My partner had been expressing his dislike to journalism; to him journalists tend to sensationalize news/stories than being straightforward and truthful. To be honest I am quite unsure how to feel about this as I enjoy journalism and even nearly studied it. While pondering of his thoughts, I recalled two similar stories but with different follow ups.
Amputation of the leg -- either above or below the knee -- is the most common amputation surgery. An amputation is required when a diseased body part is not expected to heal and the patient's life is at risk as a result. Causes may include circulatory disorders, infections, accidents, cancer or a congenital malformation of the limbs/birth defects. This is when the story comes in; two women, both 21 years old in 2013 - one from Long Island New York, USA and one from Požega, Croatia.
Mariah Serrano
Growing up in Long Island, US, with mum Patricia, accountant dad Emilio, sisters Isabella and Fiona, and brother Mason, Mariah was born with a club (right) foot – a deformity meaning one foot was twisted and underdeveloped. Ordinarily, an operation or brace would realign the foot at a young age, but in extremely rare cases like Mariah’s, problems persist into later life. Mariah undergo multiple surgeries to correct her deformed leg but to no avail. Then in 2009, just at the age of 17, under the advises of doctors, Mariah had her club foot amputated. Although initially frightened, Mariah had never regretted her decision as it improved her health significantly.
Four years later, in 2013 the NY Post picked up her story with the headline:
While the article *did* mentioned her health issues due to her leg, it focused more on she had been called names due to her leg condition, her fashion sense and "her desire to be normal and enjoying fashion".
While it's understandable people want to be normal with good health and be normal to enjoy life such as fashion, the article however (and unsurprisingly for NY Post), the way they cover Mariah's story painted the idea of Mariah being rather vain and petty. “The fashion rule is that you take off three pounds for every inch of your heels and I was like ‘Oh my God, I look dumpy,’” she said.
“I wanted to be a sexy teenager in high heels but I knew it couldn’t be.
Beyond the discomfort of walking on a disfigured leg that was becoming increasingly painful with age, Serrano struggled to look like the other girls in her high school who often called her “gimpy.”
“I felt silly in pictures, I was the only one in these shitty little ballet flats,” she recalled.
“I had to wear all sorts of braces. It was uncomfortable and frustrating because they weren’t solving the problem and I often felt embarrassed.”
They even as far quoting:
Because above all for Mariah – and it might seem an unusual priority – it means she can now wear the glamorous high heels she’d dreamed of wearing all her life.
Unsurprisingly, Mariah, who in fact did not lose her leg just "so she could teeter around in stilettos", is not happy and she addressed this at Newsday on the same year:
"The ridiculously spun articles that knock my character and are blatantly incorrect"
"It was a serious health condition, and I did take that decision seriously," Mariah told Newsday. "It's given me my life back -- more than just the ability to wear nice shoes."
Mariah says it all started when she did an interview with UK publication The Mirror two years ago, and wanted to put a positive spin on her situation, mentioning that finally being able to wear the designer shoes she loves has been one of many post-surgery perks. But when the Daily Mail picked up the story this week, they set the scene for the twisted angle, harping on how she "was told by doctors that her condition meant she would never wear high heels or be able to pursue her dream job in fashion." Mariah says The Post played up this idea even after she explained the truth to a reporter directly. Mariah responded to the Post's profile of her on her blog, titled Confessions Of A One-Legged Fashionista. "I did not choose to cut my leg off so I can wear high heels, I had my leg amputated because I was very sick and the quality of my health and life were suffering," she wrote in her most recent post. "Doctors do not welcome the idea that you are unhappy with your footwear choices, so you should remove body parts."
Anja Mihaljević
While she is some sort of fashionista like Mariah, but instead of working in the fashion industry, Anja (pronounced Anya to non-European speakers) is a journalist and the president and founder of association for disable people, Mogu Sve (I can do Anything in Croatian) which was established in 2013, not long after her leg amputation.
