JH+-+Final+Research+Idea? 

So, this is what my thesis is on, and I think for this class I'll focus more on the shift to bionic humans and the ideology of that - focusing more the identities of bionic humans, etc. If that would be alright?

Dealing with the loss of a limb can be affected by an innumerable amount of factors, but in this paper it was chosen to focus on the amputation from a strictly medical necessity verses an accidental loss, and the differences between body image from that factor. (RQ1) Initially amputees will be given a survey to receive preliminary data, which may or may not be accompanied by a semi-formal interview. This ethnography hypothesizes that amputees who have lost their limb in an accidental fashion will have more body dysphoria than those who have lost their limbs to strictly medical necessity (i.e. infectious diseases such as gangrene.) The interviews will ask questions about life before amputation, the process of amputation (sudden or a decision over time) and post amputation, and their overall satisfaction with life at this current time as well as whether they believe it has affected them in a positive or negative manner. I also want to ask if they had to choose amputation again, would they and why or why not.

(RQ2) The second research question will look at the new identities amputees take on, from ‘bionic humans’ to ‘disabled’ and the intersectionality of those identities, and how those affect their personal outlook. Some choose to look at themselves as superhuman (“being normal is boring”, agility with recurve stilts, etc.) and that their amputation has transcended normal human capabilities (How to Build a Bionic Man), while others look at their identity as disabled (Bhojak). I want to prove my hypothesis that those who add the identity of ‘bionic’ have a more positive body image than those who strictly take on the identity of ‘disabled’ or variants of that identity. Those who seem to describe themselves as bionic tended to have an almost morbid sense of humor about the whole subject, but most, if not all, did seem to view themselves as disabled in some way from the research I’ve been reading and the documentaries I’ve been watching to gain further insight.