#igm tw

[genderkoolaid]

medical literature about intersex people be like "there are problems that can be caused by forcing surgery on babies. luckily we are solving this by forcing surgery on even younger babies. it is vital that this baby CANNOT be left alone to develop normally. here is our 36 step guide on which surgeries you should force on which babies. also some people have said that forcing surgeries on babies might be "harmful" so consider that too I guess"

#m. #intersexism #igm tw #medical abuse tw

[trans-axolotl2]

I've been reading Cripping Intersex by Celeste Orr and one concept that I think is absolutely crucial and one of the best resources I've found for understanding my own experiences as an intersex person is the term Compulsory Dyadism.

Dr. Orr coins the term: "I propose the expression 'compulsory dyadism' to describe the instituted cultural mandate that people cannot violate the sex dyad, have intersex traits, or 'house the spectre of intersex' (Sparrow 2013, 29). Said spectre must be, according to the mandate, exorcised. However, trying to definitively cast out the spectre via curative violence always fails. The spectre always returns: a new intersex baby is born; one learns that they have intersex traits in adulthood; and/or medical procedures cannot cast out the spectre fully, as evidenced by life-long medical interventions, routines, or patienthood status. And the effects of compulsory dyadism haunt in the form of disabilities, scars, memories, trauma, and medical regimens (e.g., HRT routines). Compulsory dyadism, therefore, is not simply an event or a set of instituted policies but is an ongoing exorcising process and structure of pathologization, curative violence, erasure, trauma, and oppression." (Orr 19-20).

They continue on in their book to explore compulsory dyadism as it shows up in medical interventions, racializing intersex + sports sex testing, and eugenic and prenatal interventions on intersex fetuses. This term makes so much sense to me and puts words to an experience I've been struggling to comprehend--how can it be that so many endosex* people express such revulsion and fear of intersex bodies and traits, yet at the same time don't even know that intersex people exist? Why is it that people understand when I refer to my body in the terms used by freak shows, call myself a hermaphrodite, remember bearded ladies and laugh at interphobic jokes--yet do not even know that intersex people are as common as redheads? Understanding the term compulsory dyadism elucidates this for me. Endosex people might not comprehend what intersex actually is or know anything about our advocacy, but they do grow up in a cultural environment that indoctrinates them into false ideas about the sex binary and cultivates a fear of anything that lies outside of it.

From birth, compulsory dyadism affects every one of us, whether you're intersex or not. Intersex people carry the heaviest burden and often the most visible wounds that compulsory dyadism inflicts, as shown through often the very literal scars of violent, "curative" surgery, but the whole process of sex assignment at birth is a manifestation of compulsory dyadism. Ideas entrenched in the medical system that assign gender to the hormones testosterone and estrogen although neither of those hormones have anything to do with gender, a society that starts selling hair removal products to girls at puberty, and the historical legacy of things like sexual inversion theory are all manifestations of compulsory dyadism. For intersex people, facing compulsory dyadism often means that we are subjected to curative violence, institutionalized medical malpractice that sometimes includes aspects of ritualized sexual abuse, and means that we are left "haunted by, for instance, traumatic memories, acquires body-mind disabilities, an ability that was taken, or a 'paradoxical nostalgia....for all the futures that were lost' (Fisher 2013,45)." (Orr 26).

Compulsory dyadism works in tandem with concepts like compulsory able-bodiedness and compulsory heterosexuality to create mindsets and systems that tie together ideas to suggest that the only "normal" body is a cisgender one that meets capitalist standards of function, is capable of heterosexual sex and reproduction, and has chromosomes, hormones, genitalia, reproductive system, and sex traits that all line up. Part of compulsory dyadism is convincing the public that this is the only way for a body to function, erasing intersex people both by excluding us from public perception and by actively utilizing curative violence as a way to actively erasure intersex traits from our body. Compulsory dyadism works by getting both the endosex and intersex public to buy into the idea that intersex doesn't exist, and if it does exist then it needs to be treated as a freakshow, either exploiting us to put us on display as an aberration or by delegating us to the medical freakshow of experimentation and violence.

