NOTE: The information below was collected in 1998. Where ages are mentioned, add 11 years to those given.
This section analyses some of the statistical
data that has been
gathered on the devotee phenomenon over the last 10 years. Very
little scientific work has been done in this most interesting
area of research so most of the data presented here has been
collected from newsgroups and by e-mail or face-to-face
contact with leg-brace devotees, wannabes and disabled people.
Any data thus collected
is open to error and misinterpretation as the anwers given
cannot always be relied upon to be totally honest or accurate.
Nonetheless, there is now a sufficient groundswell of information
to believe that some hard data can be produced and relied upon.
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|
Ethic make-up and ratio
of men to women
|
|
Sex/ethnicity
|
Percent
|
|
Male - white |
91.94% |
|
Female - white |
4.84% |
|
Male - Black, African |
0.81% |
|
Female - Black, African |
0.00% |
|
Male - Hispanic |
0.81% |
|
Female - Hispanic |
0.00% |
|
Male - Asian |
0.00% |
|
Female - Asian |
1.61% |
|
The vast
majority are white males
with females making up only 7% of the total respondants. Similar
surveys have shown very slightly higher female percentages but
less than 10%.
|
|
Age range
|
|
Age
|
Percent
|
|
Age group: 18-25 |
1.75% |
|
Age group: 26-33 |
2.63% |
|
Age group: 34-40 |
6.14% |
|
Age group: 41-47 |
20.18% |
|
Age group: 48-55 |
30.70% |
|
Age group: 56-65 |
33.33% |
|
Age group: 66-75 |
5.26% |
|
Age group: 76 or older |
0.00% |
|
The largest proportion of people are aged
between 48 and 65. It is extremely
unusual for people less than 40 to be leg-brace devotees or wannabes.
The number of people over 65 may be greater than shown.
Few in this age group had internet access so may not
have completed the survey.
|
|
|
|
Marital status
|
|
Marital
state/sexuality
|
Percent
|
|
Heterosexual |
84% |
|
Homosexual |
9% |
|
Bi-sexual |
7% |
|
Heterosexuals
make up the majority of
people who responded.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Relationships with a leg-brace
user
|
Few devotees
have a relationship with a leg-brace user
that they so badly want .
|
|
Devotee, pretender, wannabe
|
|
Self
classification
|
Percent
|
|
Devotee + Pretender |
37.33% |
|
Admirer |
16.00% |
|
Wannabe +
Pretender |
12.00% |
|
Devotee + Wannabe |
10.67% |
|
Devotee |
10.67% |
|
Pretender |
5.33% |
|
Wannabe |
4.00% |
|
Wannabe +Devotee |
2.67% |
|
I
am none of the above |
1.33% |
|
Over a third of people consider
themselves both a devotee and a pretender.
|
|
Type of leg-brace most liked.
|
|
Type
of leg-brace
|
Percent
|
|
Leather and steel braces |
39.29% |
|
Leather and
steel braces with multiple buckle fastening |
34.82% |
|
Leather and steel braces
with lace fastening |
17.86% |
|
Plastic braces |
4.46% |
|
Plastic braces with velcro
fastening |
3.57% |
|
Most people
prefer the older style leather and steel braces
to the more modern plastic designs. The leather and steel types
were typical of those seen in the 1950s and 1960s when most
devotees were young and impressionable.
|
|
Family constellation and
parental relationship in impressionable years
|
|
Parents,
relatives and sibling status
when interest in
legbraces developed
|
Percent
|
|
My
father was deceased when I
developed my unique interest in leg-braces. |
0.42% |
|
Someone
in my immediate family
(mother/father, sibling) used leg-brace(s) |
1.25% |
|
My
mother and father were divorced/separated
before I developed my unique
interest in leg-braces. |
0.00% |
|
My
mother and father were divorced/separated
after I developed my unique
interest in leg-braces. |
2.50% |
|
I
developed my unique interest in leg-braces
while I living with my mother and
father. |
20.42% |
|
I
developed my unique interest in leg-braces
while I living with my mother
only. |
0.83% |
|
I
developed my unique interest in leg-braces
while I living with my father
only. |
0.00% |
|
I
developed my unique interest in leg-braces
after I stopped living with my
mother and father. |
0.83% |
|
I am the oldest child in my
family |
7.50% |
|
I am the only child in my
family |
7.50% |
|
I am the youngest child in my
family |
4.58% |
|
I am not the
oldest, nor youngest child in my family. |
2.92% |
|
My sibling(s) is the same sex
as me. |
3.33% |
|
My sibling(s) is different
sex than me. |
6.67% |
|
My siblings are
the same and different sex than me. |
4.58% |
|
My
mother was alive when I developed my unique interest in leg-braces. |
18.75% |
|
My
father was alive when I developed my unique interest in leg-braces. |
17.92% |
|
My
mother was deceased when I developed my unique interest in leg-braces. |
0.00% |
Hard to draw clear conclusions
from this particular table! Perhaps some small indication
that it is more common in oldest children in a family?
|
|
Emotional response when
first seeing person in legbraces
|
|
Reaction
|
Percent
|
|
Fascination
|
76.67% |
|
Envy |
10.00% |
|
Sympathy |
6.67% |
|
No
different |
6.67% |
|
Pity |
0.00% |
|
It is interesting that no-one
responded with pity. Most report a fascination
|
|
|
|