[stylist] interesting Background info for a good blindness story

[David Andrews]

It was an April Fool's Day joke.

Dave

On 4/4/2012 8:42 AM, Robert Leslie Newman wrote:
> I got this article from the NFBTalk list: the subject line read- Blindness
> and sexuality
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> Blindness and Sexuality: Researching Myths and Facts Summary Report:
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> Distributed by: National Data Distribution Center (NDDC)
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> April 1, 2009
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> Atlanta Georgia
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> The two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille is being
> celebrated by the US mint with the production of a silver coin commemorating
> the man who created the modern reading system used by many blind people.
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> Unfortunately, although blind people work and live normal lives, they are
> still different in many ways and their experiences are a matter of curiosity
> amongst the sighted population.  For most of us, the question, "What is it
> like to be blind?," has entered our minds more than once.
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> Research, some of it useful and much of it not, about how people who are
> blind perceive the world, abounds.  One of the more interesting topics of
> study is sexuality among the blind.  The story, goes that blind people are
> incredible sexual partners--somehow being extremely sensitive to their
> partners and, being able to stimulate them far more than the average person.
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> Masters and Johnson were so intrigued by this subject that they collected
> data over several years from those who had had sex with blind people.
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> Surprisingly, what they thought would be myths, turned out to be true. The
> results were stunning.  On average, women rated their blind partners 9.1 on
> a scale of 10.  The average rating was five for sighted partners.
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> "This research has been duplicated several times," says Author Mary Roach,
> author of, 2008 best seller, Bonk: the Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.
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> The data hasn't attracted much attention because blindness is such a low
> incidence event.  "We usually print things that have broad interest.  And,
> even though this indicates that blind people are incredibly sexual, there
> aren't really enough of them to go around."
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> Comments from sighted partners were astounding.  "He seemed like he knew my
> soul," from a 23 year old female.  "Her tongue knew just how to touch every
> part of me if you know what I mean," from a college male.  One woman
> commented, "The things he could do with his fingers were beyond description
> in this survey.  It's not that he was built bigger than other men, it just
> seemed like he touched me inside with it all over,"  she said with a shy
> smile.
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> When William Masters was asked, in a 1971 interview, why he didn't draw more
> attention to these findings he said, "I didn't know anything about
> blindness.  We were publishing information of general interest about
> sexuality and this just didn't fit that mold.  Perhaps some day researchers
> will help us understand why blind people have such incredible sexual
> capacities and we'll be able to use that information to increase the
> abilities of others.  Until then, a very few lucky men and women will
> experience the phenomena of sex with a blind person."
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> There is a down side to this research.  When interviewed, blind people
> generally expressed frustration about sexuality.  Broadly speaking, they
> divided sighted people into three groups.  First is the group who simply
> want to have sex with them for the thrill and experience of it.  "We feel
> used," was the most common thing reported.  second, was the group who simply
> couldn't see themselves with a blind husband or wife.  "They want to be with
> us, but don't see us as fathers and mothers, for example,"  was often heard.
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> the third group were those who "get it" as one blind man put it.  "They can
> see beyond blindness and except us for who we are.  Blindness just fades
> into the background and becomes another characteristic."
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> The sad truth is that although blind people work, raise families, travel
> independently and generally speaking, live normal lives, the public
> perception is the opposite.  The image of the helpless beggar still lurks in
> our minds.  Sighted people report that the fear of blindness overwelms their
> rationality.  "I know that I shouldn't let blindness interfere with how I
> think about my partner, but, I can't help it," said a young college student
> engaged to a blind physicist working at NASA.  "Yes, he has money, and yes,
> he's sexy, and oh, my god, can he please me, if you know what I mean.  The
> hardest thing is getting over this image of him as a helpless blind man. We
> sail, bike ride and horse back ride.  I can't think of anything he can't do
> except drive, but, I'll admit, the image of a helpless blind man still
> haunts me.  People look at him with such pity and I just want to scream,
> "You don't get it you fools.""  But she admits that making the decision to
> mary is difficult.
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> Chad, a young blind college student says he finds the whole sex thing a bit
> distracting.  "Sure I can please women more than my sighted friends can, and
> frankly, it's because they just don't pay attention to women and what their
> bodies and hearts are saying.  Women will tell you everything you need to
> know if you just listen and feel."
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> We give you all of this information with the caviat that perhaps only one in
> six thousand people is an eligible blind man or woman, so, happy searching.
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> Robert Leslie Newman
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> Personal Website-
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> Adjustment To Blindness And Visual impairment
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> http//www.thoughtprovoker.info
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> NFB Writers' Division, president
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> http://www.nfb-writers-division.net
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> Chair of the NFB Communications Committee
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