Until we all start to fully understand the many, many ways that compulsory dyadism is showing up in our lives, I don't think we're going to be able to achieve true intersex liberation. And in fact, I think many causes are tied into intersex liberation and affected by compulsory dyadism in ways that endosex people don't understand. Take the intense revulsion that some trans people express about the thought of medical transition, for example. Although transitioning does not make people intersex and never will, and the only way to be intersex is to have an intersex variation, I think that compulsory dyadism affects a lot more of that rhetoric than is expressed. The disgust I see some people talking about when they think about medical transition causing them to live in a body that has XX chromosomes, a vagina, but also more hair, a larger clitoris--I think a lot of this rhetoric is born in compulsory dyadism that teaches us to view anything that steps outside the sex dyad with intense fear and violence. I'm thinking about transphobic legislation blocking medical transition and how there's intersex exceptions in almost every one of those bills, and how having an understanding of compulsory dyadism would actually help us understand the ways in which our struggles overlap and choose to build meaningful solidarity, instead of just sitting together by default.

I have so much more to say about this topic, and will probably continue to write about it for a while, but I want to end by just saying: I think this is going to be one of the most important concepts for intersex advocacy going into the next decade. With all due respect and much love to intersex activists both current and present,I think that it's time for a new strategy, not one where we medicalize ourselves and distance ourselves from queer liberation, not one where we sort of just end up as an add on to LGBTQ community by default, not even one where we use a human rights framework, nonprofits, and try to negotiate with the government. I agree with so much of what Dr. Orr says in Cripping Intersex and I think the intersex and/as/is/with disability framework, along with these foundational ideas for understanding our own oppression with the language of compulsory dyadism and curative violence, are providing us with the tools to start laying a foundation for a truly liberatory mode of intersex community building and liberation.

*Endosex means not intersex

Endosex people, please feel free to reblog!

#personal #actuallyintersex #intersex #curative violence #compulsory dyadism #intersexism #interphobia #medical abuse tw #h slur #igm tw #disability studies #actually disabled

[intersex-support]

hi, um...

firstly, i'm really sorry if this post will makes any intersex person uncomfortable. you can just don't publish it, if you see this question is unacceptable.

and also, tw: dysphoria

i don't know if i am intersex, but let's pretend i am not, just because i don't feel i have a right to call myself this way. especially before any tests.

i called myself non-binary or androgynous, in the childhood, for some reason, i used a word he*****dite.

i have physical and social dysphoria from a both sides, too masc or too fem = day ruined. voice, body, hair, face... all of it. i know intersex ≠ androgyny, i know intersex it is a many variations. i don't think intersex people can't look masculine or feminine (or any other way they want to).

and... let's say... i had really hard times with dysphoria. and now i have it, too. i... i think it sounds ridiculous, but i feel my experience... i think i need to call myself intersex.

well. i said it.

honestly, i'm not sexualizing intersex people or think they look in one certain way. i just feel like i had to be intersex, born as one. i... i really can't explain what it means. i just know it.

i don't think being intersex if fun or *special*. i just want to live normal life with myself. i, honestly, i never will say i have experience as intersex people have. i know, i do not.

it's just really hurt to think i was born F/M, not I. i had to be intersex. maybe it sounds crazy or disrespectful. to me, born as F or M almost similar painful.

i know i will never be able to be myself. it's all was wrong from the very beginning. i don't use any labels such as "intersex" or "transintersex" or whatever. i don't think i have i right to be in intersex spaces as a member, not ally.

my questions are...

do you think my identity have a right to be or it's disrespectful for intersex people? do you believe it exists? will i hurt actually intersex people if i start to call myself intersex?

i'm really sorry. it was almost 10 years of my physical dysphoria and 20 years of social. i thought about this so many times, and i don't know how to stop feel this way.

anon, I will be honest that this question does make me uncomfortable, but I'm going to answer it anyway, because we get a lot of questions like this and yours is one of the less offensively phrased, so I want to take the time to answer this now.

