Everyone dreams of the day they will meet their children. From a young age, you can hear people saying the plans and desires they have for their future boy or girl. Our society is constructed in such a manner that everything operates under this male-female dichotomy. However, this system of operation is not always applicable. Cases where this is evident is when intersex babies are born. Intersex babies are born with genitalia that do not pertain entirely to either males or females, hence the term, intersex. Parents are unsure of what to think about their child. What should they name it? What colors shall they dress them in? Will they raise it as a boy or a girl? They are consumed with questions that are normally answered by assignation to a sex category. …show more content…
When I first thought about what it would be like to have an intersex child, I drew a blank. The reason being that I had never even considered it a possibility. This stems form the serious lack of knowledge of the subject from the general society. Upon further consideration, I thought to myself, why should ambiguous genitalia affect in any way how I feel about my child? Having a boy or a girl makes no difference to a parent. All they care about is that they have a healthy baby. This would be my only concern in this situation. A child’s genitals should not be changed if they are born intersex. Who we are is defined by much more than our biological features. There are so many different things that influence who we are that it is impossible to use something like a penis or vagina to determine what role we will play in society. That decision should be entirely our own, which is why I would raise my intersex child with no gender
1. Wake County health officials are claiming that social networking apps are partly to blame for the sharp increase in syphilis cases around the area. According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, As of Friday, March 18th, there has been a recorded 1,113 early syphilis infections that were diagnosed in 2014, in the entire state as well as county, which is a 62 percent increase from the previous year, when 688 cases were reported. The article states that Wake County saw a total of 233 reported cases of syphilis last year, marking a 15-year high. A Wake County public health division director by the name of Sue Lynn said that when patients who contracted syphilis were interviewed in Wake County, many said they met their partner
Although there are no over-the-counter (OTC) medications to treat or cure syphilis, if diagnosed early, it can be easily treated and cured. For most cases of syphilis, a single intramuscular shot of Benzathine penicillin G can be given to cure individuals during the primary and secondary stages of the disease. Receiving a series of three intramuscular injections of Benzathine penicillin G over a specified period can treat those in the latent stage of syphilis (CDC, 2016a). Those individuals who have reached the tertiary stage may be required to be hospitalized to receive daily intravenous penicillin therapy (NIAID, 2016). Penicillin is also the recommend drug for treating women who are pregnant, and is considered to be extremely effective in
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.
Sex exists in a binary system of male and female, and people can be forced into this binary. A mother of an intersex child states that the surgery comes from “the message that a child’s body is not acceptable as-is and should conform to what the state thinks it should be” (“Their Baby Was Born”). Sex, just like gender, exists in a binary, and when individuals do not fall into the two categories, society becomes uncomfortable. Sex, like gender, is socially constructed (Fausto-Sterling). This means that sex is a spectrum and not the binary it has been made to be. However, society continues to see the binary as normal and will attempt to force individuals to fit the already established system. Because they are in the middle of the sex spectrum rather than at the ends, most intersex individuals in the documentary experienced and continue to experience the same pressures to conform described by the mother and Fausto-Sterling. One person identified with the female gender, but her mother raised her as male. Despite her gender identification, she was continually told to be more masculine and to conform to her assigned male sex and gender. Others also had their appearance shaped through surgery and other means to fit into the sex-gender binary but now choose to identify as neither male nor female. However, this lack of gender-sex identification can leave them socially isolated since
Another research development was actually being able to test people to see if they have an STI. STI’s can be tested for in a couple of ways; physical exam and blood sample. With a physical exam, a health care provider may look at one’s genitals and/or one’s anus for any signs of an infection, such as a rash, discharge, sores, or warts. For a blood sample test a doctor may take a blood sample. Another test can be conducted by taking a urine sample. The patient may be asked to urinate into a cup and have that tested. Discharge, tissue, cell, or saliva samples can also test for STI’s. A health care provider will use a swab to collect samples that will be looked at under a microscope.
