Mental Illness

I read the article "Amanda Bynes, Robin Williams, and the Spectacle of Mental Illness" by Sam Dylan Finch. I chose this article because Amanda Bynes was always a favorite of mine growing up. I don't really keep up with actors or actresses or many celebrities for that matter, but I was surprised when I read that she could possibly be dealing with mental illness. The article talks about how society, nowadays, doesn't take mental illnesses seriously and that it has become an entertainment; to which I agree, and that just doesn't sit right with me. "Mental illness is not a joke[,] mental illness is not funny [, and] mental illness does not exist to amuse you" (Finch), and to hear that people laugh and make fun at another person's struggle really pushes my buttons. Finch mentions a lot about how a celebrity's breakdown becomes something that entertains the public. It really makes me wonder what our society has come to because mental illness is not a joke, and it can be deadly. Reading about how people with co-occurring bipolar and schizophrenia has one of the highest suicide attempt rates scares me, and it does, in fact, frighten me. I don't know how there could be anyone out there who can laugh about it. "Rather than recognizing that she may have an illness, they turned mental illness into a spectacle to watch, enjoy, and ridicule" (Finch) and that disgusts me. I think we forget that celebrities are people too, and that they're also human. To have to face the illness as the whole world watches, has got to be one of the hardest things to do, and now, to have them laugh as well; to see what our society has become, mocking mentally ill people, is really just disappointing.

BIID

After reading just the first paragraph, I was very surprised that someone would try and cut their own hand off on purpose. I have never heard of this disorder, Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), before so it was kind of interesting to know that there was such a thing. It is scary to think about how someone would "[freeze their] leg off with dry ice" and how "another blew one off with a shotgun". There was even a situation where a sixty year old BIID sufferer had flown all the way to Asia and paid $10,000 to have his leg amputated, saying that "the only regret I have is that I wasn't able to do it 30 years ago". In a way, it kind of makes me a little uncomfortable that someone would choose to be disabled. It makes me a little uncomfortable because the idea of having a limb cut off does not really settle in my stomach but I do understand that because of this disorder, people feel that that limb does not belong. I think if I was a surgeon and someone came up to me and asked me to amputate their leg, I would be very surprised and would decline it because I do not think I would be able to focus since I would not be able to wrap my head around the idea that it is a functioning body part. However, having the limb they want removed, amputated, makes them happy, and even though I would not do it, as a surgeon, I would not discourage them from what they want to do with their body. A man that had forced a surgeon to amputate his leg, later, sent a thank you note stating that "you have made me the happiest of all men by taking away from me a limb". I think it's weird that the article asserts that the people with this disorder are middle class white men. I am not really sure why the article states that most people with BIID seem to be middle class white men, but it does mention that the majority, who refute the idea that this disorder can be treated like a mental illness with talk therapy and or medication, are middle-aged white males. This disorder is about how a person does not feel like one of their limbs belong and that it is "a persistent, torturous chasm between their mind's image of their own body and the physical body they inhabit", I do not know if I can think of or suggest any treatment since it was also mentioned that nothing other than surgery works, not psychotherapy, and not psychiatry. This disorder, or more the idea of purposefully becoming disabled, has come across as offensive to some disabled advocacy groups. Many were repulsed that someone would intentionally disable themselves but these people with BIID, "every minute of [their] life [they] feel like something is wrong". The first step that is being taking in helping the people with BIID, is for the disorder's inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and being included in this, Dr. Michael First believes, could help lead the way in figuring out a treatment for the people. "He thinks that inclusion in the DSM could help pave the way".

First Paper Rough Draft

            Each and every person has their own reasoning for the things they do. This pertains a lot to exercising and body building. Many people exercise or body build to achieve the idea of  "health". I believe that everyone has their own definition and way to achieve "health" but in a general sense, I think health is about having a balance of the elements in your life and taking care of your own wellbeing, having self ability and staying fit to avoid any illnesses. In the essay,  "Hard Bodies" by Stuart Ewen, and the interview, "Roxanne Edwards is Superhuman" with S. Adrian Massey, it can be seen that these bodies align with the notion of "health" but align in their own way.

