Sunday, January 1, 2012
Aimee Mullins is a perfect example of how the rhetoric of the body depends on the conversation we choose to have about it. Not only does Aimee exemplify all four categories we are looking at - shape shifter, cyborg, super hero AND femme fatale (if by femme fatale we mean dangerously beautiful and powerful), she also raises questions that challenge the way we think and talk about the body: What does a beautiful woman have to look like? What is a sexy body? What does it mean to be disabled? What is a prosthetic? But, I can't help but wonder how effective her message would be if she weren't drop dead gorgeous. Are we able to overlook her handicap because she is so beautiful? And what about those special prosthetics she has made for her? How much do her looks and financial means shape this revolution in how we view the handi-capable? And, if they do shape the way we view the revolution, then is it a revolution at all?
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side note-if I had prosthetics- I would wear cheetah legs EVERYWHERE.
ReplyDeleteOn to the topic...I wouldn't say that I overlook her handicap because she's beautiful, but I think its harder to pity her because she is beautiful and has adapted so well to not having something that we are "supposed to have" or "need to have." Some people might look at someone who is differently abled and think that that person can't fend for themselves, or that they are helpless. But Aimee is a strong, independent, beautiful, and a highly capable person in spite of her handicap, so she can advocate for differently abled people and be heard on a larger scale than Joe Solider that lost his arm or Cindy Teenage Girl who lost her leg, because she is a supermodel and drop dead gorgeous. Regular people have been trying to develop better prosthetics for years, but with less success, maybe because of a lack of awareness and funding, because handicapped people are a minority. In some people's minds developing this technology that Aimee has been trying to find may not be a pressing issue, because its a minority of the people that have to adjust to living with prosthetics and wheel chairs and crutches. From what I've been shown in my short life, majorities don't always feel the need to advocate for minority issues, but if one day everyone's left leg fell off or something then more people would rally and get going on finding better, more useful, more aesthetically pleasing prosthetics, everyone would be on this bandwagon. So I think its a really good thing that this woman is strong, independent, and gorgeous because if not, she could be perceived as a sad, helpless handicapped woman, and that is the opposite of what this cause needs. It needs to be brought to the limelight with the same urgency as if everyone in the world is going to lose their left leg tomorrow.
I agree and disagree. I definitely believe that because she is beautiful and has money that she is on stage speaking. If she was just an average looking woman with an average salary I do not believe that huge designers like Alexander McQueen would be designing beautiful, intricate, wooden carved legs for an ordinary looking handicapped woman. I think that having beauty and money is a huge aspect in modern society and to some degree people do overlook her handicap because of those aspects. If everyone treated all handicapped people as they do Aimee, whether rich or poor, ugly or pretty, everyone would have perfect and wonderful prosthetics and Aimee's story would not be as uplifting as it is because it would be common for handicapped citizens. I do think that her story is very inspirational and she is a brave woman for talking about something that is so tragic. She bounced back and, overall, is empowering. She has an electrifying personality that gets everyone thinking about what it is like to be handicapped in any sense, whether physically or emotionally.
ReplyDeleteYes, Aimee is gorgeous, and yes, she is a stellar athlete, and yes, she is even a wonderful public speaker, but why should that take away from the message that she is trying to send? Every successful revolution has a charismatic leader that people can relate to. A leader that people can look up to and see that this cause is just and righteous and I am doing the right thing. Revolutions also need their voices to be heard to be successful. With Aimee, you are getting both in a single package. Because she is a famous, beautiful women, she will get the attention of the media and the press for what she is doing. But isn't that what these people want? The more the general public sees and interacts with people who are different from the social norms, the most adjusted and accepting people become over time. So while every person that has a prosthetic does not look like a super model, a super model might just be what is needed to get people to fully accept the handicapped into society.
