People are commonly born with genitals that are easily distinguished as male or female. Intersex individuals are born with ambiguous genitalia that can’t be clearly categorized. The ambiguity of the genitalia or anatomy varies as a product of different variations of chromosomes, genes, gonads, hormones, and hormone receptors (A.D.A.M.). This variations can either occur externally or internally, for example the genitals could be difficult to distinguish as female or male or the internal anatomy of the individual doesn’t correspond with what is visually seen; for instance, male genitalia with female reproductive organs. In most societies, the ideas of gender affect our actions and when someone is born without an easily distinguishable gender it can threaten to set things out of order and to “disambiguate” the situation, the parents of intersex patients are coerced to turn to gender assignment surgery (A.D.A.M.). It’s estimated that 1 in every 2000 newborns are born with an anatomy that can’t be placed under a gender category and it is common to put that infant immediately (within their 18 months of living) into gender assignment surgery, also known as “normalization” surgeries. These surgeries are cosmetically performed, medically unnecessary, and a form of genital mutilation because it negatively affects the function of the genitals for the sake of fitting into a category. Performing “normalization” surgeries on intersex children is unethical, physically damaging, medically unnecessary, and should be banned in order to allow the intersex individual to make an informed decision concerning surgery and their gender with support and during the appropriate age of consent.
The most common form of intersex is congenital adrenal hyperpl...
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...lated to the child’s intersex conditions (Digitale). These challenged will arise at every stage of development. For example when the intersex child gets old enough to ask about their bodies or to take sex-ed classes, or when they date or form relationships, and most importantly when they get older and consider having children of their own. Karkazis believes that more attention should be paid to the individual with intersex conditions themselves rather than be treated as samples of an unusual biological variation (Digitale).
All in all, new parents need to be informed that their baby’s intersex anatomy and diagnosis isn’t a calamity or misfortune. Doctor’s should inform the parent that this biological variation has been seen before and that it’s okay instead of coercing the parent into consenting to a cosmetic surgery that’ll harm the individual in the long run.
In How Sex Changed by Joanne Meyerowitz, the author tell us about the medical, social and cultural history of transsexuality in the United States. The author explores different stories about people who had a deep desired to change or transform their body sex. Meyerowitz gives a chronological expiation of the public opinion and how transsexuality grew more accepted. She also explained the relationship between sex, gender, sexuality and the law. In there the author also address the importance of the creation of new identities as well as how medication constrain how we think of our self. The author also explain how technological progress dissolve the idea of gender as well as how the study of genetics and eugenics impacts in the ideas about gender/sexuality and identity. But more importantly how technology has change the idea of biological sex as unchangeable.
Overviewing our information, there is evidence of ethical wrongs and rights when considering sexual reassignment treatments for minors. Also, there are multiple options to choose from when transitioning and risks and gains that come with each. As we read from Dr. Kaufman and Dr. Beaver, the natural effects of puberty are irreversible while the effects of puberty blockers and hormones are reversible. Then from Dr. McHugh, gender dysphoria belongs in the family of similarly disordered assumptions about the body and should be treated in other ways than blockers, hormones, or
This review by Desire Chilwane is for the book “Recognizing Transsexuals: Personal, Political and Medicolegal Embodiment” by Zowie Davy. This book outlines the history of transsexualism in the medical world and medical terms, such as GID (Gender Identity Disorder). This book also includes studies and interviews performed on both male-to-female transsexuals and female-to-male. This is rare and extremely helpful towards my research, because most research on tr...
A single moment, a single movement, a single protest against the system is the first step to finding change. For every parent that says “leave my child intact”, it would be one day closer to a time when it will be socially appalling to cosmetically alter an infant child who is incapable of consent or comprehension. The fluidity, complexity, and ambiguity of human sexuality extends far beyond sexual preference and onward into gender and sex. Accepting that some things will never fit within a textbook definition, and celebrating difference rather than condemning it, would fulfil the dream of many minds such as Fausto-Sterling and Butler as well as the author. Only time and individuals that dare to reject the flawed system can ease the binds of ignorance that tie society so tightly to an outdated Victorian mindset of sex and gender.
A gynaecologist can easily perform an ultrasound and tell parents what gender to expect their child to be. Reasonably, parents have the choice to learn the gender or to keep it a surprise. However, For parents to know they are expecting a daughter by chance or for them to choose that they want a daughter are two different cases. There are a variety of methods that allow parents to choose the gender of their child. In some cases, there may be fear of passing down a sex-linked genetic disease and so a certain gender may be preferred to protect the child’s health. However, a contentious issue is whether or not gender selection for non-medical reasons is ethically defensible. There are three positions that one could take: gender selection can never, sometimes, or always be ethically defended. In this paper, I intend to argue that gender selection is always permissible.
