# Is a limp a turn-off?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 17, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491 "2005-08-17T22:09:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/21 "2005-08-18T20:03:01Z")
I used to date a paraplegic, and he told me that he thought the wheelchair was a “chick magnet.” His theory was that women initially felt sorry for him, and figured that he was “safe” where sexual advances were concerned. Hooboy, that woulda been a false assumption.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/22 "2005-08-18T20:18:50Z")
We had a friend who was a paraplegic. He was a chick magnet and could beat the pants off of you in pool.
Not that being in a wheel chair on a permanent basis is a guarantee of any of these talents, but he did give us our dog for free 10 years ago, so I thought I’d throw that in there.
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### Author:  [@tomdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomdenny)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/23 "2012-11-30T08:16:43Z")
Some people find a limp a very attractive feature in a woman.It gives a woman a sexy movement of the hips as she walks. Many lame ladies end up getting married and I wonder did their partner chose them because of or inspite of a lame leg.many girls who were polio victims are married but some did not.An aunt of mine,who has a severe limp as a result of polio,went on several dates but didnot marry.
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/24 "2012-11-30T08:25:13Z")
Yes, but only because it causes sympathetic negative feedback with my own asymmetries.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/25 "2012-11-30T08:37:12Z")
Seven years of this thread, and no one’s mentioned the passage in James Joyce’s _Ulysses_ where the narrator is attracted to a teenage girl sitting on the beach, until she gets up and walks – when he realizes she has a limp, he is disappointed.
I always found that passage sad, because I could imagine myself becoming MORE interested in someone with a quirk like that. But obviously not everyone feels that way.
ETA: As with many traits, I could see how someone obsessed, say, with hiking in mountainous areas might hesitate about getting into a long-term committed relationship with someone with certain physical limitations.
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### Author:  [@tomdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomdenny)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/26 "2012-11-30T14:14:13Z")
In times past,every woman wore a skirt or dress and nylons. If she had a lame or deformed leg,it was visible to all.Now,if a woman has a limp,it is possible that she is a polio victim or she may be an amputee! A prospective partner is taking a chance. Also,in the case of ladies with a short leg,there is a reluctance to wear a built-up shoe. The result is that a minor limp becomes a severe limp. They think that people will stare at a built-up shoe although the resultant limp is much more noticable
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### Author:  [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/27 "2012-11-30T14:18:09Z")
I’m going to be an outlier and say… it depends. How much of an incapacity is it? Because I enjoy doing sports, country walks, cycling holidays and so on with my partner, and I would really miss that if my partner couldn’t partake.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/28 "2012-11-30T15:13:08Z")
> [@SanVito](#):
>
> I’m going to be an outlier and say… it depends. How much of an incapacity is it? Because I enjoy doing sports, country walks, cycling holidays and so on with my partner, and I would really miss that if my partner couldn’t partake.
Similar to my thoughts. I huge part of my life is skiing, hiking, trail running, mountain biking and that’s something I want to share with my SO. If the limp were significant enough to prevent that it would be an issue for sure.
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### Author:  [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/29 "2012-11-30T16:58:22Z")
Personally, there are not many things I find sexier than a guy with a slight limp. Or more than slight, even…as some have noted, consider Dr. House.
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### Author:  [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/30 "2012-11-30T17:01:07Z")
Yes it would be. Not a dealbreaker by itself, but it would be a negative.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/31 "2012-11-30T17:10:02Z")
He could make it sound macho by saying it was a skydiving accident.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/32 "2012-12-01T03:25:46Z")
> [@Reloy3](#):
>
> I just had a really fascinating conversation with a friend of mine (ok, a work-friend.) He is generally attractive and funny, but he was complaining that many women will not date him because he has a noticable limp due to an accident a few years back. So, would this be a problem for you? Why, or why not?
Hmmm… let’s see… I’ve been married nearly 25 years to a man who has had a pronounced limp since I met him. So in my case the answer is clearly “no”.
