#deformities

[satellites-halo]

yeah you're "punk" but are you normal about deformed people?

Edit: reblogs are off because my notes have been filled with this post for months. the correct term is 'people with limb/facial differences' and this post was originally about the cripplepunk movement not punk as a whole

[nightmarereverie]

[pumpkin-patch]

Another Pyrolga dilemma. These are two whole other guys. Guy on the right seems like an obvious choice to keep, since he's bigger, right?

But, some of the size is due to legginess. This is in no way a fatal amount of legginess, but when you have two seedlings otherwise equal, you generally wanna keep the less leggy one. I would not call these otherwise equal though; the guy on the right is further developed, working on his second leaf already.

However.... that second leaf is deformed. Got almost a double-leaf situation going on here.

I'm gonna monitor them a little longer, but I'm leaning towards keeping the weirdo since it is the more vigorous one.

[aethling]

“i cant believe you would consider mutilating your perfect female body like that”

if you saw my baby pictures you’d know why plastic surgeons have been “mutilating my perfect female body” since before i could crawl

[this-is-lookism]

The amount of reality TV shows about cosmetic surgery.

Bridal Plasty, Let me in (Korean show that brought up abuse as a reason the women wanted to look "pretty"), My 600lb Life (was for health reasons but many people died after weight loss surgery and the show focused about their "transformation"), and so many more I likely don't know about.

(plus shows about specific people who needed surgeries because of deformations that presented these people as entertainment rather than documentaries about their experiences. still looksism but in the opposite direction (?) since these surgeries weren't cosmetic and were actually necessary for a better quality of life.)

This shows are inherently lookist.

I haven't seen any of these specifically, but this kind of reality TV shows are very common and I've found a lot of them with similar premises and they all fall in this saneist lookist ideology.

But I want to also talk a little about what they could've been. As a show talking about a specific topic doesn't inherently have issues portraying it —It certainly can, and commonly does, but it also always could have a lot of potential if done with good intentions and knowing about the demographic without dehumanizing them.

First with the plastic surgeries. Almost all of them are generally gender affirming care, be it trans or cis individuals alike. So they could've for one, gone in depth about how GAC is not a trans thing. And they could've also gone in depth about the intersection of the general idea, of this surgeries happening so often because of toxic social pressure and standards of commodifying people and making them have to fit into boxes of desirability. Which are always full of ableism, misogyny, racism, colorism, orientalism, antisemitism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. But also the connection that us as individuals are often victim of this system, and the pressure and disadvantages of not following it are undeniable. So it's a much more nuanced topic than just, "cosmetic surgery bad" or "The cosmetic surgery industry is perfect!".

Then for the one about obesity. Extreme obesity can and often ends up being very disabling to a person. It reduces mobility extremely, like the ability to walk longer distances because of the weight the legs have to suspend. It reduces the ability of self care sometimes, making some parts of your body inaccessible when showering or to look for skin cancer for example. And it has it's own side effects in heart health and other organs. But apart from being able to give someone the support they need to live better, which is almost always partly losing weight, it's also very important to note why someone ends up like this. Why are the basic foods like vegetables and fruits so expensive? Why do people have so little time to actually cook? Why do people have so much bad mental health? Could the physical and mental health systems improve? Would that help? Giving support to people earlier? How do all of these intersection with class inequality, the lasting effects of segregation and slavery, abusive situations, etc? These are just some basic ideas. And it's already way better. Also, focusing on improving health and lived experience should always be the focus of this.

And regarding surgeries for deformities/disfigurements. It's important to note that still to this day, most surgeries on disabled people have other alternatives for improving life experience/pain relief. A lot of these surgeries aren't actually done with informed consent. As the patient isn't actually in the fully known of other alternatives and the pros and cons of each of them. But systematically, surgeries are recommended to "look more normal". Like how if you need braces medically, they most likely will insist on you using them until you have what's considered "perfect teeth", or how while they do that they can and even do without consent the act of shaving off your canines for it (as it happened to me, which I still I'm mad about as I loved my little fangs). So this should be present in any TV show about it.

These are just some general ideas of how a show about "X" could be done respectfully. But these aren't done for that. They're done to create impact. To surprise the audience. And to make this idea of "How sad they are, so naive/stupid/ugly! I'm glad these doctors are saving them!"

[vorpalfae]

shout out to all the girlies like me who also have scoliosis ‹𝟹 🩻

it may be considered a deformity & the pain it causes sucks, but i hope you all know that you are seen & ur amazing for pushing through life every day despite having to deal with never ending pain. especially if you were born with severe scoliosis like me! its a struggle every day & so many ppl silently endure it. so if ur reading this, just know that i'm proud of you! 🦴

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Joel-Peter Witkin is an American photographer whose creative method usually gets mixed reviews. Witkin occasionally incorporated corpses or body parts in his surrealistic photographs and often works with people with deformities, or minorities. Transgender, intersex, and people with dwarfism.

[talesfromtreatment]

The Livestock Born Different group had a recent post of a lamb born completely without limbs, not even little nubbins. It’s very sad as the lamb was otherwise bright and alert. The owner, thankfully, had it humanely euthanised.

The number of people, however, in the comments saying that the lamb should be ‘given a chance’ is frankly appalling. A couple people suggested a wheelchair but... there were no legs. The lamb would just be hanging suspended, unable to move. It would need to be pulled around by a human. It could never join a flock which would be very stressful for a herding animal. As it cannot right itself, it would very quickly develop pressure sores from being stuck on one side. As it cannot move, it would be unable to get away from its own excrement and would quickly develop urine scalding. Its whole short life would be nothing but misery and confusion.

Sheep are not people. Trying to keep this lamb alive would be an act of cruelty.