We woke up far too late and hung over yesterday to enjoy the weekly bliss that is The Sunday edition of The New York Times, so we were just doing a bit of catching up and came across this piece from The Magazine.
In it, Elizabeth Weil explores the myriad debates surrounding intersex babies, those little bundles of joy born with both male and female traits. Should they be given so-called corrective surgery? What are the consequences of such surgery? Why, as a society, do we feel the need to eliminate the gendered middle-ground? Etc. Etc.
Definitely an interesting read; although, in grand magazine style, quite lengthy. We recommend you use your office’s resources and print it out for later. Can’t have you getting fired, now can we?
(And, yes, we used the same Christoph Nieman image from the story itself. How could we resist?)
How about we take this to the next level?
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Martini_boy
Simply stated: corrective surgery in NOT necessary. Rather, why not change social views on intersexuality and be more open to and accepting of people who are blessed with a bit of both worlds?… Oh yeah, I forgot: we still live in a society that views gender distinctions quite rigidly. AND dinosaurs are still roaming this earth, pathologizing and demonizing anyone who doesn’t fall into these tidy categories… One can only hope for the best, though.
dan
“why not change social views on intersexuality and be more open to and accepting of people who are blessed with a bit of both worlds?”
Sure, lemme just snap my fingers and make that happen. Right or wrong, gender is the most basic criterion humans differentiate each other on–before age, race, nationality. We cant seem to eliminate prejudices based on those catagories, so I dont see how we can just make society gender-blind.
And another thing: dont go assuming all intersexed people want to be “in the middle.” I have a good friend who was born intersexed, and she’s eternally grateful her parents decided to raise her as a girl. Try living in the real world and not your Gender Studies textbook
Martini-boy
I see you forgot to quote “Oh yeah, I forgot: we still live in a society that views gender distinctions quite rigidly. AND dinosaurs are still roaming this earth, pathologizing and demonizing anyone who doesn’t fall into these tidy categories… ”
That, my dear, was my way of saying “It aint gonna happen anytime soon, bitches, because the real world doesn’t change that easily.” That gave the first sentence some context, and pretty much summed up what you said afterward, thank you.
Martini-boy
Who said anything about being “in the middle”?
Nick
Oh, right, Dan, because genitals are the be-all and end-all determiner of gender. If you’d actually read the article, you might have seen that the girl they mentioned whose parents didn’t elect to operate on her IDENTIFIED AS A WOMAN and was just peachy with her junk.
I’m just as fond of the gender binary as anyone. But stop presuming that everyone else in the world is as uncomfortable with a potential partner having “ambiguous” genitalia as you are. Intersexed folks with non-cut-on genitals might have to weed out their dates more than some other folks, but that doesn’t make their life miserable.
Martini-boy
Touché, Nick! Well said.
Let’s also remember that although your friend was highly uncomfortable being intersexed and is living in bliss now that she’s a girl, she does not represent ALL intersexed individuals.
Also, one has to question WHY your friend felt an aversion toward the thought of remaining intersexed in the first place. Something tells me this is more (and forgive me for using such a binary example) ‘nurture’ (her upbringing and current conceptions of gender) rather than ‘nature’.