"Super-Abled" Athlete/Actress Aimee Mullins Talks About Her Amazing Legs

In this talk, athlete/model/actor Aimee Mullins describes showing a group of kids some of her prosthetic legs.

Mullins, who had her lower legs amputated as a baby, believes that children aren’t naturally disturbed by bodies different from theirs, and that they learn to be disturbed from adults, so she talked to the kids at first without their parents present. When the kids suggested she get legs that enabled her to fly, she saw that they had come to see her as someone who “might even be super-abled.” She expands on this theme in the rest of her talk, describing her journey “away from the need to replicate human-ness” and towards a view of her legs as “wearable sculpture.” The whole thing is worth watching, just be aware that there’s a brief, mildly NSFW clip at about 6:20 of Mullins in body paint. And that you might, like a friend Mullins mentions, get a little jealous of her ability to change her height at will. [Mental Floss]