            People have and give their own reasons for working their bodies and one of the more common ones is to portray the popular social representation of "fit" and "health". In "Hard Bodies" it had a lot to do with the image and wanting to look a certain way. There are many magazines and ads out there that have pictures "situated right below the neck, an instrumentally achieved study in brawn" (Ewen, 63) to advertise this look of a really fit body, toned, sweat, and muscle. The many people that use these images as inspiration, gets themselves to the gym to exercise just for this image. Then you get this idea, that was stated by John Berger, "skin without biography" (Ewen, 63). It becomes about the "transformation of the body into a kind of industrial product, something you 'build' every day at the gym" (Ewen, 60), which is the whole idea of the essay, that routine workouts are not even for one's wellbeing, it is to look like this image that everyone describes as fit. It makes these hard bodies have no biographies, becoming very common and uniform, reaching a status of this certain style. Though it looks easy, these activities can have private repercussions. Some people don't understand that if they work too hard they could damage muscle and end up hurting themselves. They only think about how badly they want to look this certain way and put themselves into overdrive which can definitely have a negative impact on the body. "The hard shell is now a sign of achievement" (Ewen, 62), making the goal more about the look than the touch or feel or achievement.

            Whereas many people work out for the image, some work out for themselves. They like the sense of being fit and healthy not just for the image. In the interview "Roxanne is Superhuman", we hear about how she does all the bodybuilding for herself. She states that "you're doing yourself and this is how I choose to express my femininity" (Massey). She had lost her breasts, saying how it is just body fat and that "you don't just lose body fat, you choose to lose it" (Massey), showing how exercising and bodybuilding should all be about choice, not making yourself into some image on a magazine. Although she exercises for herself, she "uses bodybuilding not to define [herself] but to help [herself] get things to show women that they can be defined any way they feel like being defined" (Massey). She uses herself as an example to show women that 'you can do whatever you want, don't let the image or someone stop you from doing it'. Even though she uses steroids, she takes a lot of other vitamins and electrolytes that help her out in this bodybuilding process. With that being the private repercussion, she also has some public repercussions. Being a black bodybuilder is tough and Roxanne knows that but she doesn't give up, nor does she care what the public thinks about her. My first impression of seeing her, was that she looked intimidating, like a person you should not mess with, but she loves the way she looks, as mentioned when she talks about having done nude modeling before, she loves to show and display her body. She is aware that there are people out there who judge her but she doesn't care, caring would, as she argues would be "like giving them too much power" (Massey).  "[She], on the other hand, would like to be around long enough to stick it to them" (Massey), them being the people that don't like the whole bodybuilding image she's providing.

            These two works, give us a sense to what reasons people give for working out their bodies, and it still aligns with this notion of "health". Even though in "Hard Bodies" the people were working for that certain image, it made them healthy and fit, and looking like that being their goal, makes them in sync with the term "health". Along with that, Roxanne had done what she did with her body, through weightlifting, which was by choice for herself, she wanted to do it and she did. With that, I think it aligns with "health" because she achieved what she defines as health. Not everything in life can be healthy and perfect so with those activities, it's understood that there can be some private repercussion and some public repercussions but everyone has their own reasoning for the things they do.

"Roxanne Edwards is Superhuman"

Roxanne Edwards, being a female black bodybuilder, knows it's tougher than being white or being male, but she does not give up, "it would be like giving them too much power". She kind of reacts in the way of 'sticking it to them', "I would like to be around long enough to stick it to them", wanting to state that she can be just as good or better than anyone else. The first reaction I had to seeing the pictures was that she looked intimidating. She may have what is believed as a healthy body image, but I think it is seen more as "fit". She is very toned and muscular and I would have to say that if she ever walked up to me, I would be really scared, because, again, she looks really strong and intimidating and could knock me out in one punch. We discussed the perfect body of men and women and she kind of fits the criteria we came up with for men, but like she said, "[you do] yourself, and this is how I choose to express my femininity". She interacts with her body much differently than I do with mine. She has used steroids that make her harder, and she takes a lot of vitamins and takes a lot of fluids and stuff that help with her body, taking electrolytes like PowerAde and such. The only form of exercise I do is run on a treadmill, if I even do that that often. She started bodybuilding at about the age of 30, and that is kind of admirable because I barely have the motivation to exercise now, but to be able to get yourself to do it at that age, and it really just "depends on where your mind is at". In a way, I feel like she does kind of attempt to resist the ideals of a female because she loses her breasts and she says "you do not [just] lose body fat, you choose to lose it". She has done nude modeling before and so she is very comfortable with her body, showing and displaying it. There are many critics, and to her, they either love her all that she does or hates her because they wish they could do what she does. She accepts other peoples' way of expressing their femininity and she wishes that they would just respect her's. I do not understand why anyone would judge her, I mean body building and getting her body to where it is, takes a lot of time and work and she chose to do that with her body, and it is her body, not anyone else's. I think it is really impressive, actually, because body building is a step by step process. She does this for herself but she also strives to be an example, "because I use bodybuilding, not to define me, but to help me get things to show women that they can be defined any way they feel like being defined.