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The
Devotee
Issue:
A detailed look at the
players
Ian
Gregson
If there is
one issue that has confusticated
me the most in my 22 years as an
amputee it is the existence of
devotees
and their distant cousins the
wannabees.
If you are
one of those who don't know what
a devotees or wannabee is click
on the term to take you to a page
that explains it
all.
Devotees or
acrotomophiles are people that
are sexually attracted to another
due to the other person being an
amputee. Devotees are everywhere,
they could be next door, possibly
at your prosthetic facility,
certainly at amputee sporting
events and definitely at large
gatherings of
amputees.
It seems
for certain devotees have been
around as long there have been
amputees. But until the dawning
of the internet they have
gathered secret or at least in
obscurity on the fringes of
society.
When I
first heard about devotees it
explained a whole lot of things I
had seen as an amputee athlete
competing at two Paralympic games
events. I thought that it was
quixotic that a segment of
society missing limbs had a fan
club. But that positive outlook
soon turned dark when I began to
hear of the online abuse, covert
photo taking, stalking, generally
boorish behaviour and of the
disrespect of amputees in
general.
As a result
of some of the actions I have
taken to rid devotees from the
SJU Amputee list and my stand on
devotees participating in
amputee-related activities, I
became a target for devotees, I
became Ian Gregson
"devotee-hater".
There are
extreme views on all sides; some
amps have no toleration for
devotees, some devotees care not
for whom they hurt or abuse. Over
the next few issues of AOLM I
will bring together numerous
names and faces synonymous with
devotees and those who radically
oppose them. The end goal is
unclear at this time, maybe at
the end of the articles you can
decide.
Jama Bennett - operator
of ASCOT, a support group
bringing together amputees and
their friends
David Cole - is the
operator of Devotee Chronicles, a
web site that explains the
devotee phenomenon
Jama
tell us a few things about
yourself ?
I am 50, lost my leg to a
drunk driver in 1984 while
standing between 2 cars. (I was
lucky not to lose them both) I
was married and had a 15 month
old daughter. Six months later we
moved to a small town in
Louisiana. About a year after
that I left my husband and my
daughter and I moved back to
Houston so I could return to
college where I earned my
bachelor's degree and a master's
degree. I worked in Houston at
Baylor College of Medicine for 3
years on a research grant for a
study of women with physical
disabilities. In 1995, the grant
ended and I moved to
California.
David
tell us about yourself
?
My name is David Cole, and I'm
a 25-year-old architecture
student currently living in
Boston. I recently moved here
from Chicago (which I still
consider home), and I work full
time for a small architecture
firm across the river in
Cambridge. I've been a devotee
for about as long as I can
remember; unlike many devotees I
don't recall a specific "trigger"
event that spawned my awareness
of being fascinated by amputees.
In addition to the whole devotee
thing, I also have a rather
strong interest in trains and
sailing.
Jama
you have been running ascot world
for a while now can you tell us
what the site is all about
?
It is a support group and
social club for amputees and
their friends and admirers. I
also welcome people with other
disabilities as there does not
seem to be any other group like
ASCOT for them.
I host 1-3 conferences a year
where the devotees pay a fee to
come and that money is used to
pay the single ladies' airfare
and hotel expenses and I also buy
food for the group.
David,
what is the devotee chronicles
site all about
?
The Devotee Chronicles, online
in one form or another since
early 1996, has gone through a
number of incarnations over the
years. Looking back, I think my
first attempts at publishing a
website were basically a way for
me to get my feelings off my
chest. They had been kept secret
for so long that the website
served as some sort of release
for me. As the site became more
developed and I became more
secure in my feelings as a
devotee, the site began to take
on more of mission of awareness
and acceptance as the site has
become more directed toward two
distinct target audiences:
Amputees who are just discovering
that certain people find beauty
in physical differences, and
devotees who are just coming to
the realization that they are not
alone in their feelings. More
recently, now that most amputees
and devotees on the Internet are
already aware of the devotee
phenomenon, the Devotee
Chronicles has taken more of an
activist approach in attempting
to present a more positive side
to the devotee attraction than
people may have already
encountered on the Internet. And
all along, I've always tried to
interject a little humor and
irreverence whenever possible.