ReplyDeleteI was totally moved by Aimee's success in being a model and a speaker as a handicapped woman. It's hard to imagine how can a handicapped person build his or her confidence when talking in front people, let alone being a speaker or even a model. But Aimee did it ! She's so proud of her beautiful legs and being a model and telling the public she can do it ! yes, i agree she's just like a successful leader in the revolution , she is conveying the message that the beauty of a handicapped woman is astonishing! Our society needs a pioneer like Aimee, she reveals the truth that the beauty of a model is not only just from the wonderful figures they've got ,but ,more important is from their confidence about their bodies and their strong desire to show their beauty in front of people. And also , i think Aimee's success is largely related to her optimistic personality.
ReplyDeleteThe most impressive things are those creative and artistic legs. They break up the conventional concept of human’s leg meanwhile they create another view of the disable. Legs themselves represent the optimism spirit of Aimee. She is brilliant for her courage to reveal the physical defect and to use it shape a beauty of cyborg. Some people may think these legs fit perfectly to her just because Aimee is a beauty. The point of the argument always focuses on that such achievement like attending the famous designer’s runway whether will exist if Aimee does not have an outstanding face compared with other disabled people. I totally agree that people overlook her disable because of beauty; however, I think this is what Aimee wants to show us. I regard Aimee as an outstanding representative of a specific group. No matter the group belongs to majority or the minority, it has its own representative who can display the positive spirit what Aimee called humanity in the lecture for the whole best. What Aimee is trying to do now is to reveal the potential of a minority and her exist just make the others in her group have a stereotype to follow or exceed.
ReplyDeleteAimee Mullins is, in herself, a work of art. The body is (in a few respects) an unconventional form of art. What Aimee has done is expanded upon the human art form and created a new form that is entirely her own, she has taken what many would view as a physical detriment and has used it as a new form of art. She has changed the rhetoric of her body by saying that prosthetics are not a replacement, but an enhancement. In the video Aimee refers to a conversation she had with a friend about being able to change her height, her friend said that "it wasn't fair". That phrase juxtaposes the view society has come to adopt on the issue of being "handicapped"; what was once something that was once pitied, is now envied. Aimee has used her body as the eisel, the platform for expressing that she is not handicapped, but a unique and beautiful work of art. She also emphasizes that "it is our humanity, and all the potential in it, that makes us beautiful", putting such a tragic loss into new light as potential being realized.
ReplyDeleteYes, Aimee is a very beautiful woman and I believe it helps her to persuade her audience with a message that handicapped still looks great and has a normal life, but I think that what really makes the difference is the power of thought: she is confident and believes in herself so, what we see is a natural image of her. What I saw in Aimee is not only a shape shifter or a hero, but also the courage and motivation that anyone could have to look at our own fragilities and make of them potential of improvement. I also believe that her message persuades her audience not only because of her beauty or reachness, but maybe because we have been learning to see beauty even though there's something different. I do believe in people's intention.
ReplyDeleteYes, I feel as though Aimee's confidence shines more than anything despite her beauty and fame. It's pretty huge to go speak in front of an audience(world) about a disability. But after hearing her I didn't think of it as a disability, but as an improvement. And if i must say its pretty darn cool and fascinating ! She has legs and more. Imagine being able to change your size whenever you feel like it or have any type of legs you desire. (I would totally wear those cheetah legs) She took what she had and ran with it, enhanced it! What i got out it was that beauty comes in all forms. Having a positive attitude and confidence is really all you need. Sometimes different could be BETTER.!
ReplyDeleteI think Aimee is another step towards how people think about handicapped people. She is part of a collection of people that are going above and beyond what other think they can physically do without the use of some limbs or without those limbs completely. More and more people are taking this as a challenge and rising above what they are seen by society as being able to do. Aimee not only shows that people without limbs can be beautiful, but she was also a star athlete in college. I think as our society continually evolves in a scientific sense our understanding and thought towards people evolves as well.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that her positive attitude and optimism is what truly makes her special. Losing a limb would be a difficult thing to overcome, and I believe that her perspective on the matter is what makes her an inspiration. In my opinion, beauty is extremely subjective, but with all of the media influence in our lives, the magazines and television has determined what conventional beauty is. It bombards our daily lives and most people have adopted this view of beauty. Before she lost her limbs, she would have fit the media's mold perfectly. After her accident, her ability to take her tragedy and turn it into an opportunity to improve herself is what is truly remarkable.
