Treatment of intersex individuals was motivated by psychosocial problems, such as sex categories that may make socializing uncomfortable. John Hopkins University wanted to make each child’s body, upbringing, and mind align as much as possible. John Money 1953, believed that people with intersex should be surgically and socially engineered in a healthy psychosocial way. Cheryl Chase was the founder of the Intersex Society of North America. The women’s health movement, and queer rights movement, and Intersex Society of North America, allowed intersex individuals to become more open about being intersexed. Since 1993, the internet’s growth has allowed intersex individuals to meet others like them, and since then, education has allowed others to
447). In the 1980s, homosexuality was far from being a normalized thing in society. While Sharon and Karen considered themselves to be married, they technically were not by law. This forced yet another limitation on the couple: Karen was denied the right to visit Sharon as well as any other legal rights a heterosexual couple would have had in this situation (Griscom, p. 448). For the time period, the medical staff were highly unprofessional as they performed heterosexism. It is to be expected that all wishes are treated with respect and rights are not taken away no matter the sexual orientation of the patient and their partner or family member. This is where ableism and heterosexism merge to form a new issue. Karen was denied the right to visit Sharon due to fears of sexual abuse based on the fact that they were in a relationship and Sharon was deemed incompetent at the time (Griscom, p. 448-449). If this were a heterosexual couple, there would be no fears of sexual abuse occurring because heterosexuality was considered normal whereas homosexuality was considered abnormal during this time. Yet, if there was sexual abuse occurring in a heterosexual relationship while one of the individuals was deemed incompetent, heads would have turned and looked the other way. Nurses and doctors would have become worried in Sharon and Karen’s case only because of
The medicalization of transgender tendencies, under what was Gender Identity Disorder, was demoralizing to all transgender people. This resulted in a form of structured and institutionalized inequality that made an entire group of people internalize their problems, making them question not only their own identity, but also their sanity. Therefore, the removal of this disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 2013 and the newest editions was important in that it shows society’s recognition and acceptance of the transgender
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,
In the past Johns Hopkins was a center for patients with a gender disorder. John Money, PhD worked in the Psycho-hormonal Group as a head. He had a very strange theory. He would apply his theory to actual patients, not knowing or expecting what would happen. The experiments he attempted on children and adult literally had no boundaries. One of well-known cases of gender identity disorder was about a boy. He was inducted into the Johns Hopkins center because of what happened during a normal ‘surgery’. The boy’s penis was accidently burnt during the circumcision. He underwent a surgery that made him have female body part. The little boy was raised as a girl. The boy raised as a girl felt as if he was a boy. When the family decided he was old enough to know they told him about what had happened during his circumcision. Once he had heard of this he decided to not be living as a female anymore. He later committed suicide. What we have learned from this experiment is that it comes with a lot of depression. Van Meter stated, “Because of the failures that began to materialize from Money’s ideology, the Psycho-hormonal group was abolished and Money was forced into retirement.” (239.) They are steps being taken to provide the best medical treatment and social environment with those who are suffering GID. I added this piece of information because I thought it was something we all show know about how the past has
In another article by Emily Greenhouse “New Era For Intersex Rights” she tells us the story that Jim Ambrose (an interssex born child) lived while undergoing this condition, taking us back to Kitzinger’s definition of intersex. He tells us about his horrific childhood he experienced due to his parents not having been given much of an option by their doctor but merely “they had a problem and they could correct it” showing us “consequently, in the typical circumstance of a child being born with ambiguous genitalia, a ‘psychosocial emergency’ is declared with the intent of ‘fixing’ the child” (Kitzinger, 1999). His whole life growing up he lived as the opposite sex not being able to enjoy his childhood or even his life. Could not go on vacation with his friends because he had to go “get his testicels chopped off” instead. Ambrose tells us how he would have preferred to be allowed the opportunity to explore his own identity and then, him choosing “to later, have surgery” which would have made it easier for him identify formation as an adult. One final thing that i took from this article that really opened my eyes when he said that he has talked to many intersex people and says that not one of them has been happy with the treatment they have received from their physicians”. This is why it is important to educate ourselves on the matter on the specific interesex condition
Some strengths of the article would include the research and conclusions of sex reassignments found through scholarly “experts” such as the study found by Dr. Kranz. He asserts women identified as female gender to have the highest level of “diffusivity” then comes along female-to-male transsexuals, then male-to-female transsexuals, and finally the lowest of males whom identified as male gender. This research concluded that through transgender experience, there is a disparity between gender identity and physical sex where the brain is structured differently suggesting a neural basis existing on spectrum. With the range of gender identity, the research also concludes sexual orientation to be based on spectrum and thus controlling an extent of how changeable gender is and what extent one will go through to change their body and behavior to match a desired
The eye opening article utilized for this analysis is titled, “Trans Women at Smith: The Complexities of Checking ‘Female’” ,written by contributing writer, Sarah Fraas on August 24, 2014 (pg 683-685). Fraas starts off by introducing the audience with a school that accepts trans women, Mills College, and talks about how glorious this decision is. The author then begins to talk about other schools not as accepting as Mills, especially Smiths College. She spews many facts and analysis on the issues trans women face today throughout the article including how transgender women are not gaining enough support to succeed, most transgendered women are neglected in school, and the fact that many have been accused of being a woman for the “wrong” reason. She also mindfully includes the image of a woman of color holding up a sign saying, “Support your sisters, not just your CIS-ters!”. The author utilizes this image to show people that we are all one whether we
Sexuality and gender identity issues have had a long history in the fields of mental health and public policy. There has been much debate surrounding the inclusion of issues related to gender and sexual identity in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual since its initial stages of development (Drescher, 2010). Debates in this field of interest have been fragmented between several stakeholders (Ehrbar, 2010). This fragmentation has created complications in the process of developing United States policies that are inclusive of individuals with gender identities that do not match the gender to which they were assigned at birth. Specifically, policies surrounding gender reassignment surgeries have been difficult to develop and pass on a federal level (Taylor, 2007). To date there appears to be no specific federal level policy regarding the mental health procedures and correlated documentation required to receive gender reassignment surgery. In addition, there are very few state level policies regarding insurance coverage of these procedures (Taylor, 2007). Much of these policy issues are closely tied to the lack of consensus on the ethical, professional, and social implications of the inclusion of Gender Dysphoria as a mental health diagnosis in the DSM-V (Ehrbar, 2010). Because there is little consensus across various stakeholders regarding the process of determining eligibility for gender reassignment surgeries many of these issues are extremely difficult to address. To those in the non-cis gender community this has created many layers of difficulty in accessing adequate care throughout the reassignment process including insurance coverage, mental health care, surgical procedures, and documentation accurately reflecti...