Born with hemimelia fibular, meaning her fibular bone is partially or completely missing and in Anja's case is in the lower left leg. This shortens her left leg; there is also usually a lower leg deformity or bow and an abnormally positioned foot with missing toes and for Anja she is missing two toes. She also born with missing two fingers on the right hand and one on the left.
Coming from Požega, a small city in western Slavonia, eastern Croatia, Anja had to travel to the capital Zagreb for surgeries as Požega hospital wasn't equipped for her condition. Similar to Mariah, Anja undergo multiple surgeries to correct her leg, in fact a total of 33 since she was 5 until in 2008, at the age of 16 the doctor said her leg couldn't be save and the amputation was the only option. She went to have her leg amputated in 2013.
Translation: Anja did not give up: "Even though my leg was amputated, I wear heels" [24Sata] https://www.24sata.hr/lifestyle/anja-nije-odustala-iako-su-mi-odrezali-nogu-jos-nosim-stikle-573217
Not long afterwards, the media begin to pick up her story. Similar to Mariah, her story often headlines with high heels as the main subject. Unlike Mariah however, it seems Anja cherish the idea and this is evident as more and more news outlets cover similar title and she herself addressed it in multiple magazine, newspaper and tv interviews.
Translation: "I'm not ashamed of my leg prosthesis, I'm beautiful and happy to wear dresses and heels" [Miss7] https://miss7.24sata.hr/zivot/ne-sramim-se-svoje-proteze-lijepa-sam-si-i-sretna-sto-nosim-haljine-i-stikle-21754
Of course Anja would highlight her health issues and all the 33 surgeries she undergo in hoping to save her leg. Occasionally she would highlight the struggles people with disabilities (PWD or OSI, Osobe s Invaliditetom) facing in Croatia and how she hoped PWD is normalized and given more benefits rights over there.
Because Anja goes along with the headlights and never seems to address the issue anywhere, not even at her blog at Anja Može Sve (Anja can do Anything) , one could not tell if the sensationalize headline of her be able to wear high heels either was her very own idea, or the article blown out of proportion (similar to Mariah's case) and she just sailing through it, or she actually picked the idea and concept from Mariah's infamous story since Mariah's story was out years before Anja's.
Anja cited that she did not regret her decision for amputation as it gives her new confidence and a chance to finally be able to enjoy things like normal people; wearing high heels, dressing up, cycling, swimming and many more, but what she cherish the most is her ability to finally travel abroad and enjoy holidays. "As a child doctors would tell me not to dream to travel around with my leg condition" she said in her own blog. "Now I had been to London, Berlin, and I'm looking forward for more!" she added.
Interestingly enough, in her own blog Anja sometimes alluded her pain and sadness to lose her leg, questioning why her childhood wasted on surgeries as well as feeling uncomfortable with the way people treating and looking at prosthetic leg, lovingly given the name Pamela by her. She even covered her prosthetic leg with nylon stockings or leggings whenever she wear dresses or short skirts.
These posts written by herself somehow rather contrasted to all the articles published about her, especially in regards of her enjoying new found life as an amputee without feeling regret or troubled. It's either Anja avoid mentioned it to them or they just simply choose to highlight the "fun" part of her story, ignoring the struggles she is going through.
Regardless, the Croatian media headlines and articles covering Anja seems way kinder than Mariah and Anja herself seems to cherish them; evidently by her sharing any articles or tv interviews covering her in blog and social media.
Conclusion, as my my partner pointed out few times, it's hard to tell the truth, even when the person themselves writing the story. Everything can be twisted, and you can't even tell who is telling the truth or who is sailing along the line. Also it's quite interesting these two similar stories, from two people who are most likely had never meet or interact with somehow centering on high heels.
Anyone who knows me knows I abhors high heels, I even covered it in my previous entry. It's a man's creation that have no benefits what-so-ever to women. In fact it's more detrimental to one's health in a long run. But hey that's just my opinion, anyone should be feel entitled to wear them or not.
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