Bionic singer Victoria Modesta on the perception of disability
This weekend in Moscow, And a little later - in St. Petersburg, will be held Geek Picnic is an annual festival dedicated to science, technology and pop culture. This year the main topic was the impact of technology on the life and body of a person. One of the guests of the festival in St. Petersburg is Victoria Modesta, who is called as the first bionic singer. Because of the birth trauma, Modest's leg was injured, and later Victoria decided to amputate her below the knee. A singer and model, Modest doesn’t so much change the gloss standards, as it is embedded in them and easily fits in one row with the conventionally beautiful cover girls. We talked with Victoria about how to change the attitude of society towards people with disabilities, popularizing science and how important it is to raise the bar all the time.
Victoria Modest
first bionic pop singer
What is a drawback for others is a creative advantage for me.
I was born in Latvia. When I was 12, my parents and I moved to London. Eastern Europe was an extreme environment, if only because I did not conform to the notions of health that existed in the post-Soviet space. The injuries that I received during my birth caused me to spend my entire childhood in hospitals. After we moved to England, for a few years I was just looking for myself, trying to adapt to new conditions - of course, much less radical than before. The move stirred me up, and I began to look at things in a new way, I began to look for myself.
In childhood, adults constantly said that I was not good enough. I caused them pity. I could not understand for a long time: why if you were born with a certain physical peculiarity, then I have to endure it. I refused to accept the fact that I had been born in Latvia, in a poor family, in a society that did not admit that I was capable of something incredible. We are not captive of how we were born - we have a choice.
In London, I spent a few years exploring the local extreme underground: music, fashion, various directions. Gradually my love for everything unusual was formed. As a child I studied at a music school, though irregularly, and at some point I decided to return to music, having decided that it would be fun. Then I did not think of it as a full-fledged career. As a teenager, I also started working in an alternative fashion and fashion business, but I still needed to put my health in order. In general, everything went to the fact that at some point I would change my body.
I myself decided to have surgery and amputate my leg. My image and personality did not fully correspond to who I really was. For five years I persuaded the doctors to remove part of my leg. When I approached my twentieth birthday and had an operation, a new chapter of my life began. There were no more obstacles in my mind, the operation transformed my life. Finally, my ambitions and my self-confidence became proportional to each other. Finally, everything I dreamed about became physically accessible to me.
It was not just a liberating experience. More importantly, it was an experience that breathed strength and confidence into me. I have gone from physical and social discomfort to being able to choose what my leg will look like, who will do it and how I will use it. In its own way, it helped me in most of the things that I began to do. What happened gave me an incentive to look for a different view on things, gave me a new understanding of personality, physicality and the power of transformation. What looks like a disadvantage to others is a creative advantage for me, which has made my work even more interesting.
Human potential is no longer equal to the physical abilities of a person. We judge people not by how they look, but by what they think.
I am encouraged by the fact that very soon people will have a much wider choice in terms of identity issues. It seems to me that the concept of disability itself has no place in the modern world. Human potential is no longer equal to the physical abilities of a person. People express themselves through creativity, science, technology, philosophy, whatever. We judge people not by how they look, but by what they think.
I have repeatedly come across people who were incredibly healthy and physically developed, but lived in the most primitive way. They were not interested in other people, they had not developed social skills, they had no interest in life, they did not make any contribution to society. On the other hand, I met people who, say, did not have enough limbs, but they always strove only forward. They fulfilled their potential to the maximum and were full of life. Inevitably, the question arises: which of the above should be considered people with disabilities? The existing stigma inflicts tremendous damage on the whole of society by labeling people like me.
I think that the problem is not only in relation to society: work must be conducted from both directions. Of course, people with disabilities need support from the outside, but they also need a role model. In my youth, my injuries were very noticeable, if only because I was lame. Despite this, I never acted like a victim and never lost confidence in myself. I tried to always be a pleasant, polite, caring person. In fact, people rate us just for these simple, basic things. Many, having only talked to me for a week, noticed that I did not have a leg. But well, I’m a disclaimer, or something, to do: "Hi, before we start talking, know, I don’t have a leg!"