ReplyDeleteThere are very few people with disabilities who are able to talk about their disability freely and not feel discouraged by it. To me, Aimee is one of these people. Without having normal legs, Aimee could have just accepted it and gone through life just waiting for the next person to stare at her because she has prosthetics. This takes a terrific, strong person to overcome this tragedy and make a wonderful experience at of it. I think the best moment of the video is when she talks about the children in the museum and their reaction to her prosthetic legs. When one of the kids said to her that she should have the ability to fly, I believe it finally proved to Aimee or any other disabled person that their disability is a gift and they shouldn’t be afraid to show it to the outside world. People like me, who have the ability to use my natural legs, will never be able to do the things that people like Aimee can do. I can never change my height, get cheetah legs, or even have the slightest possiblility in being capable to fly that people with prosthetics has the chance of doing in the future. For those reasons, I believe people like Aimee are abled people not disabled people.
ReplyDeleteBeing rich and beautiful helped out Aimee a lot. Those qualities helped to spread the message that she's not disabled and still georgeous. What does beig disabled mean? I would never think twice that Aimee was disabled. To me, I think she is more of a superhero in more than one way. For example, she was a star athlete, many people now look up to her, and she is helping people in so many ways. To do what she does takes so much courage. Aimee's attitude is what really got to me the most. she didn't complain about how she lost her legs, but talked about how she can do so many different things with her body now that she wasn't able to before. Aimee is beautiful, and what's even better is she's helping to prove to every disabled person that their "disability" does not make them ugly by any means.
ReplyDeleteAimee is definitely a superhero. She fought through the adversity of being disabled and hopefully will empower many others to do the same. I think that without the beauty and money she possesses her message would not be heard as loudly as it is. I am not saying that her message would not be heard by any means. I just feel that the sad reality of today's society is that beauty and money are most important. That does not take anything away from what Aimee is doing. Her confidence and phenomenol communication skills will jump start a revolution. I think her persona will show the world that disabled people are people and deserve to be treated that way. Even though she lost so much she did not complain and that example will inspire newly disabled people. Her story is truly remarkable and she should be revered for her bravery.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Aimee is someone that could have given up on life and just accepted her physical state in life. Instead, she stood up and took a fight against it. Through this, she has thrived and become an inspiration to many people. With this being said, I do not believe that she would have been able to do all of this without proper funding and the fact that she is gorgeous. Had she not had the money, it would have been hard to convince companies to build all of these prosthetic legs for and start this "revolution". Also, if she was not so pretty, it is my belief that she would not have had the opportunities to be in magazines and fashion shows. With that being said, I am not trying to take away from her accomplishments at all. I think it is amazing that she has done so much with her life to help out not only herself, but others with a similar handicap. Her story is truly amazing and should be heard by all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brad, and most others, that without her beauty she would basically be a hometown hero, not the global hero and role model she is becoming. The most interesting part of the video in my opinion was Aimee describing the numerous occasions where people would tell her "Aimee you're very attractive, you don't look disabled." This says it all about societies view of the handicapped. We already have a pre-conceived notion that the handicapped are unattractive. So, obviously Aimee's beauty plays a huge role in her success and without it, it's hard to tell where she would be. I do think her humor and confidence compliment her looks and I believe her story will help to change societies view on the handicapped. I mean define handicapped? Maybe we are all just that in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt Aimee is a very beautiful and an inspiring icon. But I believe that her fame and ability to convey her message this openly to the public would not have been possible without the means of finance and her great looks. We have a set mind of what beautiful is and how a perfect beautiful body should be like, when we see a handicap we automatically think of them as helpless, dependent or unable in the sense that they are not able to do things what we as normal people are able to do. Aimee on the other hand takes it to a new level. She doesn't consider herself a handicap but instead she uses her handicap-ability to prove impossible possible to many disable people out there. She is a very confident and a motivated speaker who has and will continue to inspire many people with disabilities from her work and her motivational speeches.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the many entries above. If Aimee were not as beautiful and financially stable she probably would not be selected to model or represent different prosthetic agencies. Although she is a strong and confident woman, without the help of the media I dont think she would be as willing to advocate her disability. In regards to when she was told, "you're very attractive, you dont look disabled." I think that is ignorant because it implies that we perceive disabled people as not being able to be attractive because of their lack of a certain body part. I think that in society we need to change our perception of beauty and not to let something like a disability get in the way of it.
