Yes, I realize they’re not the same, but the identities and experiences of a cross-dresser and a transgendered person who does not “pass” are not delineated by society; they’re conflated. The gender transgressions of both persons are policed under the same heteronormative logic, a logic that denies the authenticity of both of their existences.

A point that needs to be made very clearly: there are plenty of cross-dressers who experience drag as having nothing to do with any kind of fetish or sex, period. This is a common misconception, and it’s an important one to correct. That you are not taking care to distinguish the variety of motives people have for being cross-dressers makes me worry that your readings into transabled accounts may be similarly selective.

First-hand accounts of transablism that (a) involve more than a fetishistic component and (b) have been actualized through amputation with positive psychological effect are accessible on the Internet. There are some especially compelling accounts documented in a documentary called “Whole” that I have only seen excerpts of, but which seems important. I think I’m going to order a copy. Once I’m done watching it, I would be happy to send it along. Not sure if it has subtitles.

Thanks for the response. I am not making assumptions. I am taking what transabled people write about themselves. I have yet to read an account of one who does not get fetish-ish pleasure out of their pretending to be disabled. All the accounts I have read of those who have made themselves disabled has been regret. Their desires do not go away and the true reality of being disabled is disappointing. For many, it is devastating and should have been prevented! I can only go off what these people say about themselves. I do not have their desires.

I do not view transvestites the same as transsexuals. Not that I am saying either is better than the other. Transvestites derive pleasure from dressing in the opposite gender. They fully admit to it being a fetish. I have never felt my transsexuality was a fetish in any way. Ever.

My own body has been subject to fetishizing as that of a genderqueer person, and so I realize within my own scope of experience that being sexually objectified for something in which one is marginalized can create a space of discomfort. For many transgender and disabled people, it’s unfortunate that sometimes the only choices availed to us are invisibility and the-wrong-kind-of visibility.

This said, I want to point out two assumptions that you make, and with which I disagree:

(1) All experiences of transabled people are the same in that they are necessarily fetishistic, and those who say otherwise are lying.
(2) For those whose desire to attain a ‘normative’ disability status has a sexual aspect, that aspect comprises the totality of their experience.

Also, speaking as a normatively male-bodied femme person, I think you are privileged not to consider how fetishism is often read into many female/feminine-oriented transgender experiences. It says a lot that, of all the myriad fetishes which exist in the world, so-called “transvestic fetishism” receives especial attention, it and its attendant stigma codified in a book of pathology, the DSM.

I am privileged in that my sexuality does not incur fetishistic stigma, but I am disprivileged in that I cannot shop at a women’s clothing stores without risking being read as a pervert. I hope you will consider how the assumptions of some of my fellow shoppers serve to invisibilize my identity as a transgendered person, and how your assumptions of transabled sexual deviancy, likewise, in their conflating the diverse experiences of a marginalized group, may serve a parallel function.

Of course, I make exceptions for things like fetishes involving non-consenting parties (i.e. rape), children (molestation), and BIID merely because some are willing to go as far as to mutilate their own bodies (getting into car accidents to attempt to sever their spines or pouring acid/putting dry on their flesh to destroy their legs) in painful and potentially fatal ways.

My problem is they say their problem is LIKE MINE. I am not turned on by being transgendered. It is JUST HOW I AM. Some aspects of the BIID fetish, are harmless. For example, one of the prominent BIID activists talks about how he gets erections while wearing diapers. It is up to the individual to do their own thing. If you wanna wear diapers and change yourself…GO FOR IT. It’s not my business. Even the people who rent wheelchairs to ride around in them and then say they masturbate after doing so. It’s kind of weird IMO, but it technically isn’t hurting anyone. You and the others seem to imply I am not tolerant of these acts, which isn’t true at all. I don’t get them nor do I want to, but it is the BIID person’s sex life and far be it from me to deny them some sexual happiness. With these acts, they aren’t harming themselves or others. That’s fine. Enjoy your fetish.

My big problem is this. Do NOT compare a fetish to a biological condition like transsexuality and attempt to get doctors to make you disabled. A fetish is NOT the same as a biological condition, and therefore it should not be treated as such. Don’t tell me BIID isn’t a fetish either, because the people claiming to suffer from BIID have shared their thoughts in their blogs. I have seen many a BIID suffer talk about how horny they get from using catheters, binding their legs to make them immobilized and wheeling around an area where no one knows them. One woman even said she got so turned on after a stranger helped her up a curb in her wheelchair she rented that she had to wheel back to her car and masturbate. It made her nearly orgasm at the person’s assistance. These people do not want to admit it is a fetish. They want to claim it is like transsexuality and their brain developed differently. Therefore, their only treatment is for doctors to make them disabled. THIS is my problem with BIID. You cannot compare apples and oranges and say they are the same. If it makes me sound like an ass, then I guess it is how I sound, but at least I am honest in my thoughts on this matter.