Three Interlinking Factors In Intersex
The term intersex comprises of those individuals who are regarded complete or partial hermaphrodites, or those individuals with indefinite genitals regardless of blatant genomic and/or biological sex (Fausto-Sterling, 2000: 22). Simply put, intersex refers to individuals physical sexual organs do not comply with the standardised norm of male or female.
Question 2:
Kessler (1990) claims that attitudes towards the condition of intersexuality are mainly influenced by three interlinking factors: firstly, the development in surgical techniques and endocrinology; secondly, the influence of the feminist movement that has throughout time came to question the valuation of women in regards to reproduction functionality; and lastly, the psychological
…show more content…
For instance, Kessler notes that female genitals are able to be reconstructed indistinguishably to represent regular organs. The second factor relates to the argument from feminist expeditions (For example, the S.H.E (Social, Health and Empowerment Feminist Collective of Transgender and Intersex Women of Africa). with the cause to contend that the presence or absence functional sexual organs should not be the only decisive conditions for gender assignment. Finally, the last factor contends that the term “gender identity” separates the idea of oneself being associated to a gender, and the social expectations and behavioural effects of what is assumed a specific gender should …show more content…
Only in the exception of a dire medical life or death emergency which would require sexual organ surgery should ‘management’ of sexuality be considered; unless that be the case, intersex people, like all individuals, should be given the opportunity to live the life they wish to live, including making their own decisions regarding the notion of sexuality separate from societies standards of sexuality.
Question 4:
Kessler, throughout her study of the relationship between sex and gender, maintains that sexuality is neither fixed nor amendable, but rather constructed in what would fit into the ideals of societal standards. I agree with this assessment as the dominant nature of sexuality is now being questioned and poses a great challenge to this idea. The argument that sex is a socially constructed ideal poses a critical challenge to the categorisation of women and the relevance of a two-fold sex/gender
Engendering The Brain Summary
580 Words | 3 PagesThe chapter summarizes that sex differences in the brain structure and function has a close association to the psychological characteristics, such as sexual orientation. Social experience of humans influences hormones to a great extent. The relation between hormones and sex differences possesses both clinical and social implications. According to medicine, humans with ambiguous genitalia fall under the female sex as it is easier to create female genitalia when compared to male genitalia. Furthermore, surgical procedures used for reconstructuring either male or female genitalia have always worsened the
Here Are The Big Ones By Ryan T. Anderson: Article Analysis
1212 Words | 5 PagesActivists never acknowledge those contradictions. Instead, they opportunistically rely on whichever claim is useful at any given moment” (Anderson, 34). He is not only creating this writing because he disagrees with the opposition's opinions but because they don't recognize and address their own contradictions making their beliefs confusing. The definition of gender the author would most likely agree with is that gender should directly correlate to sex that was determined before and during birth essentially only male and
Dana Zzyym Case Study
1211 Words | 5 PagesIt is not uncommon for people with an intersex condition to live without knowing they have intersex anatomy. Sometimes intersex anatomy does not appear or goes unnoticed until puberty, if adults find themselves infertile, or after being autopsied post death (Intersex Society of North America, par. 2). Not only can gender vary, but so can the intersex community itself. There are many different types of biological conditions that lead to being considered intersex. No matter what form of intersex, the Intersex Society of North America’s statistics found that noticeable atypical genitalia occur for about 1 in 1500 to 1 in 2000
Christine Jorgensen Narrative Analysis
1721 Words | 7 PagesAs a result of being shaped by a heteropatriarchal society, it is assumed that medical transition will make a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity “line up”; if, for example, a trans woman is a lesbian, she will be questioned about why she felt the need to transition, as if there has to be a direct relationship between the two, or as if what’s more accepted societally trumps personal feelings. Today, much like Jorgensen’s transition was seen as a practical solution to a problem that demands a solution, we see the Iranian government’s attempt at solving the problem. A 1979 fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini, sanctioning sex-change operations, has led to Iran having the highest rates of gender reassignment surgeries, second only to Thailand. Homosexuality is punishable by death in Iran; however, the government covers “up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance” when it comes to surgery, and recognizes the change on birth certificates, as documented in a 2008 BBC article, “Iran’s ‘diagnosed transsexuals’” by Vanessa Barford. Just as Jorgensen went from being an “ex-GI” to being a “blonde bombshell”, positioned on opposite ends of a spectrum, those who want to love who they choose in Iran must go through psychological evaluations, hormone therapy, and surgeries that they often don’t
Bisexuality: The Myths And Medical Truths
409 Words | 2 PagesAfter watching “Interview with Jane Ward, author of Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men” and “Bisexuality: The Myths and Medical Truths” I learned that when a person deviates from the norms of their preferred sexuality, they are met with negative out comes. In the case of female bisexuality, their imagine suffers by the way society looks at them. In “Bisexuality: The Myths and Medical Truths” bisexual women are commonly
A Woman Who Has Sex Like A Man Rhetorical Analysis
1425 Words | 6 PagesRhetorical Analysis of “Why Everyone is So Threatened by A Woman Who Has Sex ‘Like a Man’” Author Zara Barrie, wrote an editorial called “Why Everyone is So Threatened by A Woman Who Has Sex ‘Like a Man’” with intentions to persuade and inform readers about the controversial concept that women shouldn’t have sex ‘like men have sex.’ She proposes that men can have sexual interactions with whomever, whenever but, when women do they are judged. Her opinion is that women should be able to have the same kind of openness with their sex lives without the judgments and shaming. Published August 4th, 2015 on Elite Daily, the article is to address these differences between men and women, also encourage women to not feel ashamed for their sexual intentions.
