Long live the new flesh: pornography and amputation between freakness and new spaces of visibility

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the representation of amputated bodies in contemporary pornography, a topic that has not received much attention, even in the context of the so-called alternative pornographies. The article aims to explore, drawing on an interdisciplinary approach influenced by visual culture and queer studies, some of the narratives through which Western culture has tried to make sense of these non-normative bodies. Moving from the aesthetic category of the grotesque and taking into account the works of a number of visual artists, the article clarifies how the amputated body has been at the centre of two different cultural narratives: one focused on its supposed monstrosity and one highlighting its potential subversive and counter-narrative qualities. These narratives can be found in contemporary pornography where the amputated body continues to be seen as an object to look at in a highly stigmatizing way (as in the case of raw handicap sex), but the context of amateur pornography offers the chance for a more self-determined exploration of a new kind of eroticism.