Aimee Mullins

An Introduction to a Life by

Collette Morris

Early Life• Aimee Mullins was born in 1975 in Allentown,

Pennsylvania.

• At the age of 1 she was diagnosed with fibular

hemimelia, meaning that she was born without the

fibula bone.

• The fibula bone, also known as the calf bone, is

located on the lateral side of the tibula.

– The top connection

is made right below

the level of the

knee-joint but does

not form any part of

the knee.

– The lower point of

the bone form the

lateral part of the

ankle joint.

An Operation• The fibula bone is used not to carry the weight of the

person but to provide balance and stability to the leg.

• The doctors gave a depressing diagnosis of Mullins

being unable to walk and being confined to a wheelchair

for the rest of her life.

• It was consequently decided by her parents that the best

the chance at a mobile life.

– The operation occurred on her first birthday

• By the age of 2 she

had learned to walk

on prosthetic legs.

She began her love

of sports enrolling in

anything physical and

always with in the

group of “able

bodied” children.

The Beginning • Aimee Mullins attended school with “able bodied”

children and graduate high school with honors. She

later became 1 of 3 students in the US to receive a full

scholarship from the Department of Defense.

– At 17 she was the youngest person to have/hold top

secret security clearance at the Pentagon.

• She attended the School of

Foreign Service at

Georgetown University, and

began training for the US Team

for the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Training• She began training with Frank Gagliano, and became

the first woman to compete with a disability in the

NCAA league.

• It was here that the Cheetah legs were born. Mullins

was the first to wear them and considered the official

“guinea pig” for the project.

• Wearing the legs Aimee Mullins set a World record in

the 100 meter, the 200 meter, and the long jump.

The Cheetah Legs

• The Cheetah Flex-Foot is

a trademark for “a stored-

energy foot prosthesis

containing a J-shaped

plastic beam that acts

like a spring when the

wearer walks or runs.”

• Each leg is cut from a flat

sheet of pressed carbon

fiber, and molded into a

fluid J-like curve that

connects at the base of

the knee and runs all the

way to the tip of toe, and where it curls up. hoe.

Cheetah Leg Components

• The “Full Length Toe Lever” helps

improve walking symmetry and reduces

impact to the limb.

• The “Proportional Response” are the heel

and foot components that are customized

to the user’s weight and level of impact

thus reducing the fatigue of the user.

• The “Active Tribal Progression” aids in the

vertical force that is placed through the

heel. It helps reduce the need of the user

to actively push the body forward

allowing for a more natural and reduced

walking effort.

Cheetah Legs cont.

• The carbon-fiber blades

act like giant springs

helping to mimic the

mechanics of biological

feet.

• They absorb the

runners energy only

returning about 80%

back to the athlete.

• The blades require 25-

30% less energy to run

at the same speed as

with biological legs

Sports Illustrated Issue• Soon after her success on the track Aimee Mullins

landed a 10-page feature in the inaugural issue of

Sports Illustrated for Women.

• She became interested in the issues regarding

body image and how fashion impacted the outlook

of the public.

• "In athletics, the idea of

possibility is presumed," she

says. "It's not 'if,' it's 'how.'

And that is how artists, and

fashion designers, and

musicians see the world. It's

not possibility, it's potential.”

- Taken from SI Issue.

On the Runway

• 1999, she made her

runway debut in London

under the invitation of

world famous fashion

designer, Alexander

McQueen.

• For the show Mullins

wore hand carved

prosthetic legs made

entirely out of wood.

• The event landed her the

covers of ID and Dazed

and Confused.

• She was then named one

of People’s Magazine’s

“50 Most Beautiful

People in the World”

Running on High Tech Legs

TED Talk, Feb 1998

If experiencing problems Click on circle to have the video straighten itself

out

Reflection

• Its nice for her to describe the first meet that she went to with

her seemingly out-of-date prosthetics and the looks that she

received from the other athletes. While it is easy to quickly

point out the biases and outlooks from the “able” community to

the “disabled” community, it is another thing to have the

discrimination within the “disabled” community because one of

its members does not have the latest and most high tech

options of equipment on the current market.

• Her relationship with the coach is a very unique one as he is

looking at her as a challenge and not in the way of

“how can I work with what you have” focusing largely on the

disability, but rather a large scale of “what can you as an

individual achieve.”

Reflection

• At 6:30 she tells the most awesome story of her on the track

and the blunt encouragement she receives from her coach.

Though no one in her life “pitied” her it is obvious that tough

love can be used by all.

• At 13:00 she begins to remove her “pretty legs” and the

audience really gets a chance to see what is going on

physically. It is interesting to know that the gaze is solely on

her but since she is in control of said gaze it doesn’t have the

harmful affects as one unwanted and in public.

• Here she changes her legs to the Cheetah ones and I quickly

realize that I too am staring at her during this process.

Through this video I am allowed to watch her and get a bit of

education on the application of the legs, the components and

how she as an individual lives with them.

How My Legs Give Me Superpowers

TED Talk, Mar 2009

If experiencing problems Click on circle to have the video straighten itself

out

Reflection

• I feel that it is through this discussion that Aimee Mullins

addresses many of the things that we discuss in class. Her

“social experiment” involving her “bag of legs” with the children

is further proof that biases and this fear of the disabled is

something that is taught and learned, not an innate component

of the human psyche.

• She mentions that the children would be “trained” to see her

disability. When during the experiment they are the first to see

the potential in her circumstance. I feel that in her lecture and

what we’ve discussed in class there is a huge weight in being

able to “un-train” what we have learned about disability and like

these kids much of it will have to come from exposure to the

different bodies society has. If it is something that you have

seen before there is no reason for you to stare in the same

judgment.

Reflection• At the 3:50 mark Aimee Mullins describes the disabled “look”

and that because she is disabled people are surprised at how

attractive she is. Yes she “doesn’t feel disabled.” Through

much of the reading that I have done on her she is very willing

to admit that her “ability” is what makes her unique and sets

her apart. And most importantly that at time it is in fact the envy

of others. The scenario is an interesting one as we’ve had

numerous discussions on the idea of “fixing” individuals in

class and how some wouldn’t take it. It is evident that Mullins

wouldn’t.

• Later on in the work she speaks on how the “conversation with

society is changing.” While I feel that she has gotten the better

half of the conversation, we have read in class and spoken of

our own accord how disabilities are discriminated against, I

think that she has managed to tap into a new outlet. Her art

legs allow for her to again, control the gaze of the population,

and channel the views of artists to help redefine herself as an

individual.

Just for fun…

Aimee Mullins on the Colbert ReportClick on the link

Bibliography

• When Science and Sports Collide

http://www.pri.org/science/cheetah-legs.html

• Flex Foot Product Characteristics

http://www.ossur.com/pages/13661

• Wonder Woman: Prosthetic Legs Won’t Slow Aimee Mullins

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/sioncampus/06/20/aimee.mullins/