterization of their preference as an aberrant pathology. However, objections have also been raised by members of the disability community on the grounds that such fetishes objectify and dehumanize them. Some people with disabilities willingly participate in the fetish subculture, for example, contributing model photos (e.g., Debbie van der Putten).[ citation needed ]

In relationships

The Amelotatist found that 55 percent of a sample of 195 DPWs had dated disabled people, 40 percent had been sexually intimate with disabled partners, and 5 percent had current disabled spouses. Nattress (1993) found that 41 percent of a sample of 50 DPWs had, or were in, relationships with disabled partners. [10]

Relationships between DPWs and disabled people tend to be reported as being ordinary, the attraction being sated by the fact of the partner's disability. It appears that the attraction to disability is undisclosed in a proportion of DPW-disabled relationships. DPWs may press disabled partners to put their disabilities to the fore in intimate situations and exhibit them in social ones. Sexually, some DPWs have been reported to engage in active tactile observation as much as in intercourse.

That DPWs find it hard to satisfy both sexual and emotional needs is borne out in findings by both Nattress (1996) and Dixon (1983). [11] They report that, despite reasonable success in obtaining sexual contact with disabled people, just 21 percent of DPWs had had long-term relationships with disabled partners.

About half of DPWs fail to establish relationships with disabled people. "Second-best" options for them are relationships with pretenders and wannabes. Practically all DPWs have experience of relationships with non-disabled partners. Such relationships are also reported to be ordinary despite the (mostly undisclosed) attraction to disability on the part of one partner.

Although it is not common knowledge within mainstream communities, the internet has revolutionized the process by which DPWs can meet each other while pursuing meaningful relationships. Some of these individuals, however, have expressed a level of concern when it comes to their first face to face encounters. While most of these encounters are completely safe, there are important guidelines to provide a sense of security to either party who may feel vulnerable. [12]

Explanations

Psychology views sadism and masochism as interchangeable, with voyeurism and exhibitionism as their respective aspects. Devotees' observation-based behavior and preference for display-minded partners seem to support explanations 2 to 4. Devotee pornography tends to display the appearance of disability across a range of activities rather than focus on sexual situations.

Recent neuroscientific research suggests that apotemnophilia has a neurological basis. [13] [14] [15]

Sexological

Contemporary sexology does not consider the attraction problematic unless exercising it infringes the rights of one of the parties and/or those of third parties. Explanations include:

  1. Imprinting or the influence of influential events on behaviour. Encountering visibly disabled people in childhood awakes strong emotions which may give rise to quasi-logical reasoning and a desire for people with the type of trauma encountered. Care received during hospital stays may awaken a wish to become disabled (as a way of ensuring continuous care), later projected onto others. Freud is credited with discovering conditioning ("imprinting" in sexology) in the context of fetishism; [ citation needed ]
  2. Implied parental approval: if, on encountering someone disabled, a future DPW's parents express admiration, the child may conclude that disability inspires regard, later ranking it among sexual preferences. This is among explanations mentioned by Dr John Money in Lovemaps;
  3. Flight from pressure: strict parenting and/or onerous peer environments may cause the future devotee to seek respite in sickness and disability. With time, the wish to become disabled is "projected" onto others. The analogy with Munchausen Syndrome (simulating or inducing illness as a route to compassion and benefits) here is reasonably clear in wannabes. In them, projection has failed, leaving them to see themselves as more attractive if disabled. The fact that most DPWs feel the attraction since childhood also backs the above explanations. There are also suggestions that there are more DPWs in America, Europe, and the Far East due to specific parent/peer-driven achievement models there. This is another explanation mentioned in Lovemaps;
  4. Inferiority complex causing projection: DPWs may have been made to feel inferior in childhood and may project their ambitions onto disabled people, who perforce have to overcome many barriers;
  5. 'Darwinism': DPWs see disabled people as proven in natural selection, having cheated death and overcome adversity;
  6. The unknown: children experience fascination with and fear of the unknown when encountering a disabled person. As adolescents, they may experience similar emotions when first approaching the opposite sex. This fascination with alienness may become associated with arousal over time through classical conditioning. Eventually, arousal will be triggered by the emotion;
  7. "The missing phallus": When exposed to the nude female body, some men are fascinated by the fact that "the penis is missing", and there is an alternative and sexual organ (in fact, one reminiscent of a wound) in its place. This feeling of surprise may become a part of sexual attraction. The sight of a missing limb may evoke a similar feeling. Similar to 6 above, this explanation was proposed by Dr Anne Hooper in 1978;
  8. Attention seeking and envy: Since disabled people tend to draw more than average attention, children observing them may conclude that one has to be disabled to enjoy attention. In puberty, disability would be included in their attractiveness criteria.
  9. Erotic target location error: The desire of some male transvestites and transsexuals to assume the appearance of their sexual ideal was transposed by analogy to amputee wannabes by First (2005), who backs his claim with research by himself and others since 2000. [16] Since the condition of some wannabes appears not to be primarily sexual (except by association), the explanation defines the attraction to disability as an identity disorder. It is put forward within the narrow context of amputee wannabes, and the author does not address the DPW continuum discussed above. The wannabe community has always defined itself in terms very similar to those First and Lawrence (2006) use, with the indigenous label "transabled" gaining ground by 2005 at the expense of "wannabe."

