I think people with BIID should be allowed to do what they want because they have these urges to get these procedures for a reason. If somebody wants to do something who is to say that they can't? I wouldn't suggest any sort of treatment because they should be able to live their own life and do whatever they want to. I also feel that the assumption that the majority of the people with BIID are white middle class men is a stereotypical assertion, mostly because the assumption that middle class white men are somewhat unsuccessful because they didn't achieve their overall financial goal. The thought of somebody wanting to be disabled is somewhat uneasy because I feel bad for anybody with a disability and would never wish for anybody to become disabled. But in opposition I do think the part of the article where the man got the robotic eye to help him see in color because he is color blind is a good use of BIID.

Paper Prompt

   Often in society, health is viewed as one of the most important aspects of human life, but what exactly is health? Health is a personal goal that is unique to a specific person, and no health goal is alike. In the case of Roxanne Edwards, she just wants to appear more feminine despite being a professional body builder, which gives her more of a manly appearance. And as for Heather Cassils, she is trying to achieve a body that can neither be described as male or female. So in retrospect, everybody ahs their own opinion on “health” and what it means to them personally.

    Body builder Roxanne Edwards is always trying to make herself look as feminine as possible while still maintaining her large muscular build. Edwards explains in her interview that she is often portrayed as manly, and she explains that she loses points in competitions for appearing as such. While standing only 5 foot 3 inches, and weighting around 138 pounds, she still manages to throw up insane numbers in the weight room, such as 315 in bench press, squatting 275, dead lift 405, and incredibly leg presses 1025. She shares the different types of muscular people starting from cut, then to ripped, on to shredded, and finally pealed. Roxanne considers herself as shredded and is quickly on her way to becoming pealed, explaining how you can visually see some of the fibers in her abs moving underneath the skin. Later she goes on to explain the difficulties and effects that women body builders face, such as losing their breasts because the muscle takes over the fatty tissue in the breasts, and how women body builders are often seen as unattractive because of their stature. She personally loves to do nude modeling so she can show off all of her hard work, even the parts of the body that are hidden by clothing, but she says she isn't interested in doing erotica (S. Massey). Roxanne’s body is an example of her own personal goals, because not all women have the goal of being able to lift incredible weights, and become so toned that they lose their feminine figure, but that is Roxanne’s motive. People may often stare at Roxanne because she stands out in a crowd, as the large muscular woman, but she still sticks to her goal, despite the outside influence people have against her. Roxanne Edwards has a set goal when it comes to her health, and nobody can stand in her way.

   Heather Cassils is a fitness instructor with a very unusual body in the eyes of the public. Cassils was born a female yet attains the body of an extremely fit male. Cassils describes her body as unique and she likes it that way. She has gone form being that fit chick at the gym, to becoming that ripped person that everybody takes a second look at, and she has no problem with this. Cassils has set a goal and that is to achieve a body that is neither described as male or female, and she even explains that her diet, training, and steroid use has been what has helped her achieve her goal (H. Cassils). Her goal may not be exactly what every other man or woman would want, but that’s what makes her herself and she’s not willing to let anyone get in the way of her achieving her overall goal. Heather wants her health to be at a level she wants and that she enjoys, which is what describes health in her own terms.

   There is no specific description when it comes to a person’s health, rather that it is strictly personal and opinion based. Just like DNA, no human has the same goal when it comes to health. Both Roxanne Edwards and Heather Cassils are great examples of this because they both have set goals that other people may not agree with or accept, but that doesn’t keep the two girls from achieving them. The society often tries to set a standard when it comes to health, like you must have at least 60 minutes of exercise a day, or you must eat this amount of calories per day, when in reality, there is no standard for health and there can never be a standard, because people will just want to be above or below it.

Roxanne Edwards interview and Kathy Acker piece

   Body builder Roxanne Edwards is always trying to make herself look as feminine as possible while still maintaining her large muscular build. Edwards explains in her interview that she is often portrayed as manly, and she explains that she loses points in competitions for appearing as such. While standing only 5 foot 3 inches, and weighting around 138 pounds, she still manages to throw up insane numbers in the weight room, such as 315 in bench press, squatting 275, dead lift 405, and incredibly leg presses 1025! Wow. Now she explains the different types of muscular people starting from cut, then to ripped, on to shredded, and finally pealed. She explains that she is shredded and quickly on her way to becoming pealed, explaining how you can visually see some of the fibers in her abs moving underneath the skin. Then she goes on to explain the difficulties and effects that women body builders face, such as losing their breasts because the muscle takes over the fatty tissue in the breasts. She loves to do nude modeling so she can show off all of her hard work, even the parts of the body that are hidden by clothing, but she says she isn't interested in doing erotica. She shares her interest in men and how her ideal man must be muscular just as she is.

   Kathy Acker is also a body builder and she explains more in depth that the gym for her is another world. The gym is where she separates herself from society and is able to focus on one single factor, and that is body building. Acker also explains that to successfully body build you need all the right amounts of sleep, dieting, and exercise or your muscles will not grow properly or to the size you wish.

   Personally I found Roxanne's interview and her pictures more interesting mainly because she explains how she is still a woman, even though if you ad seen her in public you may think otherwise. Also she just wants top achieve her self goal of being a great body builder while still being able to maintain a normal lifestyle like any other girl. Roxanne can be seen in my eyes as a roll model to any woman or man for that matter that feels out of place in society and she is the pure definition of wanting to be seen as just a normal human being.