If you are not intersex, you cannot identify as intersex. intersex people are not being mean or cruel when we say this, this is just a fact. And because we are so used to our bodies being fetishized, and people only paying attention to intersex experiences when it is convenient for them, we often are justifiably upset when we are continually asked questions by endosex/dyadic people who want to lay claim to intersex experiences without being intersex. so many people do not understand the extent of intersex oppression, the multifacted ways that stigma can shape our lives, and the amount of violence that many of us face whether it's medical violence, sexual violence, or otherwise. and so many of our experiences are shaped by our other identities--our transness, our race, our disabilities--so many ways that our lives as intersex people can become entangled with the oppression we face. that's not to say that being intersex is inherently a negative or traumatizing experience, but rather to express that the intersex community is so fragmented and isolated that oftentimes, we spend years without ever meeting any other intersex people and internalize our own experiences as our fault rather than understanding the underlying oppressive forces at work. I have so much intersex pride and love being intersex, but that is something that took years for me to be able to say.

being intersex is so much more than just our physical bodies, our diagnoses, or our experiences with dysphoria. i know you said that you understand that being intersex does not equal androgyny, but I'm not sure you actually have accepted what that means when you talk about it at the same time as you talk about your dysphoria around being perceived as masc or fem. I really think you have a lot of misconceptions about what it is like to live as intersex and your questions reflect those misunderstandings. I think statements like "just really hurt to think i was born F/M, not I" are statements that are really hard for intersex people, especially intersex people who experienced IGM at birth, to look at because it reflects such a distance from the ramifications of actually getting marked as "I" at birth.

I believe that your dysphoria is valid and that your distress is real-I'm not intending to invalidate that, and I think that you deserve support and compassion for those experiences. but i do not think intersex community is the space to seek that support, and i do not think calling yourself intersex is something that is an appropriate way to cope with that distress. I do think that it hurts intersex community when endosex people label themselves as intersex because it actively makes it harder for us to build community when we are already so isolated.

I do not have any intention of shaming you for having the dysphoria and experiences you do, but I think you do need to do some more self reflection about the way you engage with intersex community, and develop some clearer boundaries about how you act as an ally without centering yourself. If you want to seek support for these experiences, you need to figure out a way to do it that isn't harmful to the intersex people you interact with, or seek support elsewhere. I do genuinely hope that this dysphoria and distress becomes easier to deal with for you.

also, i think it really isn't appropriate to share that you used to identify as a hermaphrodite as a child. I understand you were a kid and didn't know better, but like, I really hope you understand that hermaphrodite is a slur that is very, very painful for many intersex people to see and we really don't have a lot of interest in hearing any justifications for endosex people using the slur in any context.

overall I can't really stop you from doing anything, I am not the authority on intersex community, and I am only one intersex person and am happy for other intersex people to add on/disagree in the comments. But I am not interested in giving you permission to identify as intersex when you know that you are not intersex.

#asks #intersexism tw #h slur tw #igm tw #endosex/dyadic people: please be very considerate on how you engage with this post. okay to reblog but please do not center yourself #intersex

[identitty-dickruption]

The flight from the nonconforming body translates into individual efforts to look normal, neutral, unmarked, to not look disabled, queer, ugly, fat, ethnic, or raced... Thus, our unmodified bodies are presented as unnatural and abnormal, whereas the surgically altered bodies are portrayed as normal and natural...

