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
In Intersexion: A Documentary about Being Intersex, an intersex individual named Mani Mitchell travels around the United States and the world to meet with other intersex individuals in the hopes of sharing their stories and raising awareness of the condition. Throughout the documentary, many individuals share their own personal experiences, but they often feel similarly about being intersex. They feel that being intersex is not a problem, but the way they are treated because of it is an issue. Many were subjected to genital surgery and forced to conform to the male-female sex binary. They discuss the consequences of these things as being physical, emotional, social, and psychological. While the documentary covers many aspects of being intersex,
In conclusion, keeping Gender Dysphoria as a diagnosis aids the most vulnerable population in seeking treatment and care, options, protection, and guidance. As society and medicine moves forward, we may be able to steer away from mental health bias and general discrimination towards non-conformity, but for now it is important to protect the patients who are helped by the diagnosis. Gender Dysphoria currently allows patients to be treated under their insurance, have access to care, and fight for their
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
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
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...
Despite the large collection of literature of sexuality that has been accumulating, human asexuality has been largely ignored. Asexuality is controversially considered to be a sexual orientation and people who identify as asexual are people who typically do not experience sexual attraction (Asexuality Visibility and Education Network, 2013). Though research on sex and sexual orientations has been done for centuries, the first real suggestion that there might be people who fall outside of the heterosexual – homosexual orientation spectrum came from Kinsey and colleagues in 1948. These individuals were put into a separate category and were identified as having no erotic response to hetero- or homosexual stimuli, but otherwise they were largely ignored by the researchers (Kinsey, 1953). Later, researchers linked asexuality with negative traits and pathologies, including depression and lower self-esteem (Masters, Johnson, & Kolodny, 1986; Nuius, 1983). An issue with these studies, however, is that the researchers defined asexuality in a way that most current asexuals do not agree with. For example, in a study done by Bell and Weinberg (1978), there were references made to asexual homosexuals who simply hid their homosexuality. Many asexuals, otherwise known as Aces, would struggle with this definition because homosexuality implies a type of sexual attraction: attraction to your same sex. Because Aces typically do not feel sexual attraction to anyone or anything, they should not be classified under the same label as a closeted homosexual. Another issue is that none of these studies actually focused on asexuality. Instead, they were added on the side and generally ignored.
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+
Preves, Ph.D., Sharon E. "Intersex Narratives: Gender, Medicine, and Identity." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 32-42. Print.
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.
...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.