Hello again! Apparently people like reading about the lives of cripples (who’da thunk it?). My last post crushed all of my others by at least three times the views. Thank you for that. It’s kind of creepy, considering I’m not all that interesting, but yeah… thanks! Since I’m still out of ideas for writerly topics and have no pictures of food to share, I thought I’d continue in the more personal vein to see if last week was some weird fluke. Rather than focusing on general cripple life, I think I’ll talk about sexiness!
Over the past year or so, I’ve read quite a few articles about crippleness and everything from fashion to sex appeal (usually from male perspectives). Pile that on top of a ton of negative commentary on how males objectify females (but never vice versa which is total crap), and it spawns many an eye-twitch inducing moment, but I always manage to keep my mouth shut.
You see, unlike most of the females I know (and a number of the males), I’ve never had to endure wolf whistles and cat calls and all of that creeptastic behavior. Why? Because (biologically speaking), I’m undesirable as a potential mate. When straight males look at me, that primal part of their brains that focuses on reproduction isn’t activated. I know that, and over the years, I’ve come to accept it. But because of this lack of being lusted for (yeah, I went there), it grates on my nerves when I hear how horrible objectification is. Don’t get me wrong, when it’s creepy and makes someone uncomfortable, it’s B-A-D bad, but a random “looking good” from across the way isn’t. Being constantly overlooked or not considered mate-worthy isn’t as nice of a thing as many people imagine. Keep that in mind the next time you’re so disgusted with the person who whistled at you from the other side of the street.
On the flipside of growing up without being sexually objectified (yes, there are other kinds of objectification I’ve encountered), it has forced me to learn how to look at myself and acknowledge the sexy bish inside since no one else is going to do it. It’s exceedingly rare for this to happen, but it does. Also, it’s a fairly recent development, so it still weirds me out a little. I mean, I constantly hear about how you have to learn to love yourself and how you shouldn’t need the validation of others (which is theoretically true), but I wonder if people realize how much easier said than done that is! It’s taken me near thirty years to accomplish it, and it’s still something I can’t admit in the moment. Only when I’m looking back can I say “Damn, I was sexy there!”
Self-perception is everything, but it’s fed by public-perception, so the next time you’re walking (or rolling) down the road, throw someone a whistle or a “looking sexy” or “cute top” or “great shoes” or something. Then, you keep going so you don’t make it creepy. Yeah, some people might accuse you of being a perv depending on your statement, but you never know whose day you might make a little brighter.
Shawna's Blog of Doom 