By DPWs

The DPW community constantly debates the origins of the attraction ("the Why?"). The Amelotatist, reporting a poll of 195 devotees was a community contribution and the first synthesis of explanations.[ citation needed ] A 2005 straw poll in two DPW fora revealed that in childhood many respondents (often first or only children) felt alienated from peers, forming solitary interests in inter alia, transportation, or collecting.[ citation needed ] These feelings may indicate that empathy with disabled people, subject to exclusion in most cultures, is among the motivations for the attraction. It may also indicate that admiration is at play in the attraction, in as much as disabled people per force overcome inhibitions similar to those many DPWs face, as hinted above.[ need quotation to verify ][ citation needed ]

In media

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paraphilia</span> Atypical sexual attraction

Paraphilia is the experience of recurring or intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as a sexual interest in anything other than a consenting human partner. Paraphilias are contrasted with normophilic ("normal") sexual interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual fetishism</span> Sexual arousal a person receives from an object or situation

Sexual fetishism or erotic fetishism is a sexual fixation on a nonliving object or nongenital body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has a fetish for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regarded as a non-pathological aid to sexual excitement, or as a mental disorder if it causes significant psychosocial distress for the person or has detrimental effects on important areas of their life. Sexual arousal from a particular body part can be further classified as partialism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadomasochism</span> Giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation

Sadism and masochism, known collectively as sadomasochism, are the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer respectively to one who enjoys giving and receiving pain, some practitioners of sadomasochism may switch between activity and passivity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Coalition for Sexual Freedom</span> Organization

The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is an American sex-positive advocacy and educational organization founded in 1997. NCSF has over one hundred coalition partners, and over sixty supporting members. NCSF advocates on behalf of adults involved in alternative lifestyles with respect to sexuality and relationship composition, specifically for tolerance and non-discrimination of those so identified, as well as education for adults involved in such lifestyles. The organization's main office is in Baltimore, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foot fetishism</span> Sexual fascination with feet

Foot fetishism, also known as foot partialism or podophilia, is a pronounced sexual interest in feet. It is the most common form of sexual fetishism for otherwise non-sexual objects or body parts.

Medical fetishism refers to several sexual fetishes in which participants derive sexual pleasure from medical scenarios including objects, practices, environments, and situations of a medical or clinical nature. In sexual roleplay, a hospital or medical scene involves the sex partners assuming the roles of doctors, nurses, surgeons and patients to act out specific or general medical fetishes. Medical fantasy is a genre in pornography, though the fantasy may not necessarily involve pornography or sexual activity.

Body integrity dysphoria (BID), also referred to as body integrity identity disorder (BIID), amputee identity disorder or xenomelia, and formerly called apotemnophilia, is a rare mental disorder characterized by a desire to have a sensory or physical disability or feeling discomfort with being able-bodied, beginning in early adolescence and resulting in harmful consequences. BID appears to be related to somatoparaphrenia. People with this condition may refer to themselves as transabled.

Acrotomophilia is a paraphilia in which an individual expresses strong sexual interest in amputees. It is a counterpart to apotemnophilia, the desire to be an amputee.

Abasiophilia is a psychosexual attraction to people with impaired mobility, especially those who use orthopaedic appliances such as leg braces, orthopedic casts, or wheelchairs. The term abasiophilia was first used by John Money of the Johns Hopkins University in a paper on paraphilias, in 1990.

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Whole is a documentary about people with a body integrity identity disorder, that makes them desire to be an amputee. It first was broadcast on the Sundance Channel in 2004.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clothing fetish</span> Sexual fetish relating to particular type of clothing

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexuality and disability</span>

Sexuality and disability is a topic regarding the sexual behavior and practices of people with disabilities. Like the general population, these individuals exhibit a wide range of sexual desires and adopt diverse methods of expressing their sexuality. It is a widespread concern, however, that many people with disabilities do not receive comprehensive sex education, which could otherwise positively contribute to their sexual lives. This roots from the idea that people with disabilities are asexual in nature and are not sexually active. Although some people with disabilities identify as asexual, generalizing this label to all such individuals is a misconception. Many people with disabilities lack rights and privileges that would enable them to have intimacy and relationships. When it comes to sexuality and disability there is a sexual discourse that surrounds it. The intersection of sexuality and disability is often associated with victimization, abuse, and purity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Object sexuality</span> Sexual or romantic attraction towards object

Object sexuality or objectophilia is a group of paraphilias characterized by sexual or romantic attraction focused on particular inanimate objects. Individuals with this attraction may have strong feelings of love and commitment to certain items or structures of their fixation. For some, sexual or close emotional relationships with humans are incomprehensible. Some object-sexual individuals also often believe in animism, and sense reciprocation based on the belief that objects have souls, intelligence, and feelings, and are able to communicate. Questions of its legality or ethical provenance have not arisen, given that inanimate objects are inert and are not 'harmed' through this specific paraphilia. Public sexual consummation of object sexual desires may be dealt with through public nudity or anti-exhibitionism legislation.

