Ok, so I've long contemplated doing something like this to my prosthetic leg. However, I'm not much of a flames and skulls gal. I haven't come up with any other icons that seemed worth inscribing on my leg. I once read of a girl amputee who wore brightly-colored iridescent stockings on hers, as a way of thumbing her nose at the blandly tan look.
For awhile I wore my leg without 'skin'--all of my computerized innards showing. This look wasn't entirely comfortable for me, though. Not only were there many stares, but it was painful to cross my legs and the metal bits wore out my clothes on odd places (not to mention the fact that pants simply don't hang right on a pylon leg).
Hmmm...it's like the difficulty of picking a tattoo--how can one choose an image that represents onself, and be assured that this wouldn't change over time? Even if I were to pick something pretty universal--a peace sign or such--I'm not sure that I'd want to advertise my beliefs/values this way. [Note: the one exception to this is that I've started 'stickering' my crutches--putting stickers on them from all the places that they've traveled with me. They're sporting Chinese Airlines and Roanoke Island stickers these days]
So if you were me, would you 'pimp your gimp'? If so, how?
4 comments:
I'd go with John on that. If you don't want like that idea, I'd still try for something simultaneously self-referential and iconic.... it really is like choosing a tattoo, and you have to be happy with it, because you have to look at it every day.
I'll be interested to see what (if anything) you choose.
What about putting a favorite art piece on it? Do you have a painter that you especially love, or a piece that inspires you? Something like this (Iris by Van Gogh) could look really cool!
I have always thought that as a matter of pride, self-affirmation, and of normalization, there is no reason not to have a decorative and positive aesthetic approach to disability. Yesterday's New York Times had an illustrated article on fashionable hearing aids. That article may be the incentive my mother-in-law needs to actually wear a hearing aid.
The permanency of lamination or a paint job may be overwhelming, but lycra prosthetic sleeves can look pretty interesting and are easily changed. For example, check out fredslegs.com
A physician friend wears preschool- friendly designs on pediatric clinic days that she had made. Her teen aged children find this intensely embarrassing and without hope of redemption, but she has other sleeves with a high coolness factor. I remember when she was in medical school long ago, when anything except total concealment in public was unthinkable to her.
You could always have it tattooed like a real limb is on people who love tats. That way you can have flames and skulls and anything else that fits you best. A big heart that says the name of the one you love inside.
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