West And Zimmerman Analysis
495 Words | 2 Pages“A sex category is achieved through application of the sex criteria, but in everyday life, categorization is established and sustained by the socially required identificatory displays that proclaim one’s membership
Analysis Of Alan H. Goldman's 'Plain Sex'
1425 Words | 6 PagesThis minimal criterion, according to Goldman, is both necessary and sufficient to qualify normal desire as sexual. The mentioned above “repression argument” is grounded on a critics of the paradigms of ‘morality’, ‘naturalness’ and ‘normality’. They distort the concept of sex per se by ascribing external goals to it, such as reproduction, expression of love or other communicative intentions. These judgments and biases are allegedly intrinsic to sex itself, but they can only be justified through arguments non-related to the sphere of sexual desire.
Ron And Janet Reimer: Documentary Analysis
661 Words | 3 PagesIn 1965, a young couple in Canada, Ron and Janet Reimer, had two healthy twin boys. When the babies were eight months old, they went to have circumcisions performed. However, a freak accident occurred and baby Bruce Reimer’s penis was almost completely burned off by an electric machine. Bruce was badly injured and his parents were concerned how this accident would affect him in the future. One night while watching television in 1967, the parents saw hope when they saw Dr. John Money, a Harvard graduate and Ph.D. who was working out of John Hopkins, talk about success with sex change operations, and the how easily his patients were having with their new genders.
Social Construction Theory: Problems In The History Of Sexuality Analysis
619 Words | 3 PagesThe article is based on how social construction theory is based on the idea of “natural,” rather than based on invariant result of the body, biology, or innate sex drive. Whiles essentialism in the study of sexuality as believe that a human behavior is “natural,” that is predetermined by genetic, biology, or physiological mechanism that doesn’t change. The perspective of moving away from essentialist framework that challenged the “natural” status, suggesting that human’s gender and sexuality is called into question. In the article, “Social Construction Theory: Problems in the History of Sexuality,” Carole Vance argues that social construction violates idealistic of ideology, and raise status question.
Perks Of Being A Wallflower Essay
1148 Words | 5 PagesThe theory means to deconstruct heteronormative narratives and create a society with acceptance for the complexity of gender and sexuality. Sexuality is not an essential truth depending on one person's body, but rather how the person acts in reality. Sex and gender are both social constructions and should not be categorized by the binary system “feminine” or
Sexuality In Ancient Greece
909 Words | 4 PagesBACKGROUND: Historically, in western society women’s sexuality has been suppressed and controlled by male power. Women 's sexuality before the Victorian age was seen as a volatile, all-consuming, dangerous phenomenon, a wild and destructive force that must be tamed (by threat of rape/violence and by actual rape/violence), all of which preserves patriarchy. The vagina was said to have teeth, representing the dangers of the sexually irrepressible vagina as consuming male flesh. It was commonly held that women 's sexual appetite was insatiable, and that men could not keep up.
Asexual Representation In Mainstream Media Analysis
675 Words | 3 PagesIn mainstream media, asexuality is rarely represented and much less accepted as a sexual orientation. Usually, asexual individuals are portrayed as having either a mental or biological problem that makes them asexual (Jankowski, 2015). Asexual women are shown as the innocent, kind “figure of purity" or as a “masculine woman” that cannot express her true desires or she will “lose her strength” (Engelman, 2008). Asexual men are shown as extremely intelligent and rational (Engelman, 2008). Other problems of asexual representation in mainstream media are as follows: 1.
Psychosexual Theory Analysis
1423 Words | 6 PagesPSYCHOSEXUAL THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT This is an assignment given in Adolescence and Learning to explore Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual theory of development. This theory describes how the personality is developed over the course of childhood through various fixations at each stage. The five stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Each of the psychosexual stages is associated with a particular conflict that must be resolved before the individual can successfully advance to the next stage (McLeod, 2008). According to Freud, a person who successfully completes these stages forms a successful and healthy personality whereas if certain conflicts are not resolved at the appropriate stage fixations occurs which result in failure
Female Genital Mutilation Summary
1111 Words | 5 PagesIn the “Cultural Rights or Human Rights: The Case of Female Genital Mutilation”, Henriette Dahan Kalev presents different arguments arranged along a spectrum pertaining to the controversial topic of female genital mutilation (referred to as “FGM” from here on). Kalev describes the practice as the following: “There are various forms of the practice, ranging from a partial clitoridectomy to a full excision of the clitoris, labia minora, and majora followed by infibulation (the stitching of the vulva leaving a small opening for urine and menstrual blood)” (339). To indicate why FGM is a point of contention in society, Kalev adds, “The ‘surgery’ is typically performed by a female ‘midwife’, often in unsanitary conditions with no anesthetic. These
More about Three Interlinking Factors In Intersex
Engendering The Brain Summary
580 Words | 3 PagesHere Are The Big Ones By Ryan T. Anderson: Article Analysis
1212 Words | 5 PagesDana Zzyym Case Study
1211 Words | 5 PagesChristine Jorgensen Narrative Analysis
1721 Words | 7 PagesBisexuality: The Myths And Medical Truths
409 Words | 2 PagesA Woman Who Has Sex Like A Man Rhetorical Analysis
1425 Words | 6 PagesWest And Zimmerman Analysis
495 Words | 2 PagesAnalysis Of Alan H. Goldman's 'Plain Sex'
1425 Words | 6 PagesRon And Janet Reimer: Documentary Analysis
661 Words | 3 PagesSocial Construction Theory: Problems In The History Of Sexuality Analysis
619 Words | 3 PagesPerks Of Being A Wallflower Essay
1148 Words | 5 PagesSexuality In Ancient Greece
909 Words | 4 PagesAsexual Representation In Mainstream Media Analysis
675 Words | 3 PagesPsychosexual Theory Analysis
1423 Words | 6 PagesFemale Genital Mutilation Summary
1111 Words | 5 Pages