Post by Harry on Nov 13, 2015 13:41:04 GMT
Abasiophilia is a psychosexual attraction to people with impaired mobility, especially those who use orthopaedic appliances such as leg-braces, spinal braces or wheelchairs.
The term abasiophilia was first used by John Money of the Johns Hopkins University in a paper on paraphilias in 1990. It most often starts in early childhood, usually long before puberty is reached. There is normally a trigger event in early childhood involving disabled children or adults, but some evidence is building that a genetic predisposition or brain abnormality must also exist in certain individuals for abasiophilia to occur. It is most common in those who were children in the 1940s, 50s and 60s when polio was common and there were more people using leg braces than today. Studies made in the last 10 years of people contributing to internet leg-brace devotee groups confirm the most common age of leg-brace devotees and wannabes is between 50 and 70; there are a few leg-brace devotees aged less than 40. It is incorrectly classed as a form of disability fetishism, which it is not. More recently, some have suggested that abasiophilia is a form of Body Integrity Identity Disorder, usually associated with people wishing to electively become amputees. There is also some thought that abasiophilia is another form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a condition that can cause enormous distress to those affected.
There are many people who know, admire, or are attracted to, disabled people and for these people this is nothing out of the ordinary at all. For some however, this becomes an overwhelming fascination and the conscious and sub-conscious focus on leg-braces and their users becomes so great that it dominates an individual's daily life. It is this condition that has been termed abasiophilia, which is a class of paraphilia.
The Admirer
The admirer puts the disabled person on a pedestal and sees her as someone to be admired for her courage in overcoming a handicap. He is impressed by the way she copes year after year with her disability and gets on with life so well despite it. He may well seek work with the disabled community and look for ways to genuinely help physically disabled people. Indeed some people working in orthopaedics and orthotics have chosen careers because of their admiration for disabled people. He may well have an interest in things to do with the disability movement and shows an altruistic and concerned interest in the issues of physical disability. Perhaps he helps with charity events, fund raising for polio eradication in the third world, or helping in the local hospital.
He may collect images, books and films showing people in leg-braces but he sees his motive more of an interested observer than voyeur. He may justify his interest as being almost on the level of scientific research. By studying books and images he thinks he will be better informed and more able to understand the issues and concerns of disabled people he'd like to help.
By the norms of society the admirer is perfectly acceptable. Indeed, he himself might be admired as one who does good works in his community.
The Devotee
The devotee, for reasons quite out of his control, takes an almost obsessive interest in looking at disabled people. Although many are too ashamed of their feelings to actively stalk disabled people they may do so in a clandestine manner which is not obvious to the object of their gaze or to the public at large. If the opportunity presents itself, they may photograph their subject or even video them struggling to walk. For the devotee seeking real-life sightings of people in leg-braces becomes an obsessive, life-driving activity: it rules his thinking and can dominate much of his free time.
With the exception of some third world countries where diseases such as polio still exist there are fewer opportunities nowadays to see people wearing leg-braces. This contrasts greatly from the middle decades of the 20th century when the sight of a child or adult in leg-braces was an almost daily occurrence. So, the collection of pictures, books and films showing leg-braces and people using them becomes the next best thing. Many devotees have extensive collections built up over many years of searching libraries, video shops and, latterly, the Internet. There are Internet groups whose main purpose is to allow the sharing of such material between devotees. Some devotees also turn to another method of satisfying their need known as ES or electronic surgery. Images of non-disabled people are electronically modified using a computer image manipulation package to add leg-braces. Alternatively, images already showing people wearing leg-braces are doctored to show a new body or face.
The Pretender
The pretender is so attracted to the state of disability that he feels driven to act out the disabled lifestyle in some way, if only occasionally. He may make or buy the accoutrements of physical disability - crutches, leg-braces, a wheelchair - and act out his fantasy of being disabled. Often this is a hidden activity done in the secrecy of the home. The more daring and self-accepting pretender may venture into public places. He may travel far from home to an anonymous city where he is not known, to act out his disabled lifestyle. Being on the receiving end of the curious stare becomes something to be sought. Internally, he feels good about looking and behaving disabled. Sometimes this good feeling is balanced by self-doubt and guilt over his desires to pretend.
4. The Wannabe
For the wannabe the occasional pretence of disability is not enough. He feels the overwhelming need to be disabled. For him, life is unfulfilled and incomplete unless he becomes a full member of the disabled community as a physically disabled person. The leg-braces are the outward symbol of an inner struggle with self-identity that isn't won until the disabled state is achieved and he somehow "comes home" to his "real" self. There are striking parallels between how the wannabe feels and how someone with gender dysphoria feels - the "I'm in the wrong body" crisis.
For many people there is some oscillation between all of the above over time. Abasiophilia is not restricted to leg-braces. Other examples are attractions to people using wheelchairs, prosthetic legs and arms, spinal braces and plaster casts. In fact abasiophilia is more common when linked to amputees and cast users.
