: Re: How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities? Building on my answer in Proven psychological or scientific means of scaring people?, I'm working on a universal

@Connie138

Disabled people fear losing functionality as much as anyone else. Perhaps even more so, because they need to rely on existing functional parts more strongly than others do.

What you want to avoid is putting a value on it. For example, losing a limb is awful and creates huge challenges in performing tasks of everyday living, transportation, and may require changing careers. No one is going to dispute this. You can show all that. You can show the fear of going through that. Just avoid judgements like "no man would want her now" or "his life was no longer worth living."

You can use disability as a starting point as well (hopefully you'll have some disabled characters in there). No one would want an accident that makes them deaf, for instance, but for someone who is already blind, the very idea of it would be terrifying beyond belief. Someone who is already Deaf would be far more horrified at the idea of losing a hand than someone who is hearing.

An additional disability can be easier for someone who already has one or more, because they're used to the idea of making changes to accommodate. And the changes they've already made might be useful for the extra need too. Other times though, it's harder than the first one. Because if you have already gone to extensive hassle and expense and changing not just your life but those of the people who need to accommodate you, doing it all over again is just too fracking much.

I don't know if your definition of "body horror" includes the brain. One great fear we all have is losing our memories. Not an amnesia situation (though that could be a horror too), but dementia and similar conditions. We all rely on our memories to get through life but someone of may need them more than others. People who are face blind, for example, have trouble recognizing even people they may know well. If you can no longer count on your memory to figure out who the person is (based on clothing, hair, context, etc), you're in trouble.

A person with an invisible disability may fear exposure. It doesn't have to be about shame. They may fear the social ostracization , the change in how people treat them, losing their job or not being allowed to do parts of it, losing a spouse, or even having their children taken away. Invisible disabilities can become visible if they get worse or if a second disability changes the person's ability to function in a way that doesn't seem "different."

My biggest concerns with showing a character acquiring a disability are:


That the fear and horror is of becoming disabled. If you show disabled people also going through this horror, that turns this on its head.
The idea that being disabled means your life is worth less. No more post-accident suicides (my God! really, just no!).
The idea that people with disabilities are less physically attractive.
A value judgment on the newly disabled person (lazy, demanding, not important, can't work any more, needs lifelong help, etc...even if some of these things are true, they can still be stereotypes).
That using adaptive equipment is a sign of "giving up."
And the worst: inspiration porn. If you just work really hard and want it enough, you'll get better!

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