The term “intersexual” is used to describe individuals who are born with a combination of male and female genitalia, gonads, and/or chromosomes. Biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling proposed three groups of intersexuals: some with a balance of male and female characteristics, some with female genitalia but testes rather than ovaries, and some with male genitalia but ovaries instead of testes. In order to understand an individual or a community of people, anthropologists believe that by recognizing more than just female and male, it allows for a less dualistic and more holistic approach to understanding the complex relationship between biology and gender. (Guest,
First; comes, the notion of nature. West and Zimmerman term this as sex, referring to a person’s biological makeup through genitalia, having a penis or vagina, or simply chromosomal pairing of XY or XX (29). Although there is no escape or control an individual has, if their foetal tissues formed into a penis or vagina, biology does play an underlying role in an individual’s identity and personality formation which is socially constructed. What is the correlation between biology and socially constructed gender then? The case study West and Zimmerman present of “Agnes, a transsexual person who was born (31), ” and raised a boy, but went through sex reassignment surgery, and identifies as a female, shows that although biology may result in a certain genitalia, an individual’s response to that may be one that is conforming or opposing to it. By the terms conforming and opposing I mean to say that Agnes could have either continued to
Ambiguity can be defined as a lack of precise meaning or interpretation, so how can we describe human existence as “ambiguous”? Surely, there must be some essence, or characteristic thing, that we can use to solidify the meaning of our existence. However, it becomes difficult to pin down exactly what every human existence has in common. Dreams of fame and fortune motivate and consume the lives of some people, others dedicate their lives to help people less fortunate, and still there are those that sit on a couch all day watching TV as their years monotonously pass by. In The Ethics of Ambiguity, Simone de Beauvoir develops an existentialist view that explains the details of an ambiguous existence and how those who exist should act in this world. De Beauvoir relies on an individual’s freedom to argue that existence is ambiguous and that each individual should act with the intention of securing this freedom in herself and others. I find Simone de Beauvoir’s analysis on an ambiguous existence to be logical, as I tend to think and act in ways that may constitute my being an existentialist.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an ancient traditional non-therapeutic surgical procedure that involves total or partial removal of the external parts of female genitalia. This paper aimed to define and classify FGM, identifies the prevalence, describes reasons for performing the practice, and concentrates on the problems associated to this practice with regard to women’s health, religious beliefs, and socio-cultural, behavioral and moral consequences. Researches and survey reports that the global actions have been taken to reduce or abolish the prevalence of the practice will be assessed.
Jody was born biologically with male genitals and he was brought up as a boy. Unlike his more gender-typical older brother, Jody’s childhood behavior was considered “sissy”. Jody genetically preferred the company of girls compared to boys during childhood. Jody considered herself a bisexual male until the age of 19. At 19 years of age, she became involved with a man, and her identity would be transgender, meaning that Jody was unhappy with her gender of birth and seeks a change from male to female. It would seem that there was some late-onset dissatisfaction, and late-onset is linked to attraction to women; in comparison to early childhood-onset, which are attracted to men. Jody identified herself as bisexual. The relationship with the man ended; nevertheless, Jody’s desire to become a woman consumed her, and Jody feels that’s he was born in the
According to the DSM-5, gender dysphoria is “the distress that may accompany the incongruence between one’s experienced or expressed gender and one’s assigned gender” (American Psychological Association, 2013). Even though studies have shown that not every individual suffers from distress, it is still possible that an individual might suffers from distress due to the hormonal treatment or surgical procedure(s). In the past, gender dysphoria has been referred to as “gender identity”. However, gender identity, by the DSM-IV definition is “a category of social identity and refers to an individual’s identification as male, female, or occasionally, some category other than male or female” (American Psychological Association, 2000). Individuals that identify themselves with another gender tend to change their sex, which has been proven to be a hard and long process.
I believe that the reasoning behind our society’s strong need to maintain sexual dichotomy is the fact that if it changed it would contradict a long- established belief of what is considered normal. She cites Anne Fausto- Sterling saying “are genuinely humanitarian, reflecting the wish that people be able to ‘fit in’ both physically and psychologically” (183) as she stresses this it revels that doctors are making a decision to try and help children fit in to what is considered ordinary or usual as talked about in “The Five Sexes, Revisited” and now
Society today suggest that revealing the “gender” or “sex” of a child from the moment of conception forward is a necessity. But, in all actuality to some this is an invasion of their privacy and beliefs. Many believe that raising a child gender specific is not important to their upbringing or to their growth and development. Gender is defined with several different meanings such as the behavioral, cultural or psychological traits typically associated with the one sex. The sex of an individual, male or female, based on reproductive anatomy (the category to which an individual is assigned on the basis of sex) and the personal traits or personality that we attach to being male or female. Sex is defined as the biological distinctions determined by our genitalia.
Thesis: In a society ruled by hypersexulaity, asexuals are often depicted as freaks with a mental or physical disabilities, however
New Guinea focuses on the biological aspect of this intersex condition. For instance, New Guinea acknowledges individuals with normal male internal genitalia and with external genitals that looks similar to a female (Brannon 2015). At the beginning of puberty these individuals have the appearance of a girl but as they transition through puberty their appearance changes to a boy. Although the New Guinea government