But I suppose that being forced into something unsuitable would render one more or less incapable of seeing its particular beauties. (Part of it all may be that I have good friends who are human, who have never wanted to be anything but human, and it hurts to see people turn away from that with such disdain. It hurts to see people hate the things we love, just as it hurts to see people love the things we hate.)
Yeah. I think... it probably helps to see it as like transgender, in that sense. It's not that humanity is Essentially lesser; it's that humanity is lesser compared to the desired state, and for someone else that could go in the opposite direction.
For a trans man, female is not lesser, but certainly ugly and ill-fitting and wrong and disgusting when applied to the self; the same goes for trans women and male. We live in these shells and what we feel is their sickness, wrongness. It's not an objective state, but it is one powerfully felt.
Body parts as Expression-- yes, to an extent. Sometimes it's just a need to feel their weight, when lying down or sitting. Often, it's expression. But I do wonder if that-- at least for us-- is also tied to the fact that you only notice any body part for what it does, for its motion. You don't notice your arms until you want to grab something. You don't notice your legs until you want to walk. I suspect that even for those who feel their phantom parts all the time, they're most noticeable when they want to do something with them that they're unable to do.
I'm going to have to think about the rest of what you've said, because... I don't think I've broken my identity down that far, philosophy-wise. This'll take some thinking on, but it is food for thought.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-11-16 03:06 am (UTC)Yeah. I think... it probably helps to see it as like transgender, in that sense. It's not that humanity is Essentially lesser; it's that humanity is lesser compared to the desired state, and for someone else that could go in the opposite direction.
For a trans man, female is not lesser, but certainly ugly and ill-fitting and wrong and disgusting when applied to the self; the same goes for trans women and male. We live in these shells and what we feel is their sickness, wrongness. It's not an objective state, but it is one powerfully felt.
Body parts as Expression-- yes, to an extent. Sometimes it's just a need to feel their weight, when lying down or sitting. Often, it's expression. But I do wonder if that-- at least for us-- is also tied to the fact that you only notice any body part for what it does, for its motion. You don't notice your arms until you want to grab something. You don't notice your legs until you want to walk. I suspect that even for those who feel their phantom parts all the time, they're most noticeable when they want to do something with them that they're unable to do.
I'm going to have to think about the rest of what you've said, because... I don't think I've broken my identity down that far, philosophy-wise. This'll take some thinking on, but it is food for thought.