That said, yes, it is a turn off for some other women.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/33 "2012-12-01T03:40:51Z")
I dated a girl once who had a leg damaged by polio. It was easier for her to walk if she leaned on someone, so I tried to be that someone. Otherwise, it wasn’t an issue.
She did have another handicap, but the big tits didn’t cause any problems, either. 😉
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/34 "2012-12-01T03:44:19Z")
SOk, this issue is a bit of lightning rod with me. It sure is easy to post on an online, anonymous message board that looks and disabilities don’t matter to you AT ALL; if his personality is great that’s all that matters. Well I call bullshit. You know how many people have actually admitted (in my presence; IRL or online) that a whe,elchair is a turn-off? ZERO. Every-single-one gives the P.C. answer, followed by “and any girl who would turn you down because of your disability is shallow and not even worth your time”.:rolleyes: Uh huh.
I really wish, at least online, we could have a conversation in which we recognize that it is a fact of life that _most_ people are turned off by a disability; or simply regard the disabled as asexual beings. I feel that peoples’ personal unwillingness to be honest about this fact presents an additional obstactle for the disabled to overcome ‘right out of the gate’ when it comes to dating.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/35 "2012-12-01T03:56:32Z")
A
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#):
>
> We had a friend who was a paraplegic. He was a chick magnet and could beat the pants off of you in pool.
>
> Not that being in a wheel chair on a permanent basis is a guarantee of any of these talents, but he did give us our dog for free 10 years ago, so I thought I’d throw that in there.
“A chick magnet” how? As in he’s dating/screwing a lot of girls?
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### Author:  [@tadtooornamental](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadtooornamental)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/36 "2012-12-01T04:36:32Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> SOk, this issue is a bit of lightning rod with me. It sure is easy to post on an online, anonymous message board that looks and disabilities don’t matter to you AT ALL; if his personality is great that’s all that matters. Well I call bullshit. You know how many people have actually admitted (in my presence; IRL or online) that a whe,elchair is a turn-off? ZERO. Every-single-one gives the P.C. answer, followed by “and any girl who would turn you down because of your disability is shallow and not even worth your time”.:rolleyes: Uh huh.
>
> I really wish, at least online, we could have a conversation in which we recognize that it is a fact of life that _most_ people are turned off by a disability; or simply regard the disabled as asexual beings. I feel that peoples’ personal unwillingness to be honest about this fact presents an additional obstactle for the disabled to overcome ‘right out of the gate’ when it comes to dating.
For what it’s worth, I have a huge work-crush on a guy in a wheelchair. I’m not going to say that any girl worth your time would look past it, or even just be willing to work around it, but here’s at least one who sees it as a non-issue.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/37 "2012-12-01T04:50:01Z")
> [@tadtooornamental](#):
>
> For what it’s worth, I have a huge work-crush on a guy in a wheelchair. I’m not going to say that any girl worth your time would look past it, or even just be willing to work around it, but here’s at least one who sees it as a non-issue.
Well ok, if you have a crush and its a non-issue with you, _go for it._. Right? And of course not every girl is like this. I say these things as someone who dates regularly, has had long-term relationships and considers himself a confident person. I am speaking of the meta-issue of disability and dating/sex and our attitudes towards the subject.
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### Author:  [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/38 "2012-12-03T00:32:57Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> Every-single-one gives the P.C. answer, followed by “and any girl who would turn you down because of your disability is shallow and not even worth your time”.:rolleyes: Uh huh.
>
> I really wish, at least online, we could have a conversation in which we recognize that it is a fact of life that _most_ people are turned off by a disability; or simply regard the disabled as asexual beings.
It really depends on the disability to me. There are some disabilities that turn me off and I know I couldn’t get past them to start a relationship. If I were in the relationship already, I would stay and deal, but if not, I wouldn’t take that first step.
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### Author:  [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/39 "2012-12-03T00:38:03Z")
His limp probably causes confidence issues which is the actual turn off. Which he then blames on his limp causing more confidence loss.
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### Author:  [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-limp-a-turn-off/317491/40 "2012-12-03T04:34:06Z")
I got two words for you: General Petreaus\*
\*At least for Paula Broadwell 😉
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