Although intersex people only account for 1 out of 1500 to 2000 births, 1 out of 100 people have bodies that do not fit the standard for male or female bodies (Intersex Society of North America). Sex and gender play a significant role in society for potential relationships, family dynamics, and classification and understanding of personality traits and expectations (Strong and Cohen, 2014). Many parents do not want their children aggravated by a society so concerned with gender roles and gender as a binary, that people are largely distraught by non gender binary individuals. By nature, parents want to protect their children from physical and emotional harm. Intersexuality or unclear genitalia jeopardizes individual’s ability to have healthy relationships, especially intimate or romantic relationships due to a lack of education and
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,
Proponents for a diverse gender identity argue that a society which operates using gender binary norms puts unwarranted hatred and stress onto individuals who do not fall neatly into the binary of man and woman, by being “challenged, chastised, or cajoled toward normativity” (Ehrensaft, 2015). In Ehrensaft 's article “Boys Will Be Girls, Girls Will Be Boys” she proposes there are at least nine gender identities. Those being; “transgender, gender fluid, gender priuses, gender tauruses, proto gay, proto transgender, gender queer, gender smoothies, and gender oreos.” Ehrensaft indicates that, while this list may seem large, it is still likely missing a lot. As a psychiatrist, she has worked with many families that are working to come to grips with a child who is non-gender conforming. In many cases these children have attempted suicide due to feelings of alienation and hatred from the outside
Woman who live in the United States are not typically circumcised, however some woman live out if the social normality in the United States and have for reasons such as religion been circumcised. Woman all over the United States are affected by the practice of female circumcision even though it is illegal; being circumcised is illegal because there are no medical benefits as a woman. In many cases children of immigrant parents will come to the United States circumcised, this can be difficult for children developing in an environment in which female circumcision is not practiced or widely accepted. The effects of female circumcision and it’s physical, psychological and social effects on women who live in the United States can be impactful to
When two people are in love and plan on having a family, they look to the future and look at all the wonderful events to come. Yet, they do not think of any negative outcome that may lie in the future. No one likes to think that something different or unexpected can happen to his or her family, but rather image and focus on the great future that is yet to come. However, It seems that people are encountering more conflict with their gender identity and not only the individual but the families as well. This paper will point out how having a child who is gender confused suffers as much as the parents. It is hypothesized that parents who have a transgender child have a hard time accepting the child for who they are because of the negativity that
When expecting parents want to identify the sex of their child, occasionally the doctor will inform them to paint the nursery blue or pink rather than tell them the actual sex. More often than not they know which to expect, a boy or a girl, dependent on the color, and how to stock the nursery, with trucks or dolls, why is it that children are separated according to gender, and so early in life too? Sex is a reflection of biological organs, while gender is a state of mind. The concept of gender is so deeply rooted in society it becomes difficult to pinpoint its effects as learned rather than natural occurrences (Devor 383). It seems just natural for women to be the care givers and men the providers. Behaviors people become comfortable with are exhibited openly towards their children. Susan D. Witt states:
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.
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s sex and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision whether accidental or genetic can effect that child’s life style views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors.
Many of us have been reflecting on questions about intersex and what it actually is. I’ll be explaining the definition of intersex, how common it is the conditions of intersex and what is basically considered to be intersex. Intersex is when a person is born with a sexual anatomy or reproductive system that doesn’t quite fit the description of male or female. Some examples are, a person could be born with an outer appearance as a female but could have male anatomy on the inside. Also a person can be born with what looks to be as both male and female genitals, such as, a boy can be born with a small penis or a scrotum that’s divided forming what can look like a labia or a girl can be born with a very large clitoris or even not having a vaginal opening. Then there’s the gene mix up. A person can be born with mosaic genetics which means that some of her cells have xx chromosomes and some have XY chromosomes.
Today, there are many new advances and changing views in terms of gender identity. Opinions of the general public are now becoming more open minded and more accepting of individuals who are a part of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered (LGBT) community. Traditional male and female stereotypes are now becoming obsolete. Furthermore, a new practice, referred to by psychiatrists and psychologists as gender neutrality, is being encouraged, in which there are no gender stereotypes and individuals are not distinguished by their genders, in hopes that children will become more comfortable with themselves and their feelings.