A ‘wannabe’ is apparently a person who wishes to amputate their extremities; usually an arm or a leg. It’s very important for you to know about wannabes. Of course I’m sure it’s true that they’ve been around since the dawn of time. Because — after all — there really is no limit to what fantasies the human imagination can, and might, entertain. So, why talk about wannabes now? Because the central obsession for wannabes has become the central obsession of our culture today.
No, it’s not that there are suddenly a whole bunch of people who want to hack off their limbs. But according to Elizabeth Loeb “wannabes increasingly frame their arguments for redefining their own sense of corporeal integrity by making reference to transsexual practice.” This means — in plain English — that wannabes think their situation is similar to that of transexuals, who modify their bodies in order to change the gender they were assigned at birth. More than that, it means wannabes think that they should not only have the right to self-amputate, but that they are should be considered normal, mentally healthy individuals, and that any and all medical procedures related to their self-willed amputations should be paid for by the government.
A tall order you say?
Well, let’s not sweat the small stuff; I think adults should have the right to do anything they want with their bodies, as long as they are not physically hurting anyone else by doing so. And I’m not going to waste time in this little essay musing on how the government spends their money, or pondering the nature of mental illness. I ask instead, what is it that draws transgender theory and the ‘wannabe’ movement together? Clearly, both have fantasies of who they wish to be. The transgender children’s movement, for instance utilises the apropos and touching image of a ‘mermaid with a moustache’ to exemplify their fictional musings about themselves. The wannabes invoke the inspiring image of a starfish, who — when it loses one point of it’s star — just grows another one back. These are eloquent icons that represent significant and moving fictions.
Human beings have always loved fiction, and always will. But it’s terribly important to separate art and reality. The best fantasies, of course, seem to be real. But they are not. Have young people forgotten this, as they increasingly live their lives playing computer games like Jumanji, where their online avatar can change gender, skin colour, whatever — completely, at any moment, without consequence?
This article is not an invitation to persecute transgender people or wannabes. Leave them alone. They have a right to do whatever they want to themselves. And don’t ban Jumanji; video games are not the problem. The problem is that transgender theory and disability theory have now elevated personal fiction into public fact.
We are not starfish or mermaids. We cannot cut up our bodies without consequence. And, sadly, sometimes our most beautiful dreams are not destined to become reality.
I just thought you should know.
