Tips for writing and drawing amputees
Amputees don't constantly wear bandages over their stumps after their initial recovery.
just for clarity, eda falls into an exception in the show, her amputation is new, but I've noticed a lot of the fandom doesn't seem to know this and draw her wearing the bandages continuously since the show didn't have time to make it clear, so that's why I'm picking on her as my picture example lol
I think this trope started from one of a few places:
1. People saw amputees wearing bandages/compression garments during the recovery from an amputation and just assumed they wear them all the time.
2. They think the stump is just a perpetual open wound that never heals, and so they think it has to be covered so as not to be "gory" (I've met fully grown adults who believed this until i showed them that wasn't the case)
3. People are just uncomfortable with stumps for some reason and want it covered on their characters.
4. People mistook the silicone or cotton liners amputees wear under their prosthetics as padding as a bandage and just assumed it was a bandage we have to wear all the time
5. Some combination of these points.
But if you're amputee has been an amputee for more than 6-12 weeks (maybe a little longer if the amputation was the result of a burn), the stump will be fully healed, no need to cover it.
And please, if you're working on something aimed at kids, or something that kids are likely to see, please show your character's stump at least once. I know this sounds like a weird thing to say out of context lol, but I used to work with kids, and I lost count of the number of kids who were actually scared me and my stumps because they were expecting them to be all bloody and scary looking. They calmed down when the realise they aren't but I was the first exposure a lot of these kids had. The problem is, kids can't always articulate that, especially if they're already scared, so often times they will say really horrible things, and for new amputees, or amputees who just aren't used to being around kids, this can be a devastating blow to their confidence. It's not the kid's fault, but that's why exposure to people like us young, before they have a chance to hear the wrong info that might make them afraid of us can go a long way.
yousharknotpass
2087
tangentwithtanner
snowghoul
blakekathryn
ellievsbear
janainaart
vaporwave
