How do you feel about devotees?

[graceenubstruck]

I provide adult content and service to devotees and others. I often get told hold grateful a devotee is that they have an amputee to talk to who doesn’t look down on them.
Personally, i really appreciate them. It’s comforting (when I’m feeling insecure) to know that there’s an entire group of people who are specifically attracted to that which makes me feel insecure. They ask questions other people don’t, because they are genuinely fascinated.

I wonder what your feelings are toward devotees?

[snowyh]

Hello, Grace. I first heard about devotees* about 25 years ago, even though I've been an amputee for 50+ years now. I stumbled across a couple of amp/dev Yahoo discussion groups (do they still have those?) where devotees welcomed my many questions--I was as fascinated with them as they were with me! I eventually attended a few small amputee/devotee in-person gatherings, and ultimately developed friendships with 3 devotees, one of whom I even dated for a while. I'm no longer active online in any devotee groups, and I've pretty much lost touch with 2 of my dev friends, only maintaining contact with the one fellow I dated.

My opinion of devotees? Well, I guess I'd say they're just like anyone else who has a particular sexual preference, and within this group there's a general mix like you'd find in any other subset of of the population--there are genuinely nice guys who are sincerely interested in meeting the right woman (who happens to be an amputee) with whom they can spend the rest of their lives. There are also men who will say/do anything they can to get in the pants of an amputee, or at least get one to send a picture of their stump that they can use for self-gratification. And all types in between. I am aware that many amputees have a negative opinion of devs, and that may have something to do with the fact that many of the devs most likely to make contact with an amp online are the "bad" ones only looking for one thing. Just like elsewhere, the nice guys are going to be less sexually aggressive with women with whom they hope to develop a real relationship. The way "good" devs describe it, they first seek to like a woman for herself, and the disability is just the cherry on top. I like the way one dev put it... that an amputation will get him to cross a room to speak with a woman, but it won't get him to ask her out if they don't have much else in common.

I don't know that I appreciate devs in the same way you do, Grace. I would say it's more that I marvel at the way the universe works. "For every hand there's a glove," as they say.

I'm a little surprised to find that you've been able to make a success of selling adult content to devotees. In the olden days female amputees could make a pretty decent living selling photos of themselves to devs, but since the advent of the Internet (where one can find all the amputee photos/videos they could possibly want for free, or join any number of amputee discussion groups) that must be much harder. I'm guessing that part of your service is offering conversation or friendship (or more?), which adds value to the service you provide. And I'm glad to hear these relationships have helped you deal with your insecurity. I believe the attraction is something more than, say, someone who is attracted to women with a pretty face, large breasts, a hefty bank account or a position of power. Any of those things could disappear in an instant, whereas a disability will never go away. So in that respect there is indeed a degree of security.

A word of caution to female amputees reading this thread: Devotees regularly join or monitor amputee forums** and FB groups, so have a healthy skepticism if you're contacted privately by a member of the group, even if they claim to be an amputee or even a woman themselves. A big red flag is anyone who asks to see a photo of your stump--this is just like a non-dev asking you to send them a picture of your boobs. I'm just saying to be cautious; there are good guys out there too!

Helen

*Devotees can be male or female (many more males, though), straight or gay, and can be attracted to a variety of disabilities (amputees, wheelchair users, leg brace wearers, slightly or severely disabled, etc.) and their attraction can be quite specific... for instance they may particularly be seeking someone with an above-knee amputation of the right leg.

**The plural of forum is actually "fora," but I'm probably the only person who cares.