I believe that for people with disabilities the bar must be higher so that they can achieve even more. No need to put yourself below the rest, you should strive for the same thing as everyone else. I judge by myself: there are fewer obstacles for people with disabilities than it seems, but the work will not come down to you in a magical way. No one will pull you out of bed: "Come on, get out, we have a case especially for you!" Not only should society be more open to people with disabilities, but they themselves should not be afraid to express themselves. If you can function at any level, the society has no reason to reject you.
Викт The main clip of Victoria Modest "Prototype" was broadcast in the commercial breaks of the reality show "The X Factor". In the story, the heroine of Modest becomes a symbol of resistance to the nameless fascist regime. The metaphor is straightforward: the singer seeks to change the boundaries of what is permissible in show business. At the same time, she still acts within the “norm” framework: she wears high-heeled shoes, even if instead of one of the shoes there is a futuristic aggressive spine knee-length.
I believe that feeling sexual and attractive is one of the basic human rights. Many simply do not think that people with disabilities also have sexual desires. But why not? I have never met tweets or social media comments that one of the Paralympic athletes looks sexy. And people are not sure - is it normal to say this at all? Damn it, yes of course, yes!
I have two main views on what I do. On the one hand, there are my personal ambitions. I do things that make me happy: recording new tracks, meeting with brands and companies I could work with. On the other hand, sometimes I find it hard to believe what is happening. When we were doing a campaign with a video on “Prototype” with Channel 4, we thought: will it be fair to call me the first bionic woman? Can we call me the first, not wry? There is Aimee Mullins, a Paralympic and an actress, there are a couple more people in sight - but this is always someone associated with sports. And I do not want to run - I don’t care about running at all! Outside the Paralympic sport there is life: people should have a choice what to do, because our possibilities are endless.
I would not want everything that I do to reduce exclusively to the rebranding of a disability - this is too big a mission for one person. Nevertheless, I hope that my experience will inspire other people. It will be great if in a couple of years I don’t have to talk about it all the time. In the meantime, this is a very important topic that needs to be talked about tirelessly here and now: ideas of people around about the lives of people with disabilities are evolving before our eyes. For me it is important to bring my message, because if not me, then who? There are many people in the world who need support, and it is very important not to forget about the situation as a whole, the common good, and not to think only about your personal success.
I would not want everything that I do to reduce exclusively to the rebranding of a disability - this is too big a mission for one person.
Recently, I am especially interested in what practical science can offer people. I met a lot of people who see the future in a completely different way than most - and our vision is the same. The problems with which we were born, the body that is given to us, should not determine our life. Today, every day there is a breakthrough in a particular area of technology. During a trip to Boston, I saw incredible things, muscle tissue grown from stem cells, artificial limbs that can be controlled as my own in the near future. 3D printers can print body parts and even fabrics. Against this background, it seems to me that the old way of thinking will soon be a thing of the past. We are witnessing a leap from the dark ages straight into a bright future.
Experienced traumatic experience taught me one. I realized that our body is just a shell that does not equal our essence. Many cling to the tangibility, the literalness of the body, repeating that only it is real. Of course, it is real, but, for example, the prosthesis that I wear is the result of a human idea, it was made thanks to our imagination. Why is it less real than the biological leg? People watch too many sci-fi movies, after which they begin to fear that the machines will take over the planet. I am not a car - I am the same person as everyone else.
Most of all I like that the brand "Victoria Modest" is a symbiosis of body, technology and pop music. Many people are still afraid of science, considering it too complicated and boring. My approach is one of the ways to bring education to popular culture. So that people understand the complex technology submitted in a simple form - not from a scientific journal, but from a music video. Many wonder why I chose pop music. It seems to me that it is pop culture that is one of the most influential tools of modern times in order to translate really important things into an accessible language. If you can reach the same level of popularity as any Kardashian, but at the same time communicate important information, make people feel something, and not just give them empty tips on what skirt to wear, that's wonderful. Pop culture is able to accommodate a lot more ideas than it carries in it now.