The term abasiophilia was first used by John Money of the Johns Hopkins University in a paper on paraphilias in 1990. It most often starts in early childhood, usually long before puberty is reached. There is normally a trigger event in early childhood involving disabled children or adults, but some evidence is building that a genetic predisposition or brain abnormality must also exist in certain individuals for abasiophilia to occur. It is most common in those who were children in the 1940s, 50s and 60s when polio was common and there were more people using leg braces than today. Studies made in the last 10 years of people contributing to internet leg-brace devotee groups confirm the most common age of leg-brace devotees and wannabes is between 50 and 70; there are a few leg-brace devotees aged less than 40. It is incorrectly classed as a form of disability fetishism, which it is not. More recently, some have suggested that abasiophilia is a form of Body Integrity Identity Disorder, usually associated with people wishing to electively become amputees. There is also some thought that abasiophilia is another form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a condition that can cause enormous distress to those affected.
There are many people who know, admire, or are attracted to, disabled people and for these people this is nothing out of the ordinary at all. For some however, this becomes an overwhelming fascination and the conscious and sub-conscious focus on leg-braces and their users becomes so great that it dominates an individual's daily life. It is this condition that has been termed abasiophilia, which is a class of paraphilia.
The Admirer
The admirer puts the disabled person on a pedestal and sees her as someone to be admired for her courage in overcoming a handicap. He is impressed by the way she copes year after year with her disability and gets on with life so well despite it. He may well seek work with the disabled community and look for ways to genuinely help physically disabled people. Indeed some people working in orthopaedics and orthotics have chosen careers because of their admiration for disabled people. He may well have an interest in things to do with the disability movement and shows an altruistic and concerned interest in the issues of physical disability. Perhaps he helps with charity events, fund raising for polio eradication in the third world, or helping in the local hospital.
He may collect images, books and films showing people in leg-braces but he sees his motive more of an interested observer than voyeur. He may justify his interest as being almost on the level of scientific research. By studying books and images he thinks he will be better informed and more able to understand the issues and concerns of disabled people he'd like to help.
By the norms of society the admirer is perfectly acceptable. Indeed, he himself might be admired as one who does good works in his community.
The Devotee
The devotee, for reasons quite out of his control, takes an almost obsessive interest in looking at disabled people. Although many are too ashamed of their feelings to actively stalk disabled people they may do so in a clandestine manner which is not obvious to the object of their gaze or to the public at large. If the opportunity presents itself, they may photograph their subject or even video them struggling to walk. For the devotee seeking real-life sightings of people in leg-braces becomes an obsessive, life-driving activity: it rules his thinking and can dominate much of his free time.
With the exception of some third world countries where diseases such as polio still exist there are fewer opportunities nowadays to see people wearing leg-braces. This contrasts greatly from the middle decades of the 20th century when the sight of a child or adult in leg-braces was an almost daily occurrence. So, the collection of pictures, books and films showing leg-braces and people using them becomes the next best thing. Many devotees have extensive collections built up over many years of searching libraries, video shops and, latterly, the Internet. There are Internet groups whose main purpose is to allow the sharing of such material between devotees. Some devotees also turn to another method of satisfying their need known as ES or electronic surgery. Images of non-disabled people are electronically modified using a computer image manipulation package to add leg-braces. Alternatively, images already showing people wearing leg-braces are doctored to show a new body or face.
The Pretender
The pretender is so attracted to the state of disability that he feels driven to act out the disabled lifestyle in some way, if only occasionally. He may make or buy the accoutrements of physical disability - crutches, leg-braces, a wheelchair - and act out his fantasy of being disabled. Often this is a hidden activity done in the secrecy of the home. The more daring and self-accepting pretender may venture into public places. He may travel far from home to an anonymous city where he is not known, to act out his disabled lifestyle. Being on the receiving end of the curious stare becomes something to be sought. Internally, he feels good about looking and behaving disabled. Sometimes this good feeling is balanced by self-doubt and guilt over his desires to pretend.
4. The Wannabe
For the wannabe the occasional pretence of disability is not enough. He feels the overwhelming need to be disabled. For him, life is unfulfilled and incomplete unless he becomes a full member of the disabled community as a physically disabled person. The leg-braces are the outward symbol of an inner struggle with self-identity that isn't won until the disabled state is achieved and he somehow "comes home" to his "real" self. There are striking parallels between how the wannabe feels and how someone with gender dysphoria feels - the "I'm in the wrong body" crisis.
For many people there is some oscillation between all of the above over time. Abasiophilia is not restricted to leg-braces. Other examples are attractions to people using wheelchairs, prosthetic legs and arms, spinal braces and plaster casts. In fact abasiophilia is more common when linked to amputees and cast users.