That's one aspect of the site
that hasn't changed since day
one.
Jama
at what point in your life did
you realise there would be a need
for Ascot ?
I never really did. In 1993 I
hosted a conference in Houston
for the Fascination group and
that is when ASCOT was born... I
had to open a checking account
for the conference fees and the
name was Amputee Support
Coalition of Texas. (When I moved
to California and we went online
it became Amputee Support
Coalition of the World). After we
went online, ASCOT took on a life
of its own and really became
international.
What
kind of amputee goes to an Ascot
event or posts messages on the
web site
Male, female, straight and
gay, any one who is interested in
meeting and socializing with
others at conferences or online.
There are ascot egroups for
chatting, phantom pain and
prosthetics, shoe exchanges,
chats for lesbian and gay
amputees and admirers. ( I think
I should start one for single
parents of teenagers :-)
David,
at what point in your life did
you realise there would be a need
for the devotee chronicles
?
It was the winter of
1995-1996, and I had just
completed my first semester of
college at the University of
Illinois at Chicago. As hard as
it is to believe now, the World
Wide Web was still a rather new
phenomenon at the time. I found
myself spending a great deal of
time in the university computer
labs over Christmas break. Around
that same time I had just joined
the Teleport listserv and was
taking my first timid steps into
the broader online devotee
community. The Overground site
was still going strong, as were a
small handful of picture sites,
but that was about it. Oveground
was the only site that offered
more of an intellectual focus,
but that site seemed to take more
of a dry, academic tone. There
really wasn't much material
online that seemed to offer any
sort of personal insight, and I
realized that I had a few
passages in my personal journal
that would fill that void as well
as to get my feelings off my
chest. It was really a huge
release for me to publish those
passages on the web and start
receiving feedback about them.
(Those original passages still
live on as part of the current
site, titled "I, Devotee" and
"Confessions of a Devotee" in the
Features section.)
Jama,
tell us about devotees - tell us
about the good ones (who behave
themselves) and the ones who
don't, what do the good ones not
do that the bad ones do
?
Everyone has heard about the
devotees who follow amputees to
take pictures and frighten them,
etc. I don't think most are like
that. I think the average devotee
would approach the woman and talk
to her and try to get to know
her.
Devotees are like any other
segment of society... There are
some on the fringe who are
socially inept but most are
normal, well adjusted,
intelligent people anyone would
like to know. They just have a
unique interest. I have met many
in person and online who have
never acted inappropriately or
frightened me.
If I met a devotee who seemed
interested in my stump to the
exclusion of any other part of
me, then I would consider him a
poor candidate for a
relationship. In a relationship
(like the one I am in now) my
being an amputee is a very small
factor. But is also comforting to
know that my using a wheelchair
or being slow on crutches or on a
leg is not an irritation or
burden to him as I have
experienced with others who are
not admirers.
David
does this correspond with what
you know ?
Right now, I'd say the
greatest barrier is the few "bad
apples" among devotees who seek
to gratify their own fantasies
regardless of any hurt they cause
to amputees or other people in
the process. Unfortunately, these
are often the first devotees that
an amputee has contact with, and
become the basis by which first
impressions of the devotee
attraction are formed. In the
end, everybody is hurt, and it
often falls upon the shoulders of
the sincere, honest devotees to
pick up the pieces and rebuild
the trust between amputees and
devotees. Collectively, we are
our own worst enemies, and we
need to do a much better job of
publicly condemning irresponsible
and disrespectful behavior among
our ranks. My ideal perception of
devotees would be people who are
able to "think outside the box"
by finding beauty in physical
uniqueness, rather than as the
perverts and sexual predators
some people would make us out to
be.
Next
Issue: The Opposing
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