Acrotomophilia (from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

"having the top cut off" (from ' "extremity" and - from ' "I cut") and ' "love") is a

paraphilia Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything ot ...

in which an individual expresses strong sexual interest ''in''

amputee Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

s. It is a counterpart to ''

apotemnophilia Body integrity dysphoria (BID, also referred to as body integrity identity disorder, amputee identity disorder and xenomelia, formerly called apotemnophilia) is a mental disorder characterized by a desire to have a sensory or physical disabil ...

'', the desire (not necessarily sexual) to ''be'' an amputee.

Overview

Acrotomophiles may be attracted to

s because they like the way they look or they may view the amputee's stump as a

phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when Erection, erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimesis, mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically— ...

object which can be used for

sexual pleasure Sexual stimulation is any stimulus (including bodily contact) that leads to, enhances and maintains sexual arousal, and may lead to orgasm. Although sexual arousal may arise without physical stimulation, achieving orgasm usually requires physica ...

. Acrotomophiles may enjoy the idea of dominating the amputee during couples play and they may also become aroused with the thought of having to take care of an amputee.

Interests and behaviours

In a survey of acrotomophiles, leg amputations were preferred over arm amputations, amputations of a single limb over double amputations, and amputations that left a stump over amputations that left no stump. According to Per Solvang (2007), "Devotees adhere to standard conceptions of attractiveness in all other matters outside of amputations."

Ethical issues

Some people question whether amputating one's own body parts or operating on a partner for the sake of sexual pleasure is ethical. For some, modifying the body is a private ritual of self-ownership and freedom of choice. Psychiatrists may make a diagnosis of

body integrity identity disorder Body integrity dysphoria (BID, also referred to as body integrity identity disorder, amputee identity disorder and xenomelia, formerly called apotemnophilia) is a mental disorder characterized by a desire to have a sensory or physical disabil ...

Terminology

The term ''amelotatism'' has also been used to describe acrotomophilia. The sexual interest in ''being'' an amputee is ''

''.

John Money John William Money (8 July 1921 – 7 July 2006) was a New Zealand psychologist, sexologist and author known for his research into sexual identity and Sex determination and differentiation (human), biology of gender. He was one of the first ...

, Kent W. Simcoe. 1984
Sexuality and Disability Journal. "Acrotomophilia, sex and disability: New concepts and case report".
Springer Netherlands. ISSN 0146-1044 (Print) 1573-6717 (Online).

(1977) used the terms ''autoapotemnophilia'' and ''alloapotemnophilia'' to describe the erotic interest of wanting to be or appear as an amputee versus wanting amputees as sexual partners;Money, J., Jobaris, R., & Furth, G. (1977). Apotemnophilia: Two cases of self demand amputation as a sexual preference. ''The Journal of Sex Research, 13'', 115–124. neither term has been widely used since. The term '' teratophilia'' is used to describe arousal from deformed or monstrous people.

References

External links