Recently, a professor lent me her copy of the book, Maternal and Child Health, by Jonathan B. Kotch. As I perused the public health text, I found only one paragraph about LGTBQ+ individuals, and this paragraph cited just one piece of research, which was more than fifteen years old. This, to me, highlights an area of need for attention, research, support, and public awareness. I do not immediately foresee myself crafting research proposals to offset this fifteen-year deficit. However, I do foresee myself providing comprehensive primary sexual and reproductive health care to LGBTQ+ individuals and communities, whether accompanying an adolescent in learning about intimate relationships; a trans* person in their sexual identity development; or a couple in their surrogate pregnancy. As a gay young adult, I hope to provide this care in a focused, sensitive, and relatable way, at once carving out a niche in the practice of public health nursing, while simultaneously meeting the underserved needs of LGBTQ+
In today’s evermore politically correct society, the term transgender is loaded with various meanings and implications. The inability for a consensus to form as to universal meaning stems from various interest groups laying claim to the significance of the term. For instance, the term ‘transgender’ is often interchanged with ‘transsexual’ or ‘transvestite.’ The two conditions are wholly different separate from transgender. For the purposes of this paper, Andrew Solomon’s definition will suffice: “The term transgender is an encompassing term that includes anyone whose behavior departs significantly from the norms of the gender suggested by his or her anatomy at birth. The term transsexual usually refers to someone who has had surgery or hormones to align his or her body with a nonbirth gender” (Solomon, 2012, pg. 599). It is helpful to know what the key differences between the terms transsexual and transgender. A person who is transsexual is someone who has gone through the process of changing their physical sex from the sex they were born with to the desired sex. A transsexual person could be someone who has met the criteria for the DSM-5 diagnosis of gender dysphoria and physically transitions so their inner-self matches their physical body thereby erasing the dysphoric state. Although the term transsexual falls under the umbrella of transgender, it is important to distinguish the two terms.
Levine, S. B. (1990). THE STANDARDS OF CARE FOR GENDER IDENTITY DISORDERS. HARRY BENJAMIN INTERNATIONAL GENDER DYSPHORIA ASSOCIATION.
Is there a distinction between the mind and the body? And if so, where does a person’s sense of self and consciousness lay? If consciousness lies within the mind, how should humans’ treat the body, as valuable or invaluable? According to dualist views there is a separation between the mind and the body that transgender patients feel every day. Imagine the pain and frustration one might feel when the people around look at you and think you should act and dress one way but you feel differently. That is the frustration transgendered people feel daily. They feel as if their gender and biological sex are opposites and it leads to physical, psychological, and social challenges throughout ones entire life. These challenges and separation within themselves is what pushes transgender patients to undergo the long and arduous process of sex reassignment surgery. There are many critiques and objections to this surgery that have roots in society, medicine, and the ethics of performing surgery on a physically healthy body. The ethical theory of hedonism supports the will of transsexuals to undergo the sex reassignment surgery in order to change their physical sex and decrease the pain and suffering felt by transgendered people as well as increase their pleasure and improve their lives in the long run. The ethical dilemma of transgender surgery and the ethical theory of hedonism go hand in hand in that they both seek what is pleasurable for their mind and their idea of self without valuing the body in importance.
Preves, Ph.D., Sharon E. "Intersex Narratives: Gender, Medicine, and Identity." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 32-42. Print.
...e then affected by hormones which cause the child to begin questioning their assigned gender. Because intersex children are able to understand this process of gender identity as an adolescent, it is selfish of the parent to be assigning the gender of their child. However, there are more effective solutions for both the parents and the child. Within the United States, New Jersey recently passed a new bill that “would grant citizens the right to change the gender on their birth certificate without having gender-reassessment surgery” (Greenhouse). Solutions have also gone beyond the United States. In November of 2013, Germany allowed a “third gender designation: X, for…intersex” (Greenhouse). This bill would then start to refrain doctors from having the parents to force choosing the gender of the child and having the child undergo surgery before their adolescent years.
Transgender people have been around for centuries, yet they still face problems in the eyes of education, medicine, and law; even, with biological evidence of transgenderism being a natural state. People in these professional fields have the influential advantage over the minds of society and help change discrimination and institutional services through making it more comfortable for transmen and transwomen to go through life.