I ran across this piece recently and felt moved by the content, the courage, and the frankness of a young woman with physical disabilities who openly explores her sexual expression and responds to the reactions of those around her.
Jes Sachse is a 25 year old Canadian college student with a rare, genetic condition called Freeman-Sheldon syndrome. While she lives with this ailment, she does not let it define her. Jes hooked up with a photog friend named Holly Norris and they satirized the widely criticized American Apparel ads, known for their sexual nature and objectification - see here. Some condemned Jes' sexually explicit poses, fearing her exploitation and fetishism by the public. But Jes is confident in her art-as-awareness concept and fully believes that the public needs to view people with disabilities as people first, who have the same sexual needs and desires as those who are able-bodied.
I really like her refusal to be censored by the public and others who think they know what is best for her. Obviously, Jes is confident and secure with expressing her sexual side, and I applaud her ability to stand up for what she believes in. I relate to her as another young female, eschewing societies imposed values of beauty and ability.
The one criticism I have of the article is actually the title "Can Disability Be Sexy? For starters, I think putting the word "disability" first takes away the personal aspect and reduces an individual to their physical or cognitive abilities. It does not take into account the person as a whole and encourages a state can be sexy rather than a person.
Observation
In light of recent events, I thought I would share some services offered by UT for dealing with stress, trauma, and mental health concerns. I didn't know about these services until my second semester here. They are cheap, discrete and always professional:
UT Counseling
and Mental Health Center
(512) 471-3515
SSB 5th Floor
Hours: Mon. - Fri., 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
24-Hour Telephone Counseling | ||
512-471-CALL (2255) (UT Students Only)
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Hey Meg, Thank you for this wonderful post! Right on, and nothing but power to all people who define their own positive significance in this world (and the positive significance of this world to their own minds and bodies) and do not let themselves be defined. Thank you for including the information for student resources.
ReplyDeleteI love your commemt! The dual positive significance can't be ignored. Thank you for engaging and seeing the beuaty in art and self expression. Also, I can vouch for the services at CMHC. Take advantage, your tuition pays for it!
ReplyDeleteI really like this post. I do believe that people with disabilities have to the ability to be sexy and to get their sexy on (in the words of Justin Timberlake). It is great to see that she is not letting her disability determine who she is. I also believe that everyone can demonstrate sexiness and not be this cookie cuter thin female that society determines is beautiful. I also didn't know we had this many services at school.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this. It is a common idea among our culture that people with varying physical or mental disabilities are not sexual beings and that is so untrue. Thank you for sharing Jes's story!
ReplyDeleteComment #1 (Blog 6): Hey! I found this post really fascinating! I looked at the Holly Norris website, and found a lot of her work empowering. I see your view in the title of "Can Disability Be Sexy?" In my opinion, I find this to be limiting because it is suggesting whether it's possible for disability to ever be sexy, meaning that for most the answer would be no. Asking that hypothetical question put the entire focus on the disability rather than the art, her abilities, or the individual herself. Thank you for sharing this!
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