What is acrotomophilia?
It is defined as a sexual attraction to those who have an amputation. It is considered a fetish but can be so deep rooted that the individual can not satisfy sexual urges or desires with someone that is not an amputee.
Being a BKA (below knee amputee), I was literally thrown into the world of acrotomophilia without warning. Most of the stares and jaw dropping looks from passersby can be dismissed as curiosity but there are some that are looking for other reasons. I have had men approach me and strike up a conversation and within the first 60 seconds I could get a feel of their true agenda. They were either interested in “me” or my residual limb (the politically correct term for my stump).
Some men are upfront about their attraction to amputees, others skirt the issue and beat around the bush. I have been asked, in public places mind you, if I could remove my prosthesis so they could see my scar or how much of my leg was amputated. Unsettling as it may seem to most people, I have gotten used to it; I just roll my eyes and walk away. To date the most bizarre request happened at Wal-Mart. A man of about 25 sat down next to me and started with the small talk; his eyes were a dead giveaway. He was fixated on my prosthetic and never made eye contact. Eventually he asked me if I would allow him to smear peanut butter on my stump and lick it off. General decency dictates that I not tell you what he wanted to do with a squeeze bottle of grape jelly.
Acrotomophilia is not the same as apotemnophilia; that is the sexually driven desire to become an amputee. There is a huge difference between the two. Apotemnophilia is often carried out in less than sterile settings and can have devastating and deadly results. It is estimated that over 200 people died from self performed amputations; it is not something that is embraced by the medical community and as an amputee I can’t understand why someone would want to hack off a perfectly healthy limb.
Acrotomophilia is a recognized medical and mental condition; to date the only treatment offered for it is therapy and mild doses of medication to curb sexual desires. Being a female amputee I see one side of the fence but have had the chance to talk to several men who consider themselves amputee lovers. All three say that they are more attracted to women who are BKA rather than above the knee amputees, actively seek out BKA females for sexual and non-sexual encounters and engage in “stump worship”. Yes, there is such a thing. It’s is a curve of the amputee fetish that involves exactly what the term implies.
Not knowing much about acrotomophilia or the variations of it I asked about it on message boards and ended up getting swarmed with private messages from men who wanted to meet me. It seems they troll the boards and use it as a dating service instead of its intentions of being a place for new amputees to get information. Needless to say, it was an eye opening experience for me and I am no stranger to kink and perversions of a sexual nature.
I’m now put in a situation where it’s tough to know how I am being judged. If someone starts a conversation is it out of genuine interest or my residual limb? Sure, you can get a feel for things but experienced amputee lovers will know exactly how to manipulate the situation and masque their true intentions. Just because I am a BKA doesn’t mean that I am into the fetish; I didn’t willingly have my amputation. The world of acrotomophilia is something I choose not to indulge in, in the words of Austin Powers; it’s not my bag baby.
