When it comes to discussing disability and ableism it is important to pay equal attention to both visible and invisible disabilities. In Jonathan Mack’s The Right Way to Be Crippled and Naked it appeared as though the primary focus was on a visual disability, which was the absence of part of a leg. However, I believe that an argument could be made that more significantly than the leg itself is the impact it had on the author’s mental state.
As someone who is very open about my own mental health issues and has acted as an advocate for years, it immediately stood out to me that appeared to be an underlying mental health issue. Before continuing I would like to give a disclaimer that I am in no way qualified to give an official diagnosis, but am rather using my education and experience to approach this topic. A lot of what the main character is experiencing mentally stems from his physical disability with his leg. Within the first three paragraphs Mack describes his life as filled with “regrettable incidents.” As the letter continues, he speaks more on his personal life and how it had been “promiscuous” and filled with a lot of sexual activity which leads me to believe these sexual encounters play a large role in said incidents. When someone is dealing with mental health issues there are a variety of healthy and unhealthy actions they can take to try and make themselves feel better. One of those actions is acting out with sex by having an exccesive amount of it. People will do this for a variety of reasons ranging from deep feelings such as the need to feel desired by someone, or just as general erratic behavior associated with some cases of mental health.
The other mental health disorder I thought would be relevant to bring up in regards to this piece was a form of body dysmorphia. This is when an individual cannot stop thinking about a specific part of their bodies they perceive as flawed. It is like a constant stream of self hatred that can consume the way one lives their life as well as their overall opinion on their self worth. The main focus for Mack would be how he views himself without part of his limb. Mack spoke about how he went out of his way to shape his body to have a “porn star chest with big erotic arms”, and in his message at the end of the reading, he states one of his biggest fears was that he would “never get laid.” The human body is often sexualized, and for people with body dysmorphia they will often times not deem themselves worthy of sex or love from another.
Though I am speaking more so on the disability that is mental health, it is important to acknowledge how the physical disability with the leg plays a large part in this as well. There may be other social or personal issues the author had been experiencing, but it looked like a majority of his dislike for himself came from his leg. It is mentioned in the passage how Americans are conditioned to suppress any negative thoughts which I found to be one of the most accurate things I have ever read. Men especially are given the stereotype of being tough that entails concealing all traces of emotion. Bottling up negative feelings and energy like this is one of the most unhealthy coping techniques because eventually you won’t be able to keep it in and there will be a spiral. Occasionally, this spiral can lead to clarity. You are at a point of an all time low, you hate how you’re feeling, and you cannot stand to live like this any longer. I feel as though the entirety of Mack’s letter, including his decision to become a Jain monk, was well written word vomit consisting of all he had suppressed for the last 20 years or so. The result was hitting this bottom and being in a place where he wanted to make a real change for his life.
I pledge: Grace Bonaccorsy
Word Count: 686
