Essays on Intersex

It needs to be reckoned that the there is a difference between the sex of a person and the gender identity. In a society that is largely patriarchal in nature, the societal institutions come to impose the gender on the individual based on the sexual identity that the person is born with. However, this process of gender construction is not a natural phenomenon and can be described to be rather an imposition as per the parameters of patriarchy and its norms. As one goes through the story, All You Zombies, written by Robert A. Heinlein, one finds the exploration ...

Jeffrey Eugenides presents a dilemma that most people would find unimaginable and almost impossible to face if it occurred in their lives. Suppose one grows up knowing she is a girl, only to discover one day during her teenage years that the reverse is true, or even worse she is neither a girl nor a boy. It is unthinkable if such an individual discovered s/he is both. The author presents this kind of continual dilemma in this piece where the protagonist struggles to find a precise self-definition, a development that makes life almost unbearable. A universal reasoning in this ...

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“One person’s abnormality is another person’s life.”-Alice Dreger

The extent to which one person’s abnormality is another person’s life is relative to the scope of anatomical normality or abnormality. Genetic abnormalities that relate to gender, otherwise known as anatomical sexual variation, are part of human intersexuality. Intersex is defined as the anatomical variation from the standard male or female gender, and is a pathological variable that require medical treatment. This means that an intersex child has the sexual anatomy of both genders. Intersex genitals may therefore be a sign of an underlying medical condition, but they are not a medical problem. The notion that ...

Along with the ethical issues regarding cosmetic surgery, the ones, concerning sex reassignment, remain of high controversy for medical science, psychology, philosophy and religion. While sometimes gender reassignment can be viewed as a caprice of a person, in vast majority of cases the willingness to undergo gender reassignment surgery is a consequence of gender identity disorder. According to M.Hume (2011), gender identity disorder can be considered both as a physical and psychiatric disorder. For those specialists, who consider gender identity disorder purely mental health issue, question whether surgery can be viewed as morally appropriate solution to the incongruity between a body and mind ...

R. K. Williamson, the author of the Original Study “The Blessed Curse,” was born an “intersex.” According to Intersex Society of North America, intersex is a term largely used to refer to various conditions of people born with a sexual or reproductive anatomy that doesn’t fit into the category of a male or female. His great-grandmother, a Cherokee woman, exposed her to the Native American view of the two-spirit, or a person who possesses the spirit of both a man and a woman. Native Americans acknowledge that everything that exists in the world has spirits, and for Williamson to have two spirits is a gift (Williamson ...

Transgender and Intersex Individual

In the present day society, many people do not rely on their assigned gender, or sex, at birth to define themselves. Male and female are not the only genders that humanity must embrace. Normal, as the community dictates, is when a relationship is anchored to the idea that it is only between a man and a woman. Normal is when you grow up as what kind of genital you have upon being born. With this kind of conception of normality, exclusion of some members of the society is being prominent for these members do not commit to the ideals of normality in a ...

In order to analyze a client’s behavioral trait, one has to probe into the very person’s social conditions, culture, environment, genetics, and family background. These are the main factors that constitute the biopsychosocial wellbeing of every individual. Calliope Stephanides, the protagonist in Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel ‘Middle Sex’, would be a potential client for an evaluation and case plan. The character Calliope (Callie) is relevant for its socio-psychological significance, and it makes a sincere approach to intersex individuals’ emotions throughout the story. A close analysis of the client Callie makes it clear that she undergoes severe identity crisis and emotional ...

Sydney Mardi Gras is one of the largest festivals of the world related to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex. The two week festival is celebrated in Sydney every year and attracts a large crowd from across the Australia and other parts of the world. The festival has emerged over a long period of time which was initially started as a remembrance of New York’s Stonewall’s Riots of 1969. This paper discusses the Sydney Mardi Gras and other related aspects of the event. This event was organised for the first time in the year 1979 when a protest march ...

Sydney 2012 Mardi Gras

Originally a commemoration and demonstration to mark New York’s Stonewall’s Riots of 1969, the Sydney Mardi Gras has grown to become one of the world’s largest festivals. The Sydney Mardi Gras was first inaugurated in 1979 when a protest march was held to commemorate the events of the previous year in which 53 protesters were arrested (Coorey, 2011). The 2-week long is now an annual festival and pride parade for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) people (CNW Group, 2012). The event brings together thousands of people from Australia and beyond and is an important ...

Since ancient times, human sexuality has been a debate that has influenced culture, societal norms, and gender responsibilities. Naturally, there are two distinct sexes—male and female—and anything in between makes an individual ostracized in the society. Furthermore, because of many societies having a propensity for patriarchy, practices have resulted in making one gender inferior to the other or superior to the other. For instance, circumcision in males is seen as a sign of manhood and strength, while circumcision in females—termed as female genital mutilation (FGM) – is a way of suppressing women sexually (Ehrenreich and Barr 17). Internationally, FGM has been ...

Though LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) prisoners face challenges which other prisoners face, sexual orientation, prejudice and gender identity makes the challenges to be more difficult for them. Other human rights violations faced by LGBT persons include: physical and mental integrity rights, freedom of association and that of expression, laws that are discriminating and application of laws in a discriminatory manner (Forsyth et al, 2002). Though most of the unique challenges that LGBT prisoners face have not received extensive litigation, those that have already been litigated might receive a significant change, if the Supreme Court makes a decision that is relatively ...