An Introduction to Aimee Mullins
Aimee Mullins was born in 1975 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. At the age of 1 she was diagnosed with
fibular hemimelia, meaning that she was born without the fibula bone. The fibula bone, also known as the calf bone, is located on the lateral side of the tibula. The top connection is made right below the level of the
knee-joint but does
not form any part of the knee. The lower point of the bone form the lateral part of the ankle joint. The fibula bone is used not to carry the weight of the person but to provide balance and stability to the leg.
The doctors gave a depressing diagnosis of Mullins being unable to walk and being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. It was consequently decided by her parents that the best the chance at a mobile life. The operation to amputate both of her legs below the knee occurred on her first birthday. By the age of 2 she had learned to walk on prosthetic legs. She began her love of sports enrolling in anything physical and always with in the group of “able bodied” children.
Aimee Mullins attended school with “able bodied” children and graduate high school with honors. She later became 1 of 3 students in the US to receive a full scholarship from the Department of Defense. At 17 she was the youngest person to have/hold top secret security clearance at the Pentagon. She spent her summers working as an intelligence analyst. She attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and began training for the US Team for the
Paraplegic Olympic 1996 Atlanta Games. She began training with Frank Gagliano, and became the fi
rst woman to compete with a disability in the NCAA league. It was here that the Cheetah legs were born. Mullins was the first to wear them and considered the official “guinea pig” for the project. Wearing the legs Aimee Mullins set a World record in the 100 meter, the 200 meter, and the long jump.
The Cheetah Legs
The Cheetah Flex-Foot is a trademark for “a stored-energy foot prosthesis containing a J-shaped plastic beam that acts like a spring when the wearer walks or runs.” Each leg is cut from a flat sheet of pressed carbon fiber, and molded into a fluid J-like curve that connects at the base of the knee and runs all the way to the tip of toe, and where it curls up. The carbon-fiber blades act like giant springs helping to mimic the mechanics of biological feet. They absorb the runners energy only returning about 80% back to the athlete. The blades require 25-30% less energy to run at the same speed as with biological legs.
Components include:
•The “Full Length Toe Lever” helps improve walking symmetry
and reduces impact to the limb.
•The “Proportional Response” are the heel and foot components that are customized to the user’s weight and level of impact thus
reducing the fatigue of the user.
•The “Active Tribal Progression” aids in the vertical force that is placed through the heel. It helps reduce the need of the user to actively push the body forward allowing for a more natural and
reduced walking effort.
Aimee Mullins in the Public Eye
Soon after her success on the track Aimee Mullins landed a 10-page feature in the inaugural issue of Sports Illustrated for Women. She
became interested in the issues regarding body image and how fashion impacted the outlook of the public.
“In athletics, the idea of possibility is presumed,” she says. “It’s not ‘if,’ it’s ‘how.’ And that is how artists, and fashion designers, and musicians see the world. It’s not possibility, it’s potential.” – Taken from SI Issue.
1999, she made her runway debut in London under the invitation of world famous fashion designer, Alexander McQueen. For the show Mullins wore hand carved prosthetic legs made entirely out o
f wood. The event landed her the covers of ID and Dazed and Confused. She was then named one of People’s Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World”
Running on High Tech Legs
Synopsis:
In this interview Aimee Mulin’s is chronicling her disability through her career as an athlete. She begins by briefing the audience in her education at Georgetown, which was with a full scholarship studying International Affairs. Though she had played softball, and skied though her time in high school and it was idleness at not being active that drove her to investigate the athletics at the University. She mentions to the audience that she had never met another disabled athlete and had only competed with able-bodied athletes till this time. They have track meets with disabled runners and Mullin had decided that this was a perfect time for her to go check the races which at this time were taking place in Boston. The only pair of legs that she had ever preformed in were made of “a wood and plastic compound, attached with velco straps and big, thick, 5-ply wool socks.” At the meet people were wearing legs made of carbon graphite and containing shock absorbers. And although she was different from the pack in her first race and beat the national record holder by three hundredths of a second and became the new national record-holder. It was at this time that people recognized her talent and the fact that she needed someone to guide her leading her to train with the lead coach at the school. As she quickly became the best in the nation, in comparison to her paraplegic wise, she began racing again with able bodied athletes. She ends the talk by demonstrating to the audience how she uses her prosthetic legs and how she adapts in them to her surroundings, displaying her legs that look like “normal” ones as well as the cheetah legs which she uses for competition.
Reflection:
Its nice for her to describe the first meet that she went to with her seemingly out-of-date prosthesis and the looks that she received from the other athletes. While it is easy to quickly point out the biases and outlooks from the “able” community to the “disabled” community, it is another thing to have the discrimination within the “disabled” community because one of its members does not have the latest and most high tech options of equipment on the current market.
