4. The Wannabe

• For the wannabe the occasional pretence of disability is not enough. He feels the overwhelming need to be disabled. For him, life is unfulfilled and incomplete unless he becomes a full member of the disabled community as a physically disabled person. The leg-braces are the outward symbol of an inner struggle with self-identity that isn't won until the disabled state is achieved and he somehow "comes home" to his "real" self. There are striking parallels between how the wannabe feels and how someone with gender dysphoria feels - the "I'm in the wrong body" crisis.