The idea of "prosthetic aesthetics" is about how advanced prosthetics, especially on athletes like Oscar Pistorius and Aimee Mullins, can change the way people think about bodies. The media significantly influences how people see prosthetic bodies, often showing them in ways that make people very interested but also uncomfortable. How individuals perceive their bodies, particularly when using prosthetics, is affected by how they think and what society teaches them.

Portland State University

The success of the London 2012 Paralympics highlighted new possibilities for individuals with disabilities and opened up discussions about the relationship between elite Paralympians and advanced prosthetic technology. Paralympic athletes such as Oscar Pistorius and Aimee Mullins have contributed significantly to a growing awareness of the cultural impact of prosthetic aesthetics on body image. The discussion surrounding this topic revolves around the relationship between the perceived attractiveness and societal attitudes of individuals with prosthetics.

Societal Attitudes Toward Individuals With Prosthetics and How That Affect Body Image

Tamari, T. (2017). Body Image and Prosthetic Aesthetics: Disability, Technology and Paralympic Culture. Body & Society, 23(2), 25-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357034X17697364

Body Image and Prosthetic Aesthetics: Disability, Technology and Paralympic Culture

The London 2012 Paralympics marked a significant turning point in raising global awareness of disabled athletes. They increased media coverage and attracted the largest-ever global audience, with a cumulative global television audience of 3.4 billion (excluding the U.K.), a 37% increase from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The 2012 London Paralympics

- Oscar Pistorius, known as the 'Blade Runner', is a double amputee with carbon fiber prosthetic limbs. In 2012, he received significant media and public attention for being the first double amputee to compete in both the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
- He fell from grace shortly after and went from an Olympian to a murderer. He killed his girlfriend and was charged with first-degree murder in 2016.

Who is Oscar Pistorius?

- After World War I, the need for prosthetics became a major concern for many countries with a large number of injured soldiers and civilians. In Germany, around 80,000 soldiers had limbs amputated, so they created a rehabilitation project to provide financial compensation and physical and vocational rehabilitation to reintegrate them into society. 
- Before the war, most artificial limbs were hand-made and aimed to resemble natural limbs closely. However, hand-made production's high demand and limitations led to criticisms of their limited functionality. As a result, mass-produced prosthetics with increased functionality became more important than their appearance.
- The functional-oriented prosthesis improves functionality by replacing missing limbs and stimulates the imagination of future bodies. Prostheses were seen as a component of the technologically advanced "new human body." The Germans called it the "New Man." It was expected to be a more efficient and powerful step beyond the organic human body.
- The development of leg prosthetics has seen significant advancements since 1988, especially in the Western world. The design of prosthetic legs has evolved from resembling natural human legs to a more machine-like appearance with advanced biomechanics. Pistorius's Cheetah prosthetic legs were created by biomedical engineer Van Phillips and produced by Össur.

A Brief History of Prosthetics

Paralympic cyborgs are Paralympians who rely on high-tech devices to compete or play their sport. In the early 20th century, the concept of the "New Man" involved the idea of a technologically enhanced human being. For example, Pistorius's Cheetah prosthetic legs, designed for track and field performance rather than human resemblance, symbolize a body that challenges traditional human limitations and has a machine-like quality. This "cyborgified" body represents a modern interpretation of the "New Man," illustrating society's ongoing interest in combining humans and machines.

The Paralympic Cyborg and the Concept of the New Man

Aimee Mullins is a well-known Paralympian sprinter, actress, and model who gained fame as a double amputee. She has revolutionized the perception of prosthetics and identity through her fashion model and actress work. Mullins' use of creatively designed artificial limbs, including ones resembling animal legs or jellyfish tentacles, challenges the traditional conventional idea of beauty and identity. Her success as a model with prosthetics has helped redefine the concept of prosthetic beauty. In 2011, People magazine named her one of the "fifty most beautiful people in the world."

Who is Aimee Mullins?

Schilder introduced the concept of body schema as the three-dimensional image one holds of one's own body in the mind, a term he used interchangeably with body image. However, Gallagher and Meltzoff distinguish between the two, defining body image as encompassing perceptions, mental representations, beliefs, and attitudes towards one's own body, while body schema refers to motor capacities, abilities, and habits that facilitate movement and posture.


Body Schema and Body Image

Schilder and Weiss suggest that our mental images of our bodies constantly change and are never completely still. This temporary stability is crucial for our body coordination and seeing the world around us. Our body images are always changing, even when we're not moving. Schilder explains that when we stop trying to keep our body image the same, it starts to change, showing that it's never completely still.

Body Movement and Equilibrium as Transient Steadiness

- The idea of morphing involves changing one body image to another, which has been explored using digital morphing technologies. Vivian Sobchack's study of digital morphing in movies emphasizes how morphing is continuous yet fixed in time and space. This process is compared to the ongoing evolution of body images, where each morphing stage represents a point of change rather than a static image. 
- Schilder's observations of the contortionist's body as an example of how altered body images evoke mixed feelings of wonder, disgust, and curiosity. This fascination stems from the desire to challenge societal norms and expand the definition of what is considered normal or acceptable.


Morphing and Transforming

Julia Kristeva explores the psychological and socio-cultural implications of encountering significantly altered bodies, such as those with prosthetics or other modifications. She uses the concept of abjection to explain the unsettling yet intriguing nature of these bodies. Abjection disrupts the stability of the body image, challenging the coherent and established perception of the body. The way Paralympians with prosthetics are depicted shows an unstable aesthetic that arises from the body and prosthetics of their body.

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