Take two related examples: first, the surgical separation of conjoined twins and, second, the surgical assignment of gender for the intersexed, people with ambiguous genitalia and gender characteristics. Both forms of embodiment are regularly— if infrequently— occurring, congenital bodily variations that spectacularly violate sacred ideologies of Western culture. Conjoined twins contradict our notion of the individual as discrete and autonomous quite similarly to the way pregnancy does. Intersexed infants challenge our insistence that biological gender is unequivocally binary. So threatening to the order of things is the natural embodiment of conjoined twins and intersexed people that they are almost always surgically normalised through amputation and mutilation immediately after birth

Garland-Thomson (2008), Integrating Disability, Transforming Disability Theory

#she is finally talking about intersex people hell yeah!! #disability theory #intersex #intersexism #tw igm #igm tw

[intersexfairy]

the assumption that intersex people are inherently nonbinary is just another way of saying sex = gender. it essentially means that intersex people can't be their gender because of their physical and biological traits... similar to how trans people are told the same thing.

transness and intersexness, transphobia and intersexism... aren't the same. but the bigotry we face ultimately comes from the same place. a more pressing and dangerous example of this is how the laws that ban GAHT for trans youth and bar trans youth from sports... are the very same laws that encourage the abuse of intersex youth, barring them from GAHT and sports as well.

this is all to say, trans liberation is intersex liberation and intersex liberation is trans liberation. we're being spun on two sides of the same coin. if we all reach around to the other side and pull, we can topple it and be free.

#ifairy #intersexism #transphobia #anti trans laws #igm tw #igm #istrauma #queer liberation #trans liberation #intersex liberation #queer #queerphobia

[night-wyld-system]

Realizing I may have experienced intersex genital mutilation as an infant has lead me to be even angrier and more upset over not being accepted even within the queer community. People have been consistently asserting what my AGAB must be. And through that they assume my sex. I have not had my chromosomes checked- I am mot likely not fully one gender or the other given all the complications I have had- I am so angered that people have been cruel to me even within communities meant for safety.

I won't get into specifics but I originally thought that I had experienced generalized genital mutilation during my trafficking due to my body lacking something that is present in the genitalia of those who are fully what I was assumed and labeled to be. However looking further into intersex stuff made me realize that yeah... this is probably what this was. It's a lot to process and I do know I looked a bit different in my pictures when I was first born as far as I remember but I wasn't sure if I was seeing right... and god does realizing shit like this hit hard.

#intersex #vent #igm tw #tw mutilation

[trans-axolotl]

Do forgive my ignorance but I was under the impression that only adults could be sterilized due to the full development of their sexual organs, So how are doctors sterilizing babies when they aren’t really developed?

Hey!

So yeah it’s true that tubal ligation and vasectomies are only done on adults. When I refer to sterilization of intersex babies, I’m talking about the fact that intersex surgeries often cause sterilization because they take out the testes or ovotestes or otherwise harm the reproductive organs in a way that makes having biological children impossible. This is not the same process as voluntary sterilization of adults like a vasectomy or getting your tubes tied, but it has the same result of sterilization.

Hope that makes sense.

#actuallyintersex #igm tw #intersex surgery tw #intersex genital mutiliation

[intersapphic]

Idc I’m tired of these pathetic little bitches thinking they can just say whatever they want to me I didn’t get my body mutilated for ugly losers to not get what’s coming to them if they say that to my face

#igm tw #genital mutilation tw #can you tell I’m tired.

[ipso-faculty]

Proposing some intersex gender modality & transition terms

So there are a whole bunch of different ways that intersex people can be/identify as trans. I've been thinking about what names would be useful for articulating these differences and in this post I'll list what I've got so far. 🧑‍🔬

I'm hoping to get feedback on these, so if you have feedback let me know! 💛 I expect to edit this post, to incorporate feedback and further ideas.

CW: mention of IGM and forced HRT

Types of transitions

Distransition: a medical transition forced upon an intersex person, such as through IGM or forced HRT. Dis- to indicate the negative aspect of the transition being coercive, as well as to connote disability since this process is so frequently traumatic and/or disability-causing. In disability studies language it's a form of debility (disability caused through systemic violence).

Mistransition: a distransition (forced transition) that is not in alignment with a person's gender identity. Mis- to indicate the incorrectness of the alignment as well as to maintain a negative connotation because this is a coercive transition.

Entransition: a consensual transition done by an intersex person. Contrast to distransition. En- acts as an opposite to dis- and also to me indicates a level of intent (e.g. envision, enact, enliven). It also serves to indicate that transition is different for intersex bodies than for perisex bodies.

