I Won’t Be Happy Until I Lose My Legs
February 1st, 2007 by Ian
A very interesting essay in The Guardian by a woman who suffers from body integrity identity disorder or BIID. I’ve heard of BIID before. It is when a person has a desire to remove one or more healthy limbs from their body. They feel that the “real” them is a person without an arm or leg. My first thought is that such a person is crazy. How could you want to remove both your legs? How could removing a limb make you whole? Just seems counterintuitive.
But then my mind turned to transsexuals. They also feel a disconnect between the way they feel inside and the way they are physically. I support their right to change their gender. My philosophy is that they are not hurting anyone. If it makes them happier and feel whole, then I’m all for it. So how would BIID be different? Seriously, cutting off an arm, cutting of a penis…similar in a way. Maybe it is just all the documentaries on transsexuals that I have seen that have formed my opinion.
So it appears there is a documentary on BIID called Whole. I’ve already put it to the top of my Netflix queue (I’m sure Bobby is elated). I’m interested to see what I think afterwards.
Yes, I could personally see how cutting off an arm and penis are basically the same…I mean, they are of similar size (in my case, at least.)
I’d be interested in watching that movie with you guys if you don’t mind!