[imagesource:@abbyandbrittanyhensel/TikTok]

The internet, once again, can’t seem to stop talking about conjoined twins Brittany and Abigail Hensel.

The famous sisters first gained worldwide attention when they appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996 and are back in the spotlight as they have reached a major life milestone: Abby is married.

The Hensels have said little about the wedding themselves, but they seemed to confirm the ceremony on their unverified TikTok account where they shared what appears to be wedding photos in 2023.

@abbyandbrittanyhensel #marriage #love ♬ The Good Ones – Gabby Barrett

Since Today and the New York Post reported that Abigail had a private wedding ceremony in 2021, experts are concerned that the unwelcome obsession over their personal lives has gone too far.

Experts specialising in disability and media studies suggest that the increased interest in the personal lives of the Hensel twins sheds light on societal attitudes towards individuals with unique bodies. Ultimately, the Hensel twins, just like anyone else, should be able to lead ordinary lives without becoming the subject of constant scrutiny and discussion, per USA Today.

“We see something where this is unusual, this is exciting, this is a little out of the ordinary, and it’s not something that many people are equipped to talk about very well,” says Elizabeth Ellcessor, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and author of the book “Restricted Access: Media, Disability, and the Politics of Participation.” “And so we see a lot of social media attention and other coverage that is focusing on this as being particularly remarkable, when people in their thirties get married all the time.”

Then again, conjoined twins are super rare, and people are often fascinated by the lives of people in unusual circumstances. For this reason, fascination around the Hensel twins is to be expected, says Alice Dreger, a historian, bioethicist and the author of One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal.

“People have always been fascinated by conjoined twins because they obviously represent a challenge to the way we think about individuality,” Dreger says. “We normally think of individuality as being about one person existing in one expansive skin, and, for conjoined twins like Abigail and Brittany, they are are obviously two people in one expansive skin.”

However, this intrigue becomes concerning when it leads to exploitation and the infringement of others’ privacy. For example, the Hensel twins have maintained a relatively modest public presence beyond their television appearances, indicating a lack of desire to divulge every aspect of their lives to the public eye.

Fascination around the Hensel twins’ romantic relationships is also especially inappropriate, because it often stems from “prurient sexual interest,” Ellcessor says. This is likely why the Hensels seem to have no desire to address any of the reactions to Abigail’s wedding.

“They have no interest in answering follow-up questions,” Ellcessor adds. “This is not anyone else’s business.”

The Hensels starred in the feel-good TLC reality series Abby and Brittany, which showed them driving, traveling to Europe and even riding a moped. When the show ended after one season, Abby and Brittany had just graduated from college with degrees in education.

A lot has happened in the last decade, namely how Abby, 34 now, and a teacher along with her sister, tied the knot with Josh Bowling, a nurse and United States Army veteran, in 2021.

We wish them the best as one big happy family!

[source:usatoday]