Her relationship with the coach is a very unique one as he is looking at her as a challenge and not in the way of “how can I work with what you have” focusing largely on the disability, but rather a large scale of “what can you as an individual achieve.”
At 6:30 she tells the most awesome story of her on the track and the blunt encouragement she receives from her coach. Though no one in her life “pitied” her it is obvious that tough love can be used by all.
At 13:00 she begins to remove her “pretty legs” and the audience really gets a chance to see what is going on physically. It is interesting to know that the gaze is solely on her but since she is in control of said gaze it doesn’t have the harmful affects as one unwanted and in public.
Here she changes her legs to the Cheetah ones and I quickly realize that I too am staring at her during this process. Through this video I am allowed to watch her and get a bit of education on the application of the legs, the components and how she as an individual lives with them.
How My Legs Give Me Superpowers
Synopsis:
Aimee Mullins begins her talk with her recent experiences at a children’s museum. The kids were ages 6-8 and brought with her a bag full of legs, and laid them out onto a table. Betting on the kids innate curiosity she asks for the children to be sent into the room for them to investigate. Due to the rule of them coming in with out adults Mullins was able to ask them their thoughts and explore the possibility of interchangeable legs with a child’s imagination. After her first TED presentation (the video featured above) Mullins asked for designers, engineers, and innovators to help design various types of legs to stretch the human imagination. Mullins then discusses the way she is perceived by society, ie. due to the wonderful, and lifelike legs that she adorns many people do not perceive her as “disabled.” She then goes into detail describing each of her 12 pairs of legs: from the cheetah to the “glass” and the “wood” allowing for the audience to then see how the human body can be made into many different things allowing us to be beautiful in many different ways.
Reflection:
I feel that it is through this discussion that Aimee Mullins addresses many of the things that we discuss in class. Her “social experiment” involving her “bag of legs” with the children is further proof that biases and this fear of the disabled is something that is taught and learned, not an innate component of the human psyche.
She mentions that the children would be “trained” to see her disability. When during the experiment they are the first to see the potential in her circumstance. I feel that in her lecture and what we’ve discussed in class there is a huge weight in being able to “un-train” what we have learned about disability and like these kids much of it will have to come from exposure to the different bodies society has. If it is something that you have seen before there is no reason for you to stare in the same judgment.
At the 3:50 mark Aimee Mullins describes the disabled “look” and that because she is disabled people are surprised at how attractive she is. Yes she “doesn’t feel disabled.” Through much of the reading that I have done on her she is very willing to admit that her “ability” is what makes her unique and sets her apart. And most importantly that at time it is in fact the envy of others. The scenario is an interesting one as we’ve had numerous discussions on the idea of “fixing” individuals in class and how some wouldn’t take it. It is evident that Mullins wouldn’t.
Later on in the work she speaks on how the “conversation with society is changing.” While I feel that she has gotten the better half of the conversation, we have read in class and spoken of our own accord how disabilities are discriminated against, I think that she has managed to tap into a new outlet. Her art legs allow for her to again, control the gaze of the population, and channel the views of artists to help redefine herself as an individual.
Right now I am definitely engrossed in the book 
ArchEnemy
is it so worth it. I love it! Season 4 was amazing, minus the death of a certain blonde, and the whole Trinity Killer aspect was captivating. Now we’re taking, getting back to the roots from the first season. I was addicted. Though I do have to say, and no I am not being biased for Dexter’s side, that Quinn needs to back the f-k off. His character is way to suspicious of everyone for no reason. Its odd and unwarranted. Now moving onto the 5th lets see where this one goes. I think that much like the 4th I will be consuming this in a matter of days.
always watched on tv and out of order so now the goal is to go through all of them IN order. Totally loving it. For those women who haven’t watched them and whose only knowledge is what they have “heard” you are greatly mistaken. Its a funny spin on relationships, dating, friends and of course… sex. Its like sitting with the girls over coffee or drinks. Love it. (Though I do have to say the first few seasons are not very fashion forward, and btw Carrie chain smoking isnt cute). I know your supposed to say that your more one girl over the other but I kind of feel (and I may not be alone in this is which is why the series may be so popular) is that I am a little bit of each girl. An obvious choice is Carrie who is not only a writer, her narrations are similar to the ones in my head only without the sarcastic tone, and her doubt in relationships is something I can definitely say I also embody. Samantha well hello anyone who knows me would know that connection. Charlotte embodies all of my ambitions for the future and Miranda is the rare practical voice in my head that comes up when it comes to getting down and dirty with academics/business. I love spending time with “the girls” and those who dont know them should really give them a chance. Ask my sister… who laughed her way through 5 episodes without even noticing.
