# Would you rather be a quadriplegic, or be blind? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222 "2017-03-28T15:07:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/21 "2017-03-30T13:02:04Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yes, I’m sure women who are quadriplegics can technically have sex. And men for that matter I guess. Depending on your definition of “sex” What definition of sex do you think it depends on? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/22 "2017-03-30T13:24:51Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > What definition of sex do you think it depends on? How about you describe an act, and I tell you whether or not I consider that act as “having sex”? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/23 "2017-03-30T13:29:16Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > How about you describe an act, and I tell you whether or not I consider that act as “having sex”? You want me to describe “an” act? You are the one that said quads can “technically” have sex, but it depended on a definition of sex. I’m curious which definition(s) it depends on. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/24 "2017-03-30T13:46:33Z")
I know you think you can make me choose, but I don’t see that you have a leg to stand on. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/25 "2017-03-30T13:48:46Z")
Well, let’s see. A woman with no feeling from the neck down has a guy get on top of her and penetrate her vaginally with his penis until he ejaculates “technically” had sex. Or, a guy with no feeling from the neck down has a spontaneous erection which a woman rides on (can’t think of a better description) until she orgasms “technically” had sex. But those are not versions of sex that I would rather have than being blind. Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/26 "2017-03-30T14:22:16Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Or, a guy with no feeling from the neck down has a spontaneous erection which a woman rides on (can’t think of a better description) Riding a quad. > [@](#): > > until she orgasms “technically” had sex. But those are not versions of sex that I would rather have than being blind. Does that help? I wasn’t curious if you’d rather be a quad with specific injuries than be a blind person. I don’t know of any definitions of sex where those acts as described wouldn’t apply. Of course they’re not preferable. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/27 "2017-03-30T14:54:00Z")
Blind, no question. Blind vs paraplegic would be a much closer thing for me (and I’d be curious as to **Ambivalid** ’s opinion)… and it might probably depend on what sort of functionality (hint hint) was retained. As a blind person, I’d also have the possibility of learning to [echolocate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_echolocation) like a dolphin. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/28 "2017-03-30T15:05:20Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Riding a quad 🙂 > [@](#): > > I don’t know of any definitions of sex where those acts as described wouldn’t apply The problem with that is that it means that dead men and women are capable of having sex. As in “Would you rather be blind or dead?” “Well, blind, because if you are dead, you can’t have sex” “That’s not true, dead people can have sex. They can be penetrated by a man vaginally or anally until he ejaculates” ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/29 "2017-03-30T15:55:50Z")
Then dead people can be blind. So it’s really “would you rather be dead with no vision or being penetrated vaginally or anally?” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/30 "2017-03-30T16:09:28Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > …for me I am very visually oriented. My favorite things in the world are cinema and visual arts. I would not want to give those up. I am an artist; my vision is an essential part of my identity. Yet I’d much rather give that up than be a quadriplegic. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/31 "2017-03-30T19:25:12Z")
I wonder which one Stephen Hawking would choose. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/32 "2017-03-31T00:08:36Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Well, let’s see. A woman with no feeling from the neck down has a guy get on top of her and penetrate her vaginally with his penis until he ejaculates “technically” had sex. Or, a guy with no feeling from the neck down has a spontaneous erection which a woman rides on (can’t think of a better description) until she orgasms “technically” had sex. But those are not versions of sex that I would rather have than being blind. Does that help? [John Callahan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Callahan_(cartoonist)) did some explicit writing on having sex as a quad, including a cunnilingus session that almost wound up with him suffocated by his partner. There were certainly obstacles, but hey, it’s from the horses mouth sex as a male quad is possible. His biography also mentions him self-stimulating a reflexive erection. Quads with no ability to use their upper limbs at all can have a partner stimulate the same things. [Jill Kinmont Boothe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Kinmont_Boothe) also mentioned having sex as a quadriplegic in her biography, so the women can get it on, too. She’s not as explicit as Callahan. While quads are obviously not going to experience sex or orgasm in the same way as non-injured people they equally clearly get something out of the experience. I also had a cousin who married a quad and they had several children between them so presumably some sort of intercourse occurred. And yes, the quadriplegic man was the children’s bio-father and all the children were conceived post-accident. It’s just that I can’t point to an internet cite for that couple. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222/33 "2017-03-31T16:44:38Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > [John Callahan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Callahan_(cartoonist)) did some explicit writing on having sex as a quad, including a cunnilingus session that almost wound up with him suffocated by his partner. There were certainly obstacles, but hey, it’s from the horses mouth sex as a male quad is possible. His biography also mentions him self-stimulating a reflexive erection. Quads with no ability to use their upper limbs at all can have a partner stimulate the same things. > > [Jill Kinmont Boothe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Kinmont_Boothe) also mentioned having sex as a quadriplegic in her biography, so the women can get it on, too. She’s not as explicit as Callahan. > > While quads are obviously not going to experience sex or orgasm in the same way as non-injured people they equally clearly get something out of the experience. > > I also had a cousin who married a quad and they had several children between them so presumably some sort of intercourse occurred. And yes, the quadriplegic man was the children’s bio-father and all the children were conceived post-accident. It’s just that I can’t point to an internet cite for that couple. Ok, thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-be-a-quadriplegic-or-be-blind/783222.md?page=1)