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ReplyDeleteI feel that Aimee uses her beauty and her money to get her message across. However, her message about still being sexy and redefining her image might be harder to achieve if she had lost something else other than her legs. Such as her arm(s). When people think of sex appeal, arms do not come to mind, legs, on the other hand do. If Aimee had lost her arm(s), the chance of her getting prosthetics that are as colorful and artsy as leg prosthetics are less likely because leg prosthetics are more advanced and more research has been done with leg prosthetics. If she had been standing up there and was missing one or both of her arms would you still consider her as beautiful, or if she was wearing a crazy arm prosthetic would it be as acceptable?
ReplyDeleteThe general population does not have much sympathy or respect for the common man. Our attention mostly is drawn to those who live lives different from our own. That is why celebrities in this country are treated like such deities. The great amount of attention being given to her is not because she is a handicapped woman, it is because she is a celebrity in that position. Now i'm not saying that the obstacles she overcame werent tremendous but does she deserve more respect than the many other people out there with the same problems? Her climb back to being a handicapable person was with a lot of help and support from places most people do not have access to. She is a beautiful woman and in our country beauty is held at a high value. Her looks shaped the outcome of her entire life. She is an amazingly strong woman and the fact that she uses her notoriety to help others as admirable. She is taking advantage of the help she is getting by using it to make people aware of her ailments and how they affect people.
ReplyDeleteTo start I would like to say that Aimee is a huge inspriation and her strength and courage are something to be marveled at. With that being said, I still have to agree with Chelsea. If she had lost a body part other than her legs, people probably would not put her on such a high pedestal. Alexander McQueen noticed her, and had a vision of giving her intricate wooden legs, so he hired her to walk in his runway show. If he had not had that unique vision, she would not have walked the runway, and many people would not have given her a second look after they found out she had prosthetic legs. But because Alexander McQueen noticed her, they thought to give her a second look, saw her charming personality and realized how inspirational she is. Point being, the same people always tell us what to wear from the runway, and because Aimee walked the runway with prosthetic legs, prosthetics are now cool.
ReplyDeleteAimee is an inspirational icon and made many excellent points. I believe the image put on disabled people is definitely dependent on the current conversation about it. Continuing on the point that Chelsea and Brynli were making, I agree that the reason Aimee became so popular is because she is beautiful, and she has prosthetic legs instead of arms or some other disability. It is true that Amiee's natural good looks and personality has made what she has done possible. However, using the point that Aimee herself made, it's all about the current conversation on the topic. Aimee is changing the conversation, and therefore will change the common view on disabled people from people who are disabled to people who have the opportunity to invent a part of their body. This, along with the ever expanding advances in technology, will reshape the future in disabilities, prosthetics, other treatments, and the public view on the topic
ReplyDeleteGoing along with the point that the last few post were going on about how because Aimee is a beautiful women and had amazing legs to work and using this to get where she is but this shouldn't be as big of a problem as it seems people are making it. Lets be honest, how many people would listen to an average joe who lost his/her leg is a car accident one day. Because Aimee has become the unofficial face of the prosthetic industry, she has brought alot of attention toward the issue that may not have been given if she wasn't the attractive women that she is.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is because Amiee is gorgeous that make us hard to pity her. It is because she is confident and strong, and she doesn't see herself as disabled. i also don't think the fact that she is drop dead gorgeous makes her message any less effective. If it's a average looking woman, but she sees herself just like how amiee sees herself and as confident and strong as her, people would respect her the way they respect amiee. It's just extremely hard for a average and disable woman to build herself up and be as confident as amiee. Maybe it is true that Amiee could get legs from . Alexander McQueen is because she is rich, but really, you don't need pretty legs to make yourself confident. It's really about the way you think about yourself.
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