Clicking into an article by Aimee Mullins, a double below knee amputee, actress, track athlete, and total babe, resulted in a moment of groaning "what the hell" at my computer screen. The article -- "Is Choosing a Prosthesis so Different than Picking a Pair of Glasses?" -- spoke of how prosthetics have evolved to the point of being as specialized and aesthetically unique as eyeglasses in the last fifty years in the United States.
To illustrate her point, Mullins notes:
"...no one has yet to build a leg that does it all --- I have to change legs when I want to wear high heels; I have to change legs when I want to wear different height high heels; I have to change legs when I want to swim, take a boxing class at the gym, or sprint on the track. I have 12 pair in all (though many are housed in museums)."
While the there are indeed parallels, the article largely neglects the enormous burden of cost and limited access to this cutting-edge technology that so often gets featured in the press. Those very legs that Mullins has relegated to museums sit well out of financial reach for the majority of the disabled community.