Diaper fetishism, nappy fetishism, or diaperism is a type of garment fetish in which a person derives pleasure from wearing or using a diaper. Though separate and distinct, diaper fetishism can also be used as a component of various other kinks, such as ageplay or paraphilic infantilism, which together form a spectrum of practices colloquially referred to as "adult baby/diaper lover" or "AB/DL".

Erotic target location error (ETLE) is a hypothesized dimension for paraphilias, defined by having a sexual preference or strong sexual interest in features that are somewhere other than on one's sexual partners. When one's sexual arousal is based on imagining oneself in another physical form the erotic target is said to be one's self, or erotic target identity inversion (ETII).

References

  1. 1 2 3 Limoncin, E.; Carta, R.; et al. (2014). "The sexual attraction toward disabilities: a preliminary internet-based study". International Journal of Impotence Research. 26 (2): 51–54. doi: 10.1038/ijir.2013.34 . PMID   24048013.
  2. ↑ Money, J.; Simcoe, K. W. (1984). "Acrotomophilia, sex and disability: New concepts and case report". Sexuality and Disability. 7 (1–2): 43–50. doi:10.1007/BF01101829. S2CID   145239837.
  3. ↑ Money, J. (1991). "Paraphilia in Females". Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality. 3 (2): 165–172. doi:10.1300/J056v03n02_11.
  4. ↑ Blom, R. M.; Hennekam, R. C.; Denys, D. (2012). Harrison, Ben J (ed.). "Body Integrity Identity Disorder". PLOS ONE. 7 (4): e34702. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...734702B. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034702 . PMC   3326051 . PMID   22514657.
  5. 1 2 Lawrence, A. A. (2006). "Clinical and Theoretical Parallels Between Desire for Limb Amputation and Gender Identity Disorder". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 35 (3): 263–278. doi:10.1007/s10508-006-9026-6. PMID   16799838. S2CID   17528273.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Bruno, Richard L. (1997), "Devotees, Pretenders, & Wannabes: Two Cases of Factitious Disability Disorder", The Journal of Sexuality & Disability, 15 (4): 243–260, doi:10.1023/A:1024769330761, S2CID   141591859
  7. ↑ Lawrence, A. A. (2009). "Erotic Target Location Errors: An Underappreciated Paraphilic Dimension". Journal of Sex Research. 46 (2–3): 194–215. doi:10.1080/00224490902747727. PMID   19308843. S2CID   10105602.
  8. ↑ McRuer, Robert & Anna Mollow (2012). Sex and Disability. Duke University Press. pp. 360–1. ISBN   9780822351542.
  9. ↑ Blanchard, Ray (2009-06-25). "Paraphilias and the DSM-V: General Diagnostic Issues and Options Exemplified with Pedohebephilic Disorder. Paper presented at 19th WAS World Congress for Sexual Health, June 25, 2009, Göteborg, Sweden" . Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  10. ↑ Disabled Dating
  11. ↑ Dixon, D. (1983). "An erotic attraction to amputees". Sexuality and Disability. 6: 3–6. doi:10.1007/BF01119844. S2CID   143868012.
  12. ↑ Safe Amputee Dating Archived June 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ Brang, D.; McGeoch, P. D.; Ramachandran, V. S. (2008). "Apotemnophilia: A neurological disorder". NeuroReport. 19 (13): 1305–1306. doi:10.1097/WNR.0b013e32830abc4d. PMID   18695512. S2CID   42373109.
  14. ↑ Hilti, L. M.; Hanggi, J.; Vitacco, D. A.; Kraemer, B.; Palla, A.; Luechinger, R.; Jancke, L.; Brugger, P. (2012). "The desire for healthy limb amputation: Structural brain correlates and clinical features of xenomelia". Brain. 136 (Pt 1): 318–29. doi: 10.1093/brain/aws316 . hdl: 20.500.11850/64408 . PMID   23263196.
  15. ↑ Blanke, O.; Morgenthaler, F. D.; Brugger, P.; Overney, L. S. (2009). "Preliminary evidence for a fronto-parietal dysfunction in able-bodied participants with a desire for limb amputation". Journal of Neuropsychology. 3 (2): 181–200. doi:10.1348/174866408X318653. PMID   19338723. [ permanent dead link ]
  16. ↑ First, M. B. (2005). "Desire for amputation of a limb: Paraphilia, psychosis, or a new type of identity disorder". Psychological Medicine. 35 (6): 919–928. doi:10.1017/S0033291704003320. PMID   15997612. S2CID   11623622. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2013-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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