Retransition: an entransition done by an intersex person who previously had been distransitioned. I.e. when an intersex person does a second transition to undo, alter, or improve a forced transition. Re- to indicate a second transition, but also that it's a revision of the first one. EDIT #1: This term is not intersex exclusive, and may also be used by perisex trans people who have transitioned multiple times. EDIT #2: For an intersex-exclusive version, I suggest "re-entransition", combining re- and en-.

Retrotransition: a retransition that is done to undo the effects of forced transition. So an intersex person who, after being forced into a binary gender, then transitions their body towards a best approximation of what their body's natural state would have been without forced transition. Retro- for backwards to indicate undoing that is worth differentiating from detransitioning.

Laterotransition: a retransition done by an intersex person to a gender that is neither the gender externally imposed by a distransition nor what their body's "natural state" would be. For example, an AFAB AIS person who was coercively transitioned female, who then later transitioned male. Latero- as contrast to retro- (latero- is to the side, antero- is forward) as well as to indicate the turn away from the path set forth externally by parents/doctors.

Anterotransition: a retransition done by an intersex person that continues the direction set forth by previous forced transition. So additional transitioning done by somebody whose gender is in alignment with what was externally imposed. While this will probably be somebody's AGAB, it doesn't have to be - some times intersex people are forcibly transitioned to a different gender than their AGAB.

All of these transitions would have an analogous gender modality. So an entransgender person is somebody who has/is undergoing/intends to entransition. And a retrotransgender person likewise has/is undergoing/intends to retrotransition.

I see distransition and mistransition as potentially useful for intersex people talking about trauma and structural intersexism. I think entransition might be useful for talking about how being intersex and transitioning is frequently different than for perisex people, especially if it is a retransition. And perhaps distransition and anterotransition may be of use to exparium folks.

Personally: I was distransitioned as an adolescent and have recently started a process of medically retrotransitioning.

Feedback welcome! A list of revisions will go at the bottom of this post. Will make flags for terms once I feel satisfied with them.

Edits

2024-01-16: I've been informed by @chipbutbetter that retrans is already used by some perisex folks with complicated transition patterns, so I have edited to say this term should not be intersex exclusive. Thanks! 🏳️‍⚧️

2024-01-16: thought about an intersex-specific version of retransition and landed on "re-entransition". A little awkward but combines both retransition and entransition! Flexible on whether to include a hyphen (reentransition).

#intersex #intersex terminology #mogai #new mogai term #mogai requests #mogai coining #mogai review #cw: IGM #cw: forced transition #cw: forced hrt #tw: IGM #mogai peer review #actuallyintersex #actually intersex

[lilac-set]

TRANS RIGHTS NOW!! And intersex rights or whatever too i guess. Cis men with micropenises are pathetic lmao. Everyone look at this nonbinary bird. No one forces kids to have sex reassignment surgeries, that just isnt a thing that happens, you dont need to worry about it. Cis kids get put on hormones all the time and its completely fine! Your gender identity cant be “intersex”, thats equating sex and gender, you have to identify as something other than your sex or youre transphobic. If you identify as anything other than your agab youre trans!! Oh havent you heard? Intersex people dont want the “i” to be included in the acronym, they arent part of the community. Woah this lion is trans!

(/sarcasm)

#in case it need clarification im mocking these opinions not agreeing with them #intersexism #tw intersexism #tw igm #vent post #ok to reblog but no discourse

[genderkoolaid]

im being genuine but im an idiot so forgive me if asking this sucks, but for doing surgery on babies, aren’t those for when like the um. parts won’t function to keep the baby alive? that’s all i’ve heard of,, if they’re forcing cosmetic surgery to affirm the sex binary that’s so horrid, i don’t know how to think about it

Oh they are absolutely forcing cosmetic surgery on children to enforce the sex binary.

There are times where surgery on children is necessary for healthy functioning, but when talking about intersex children, surgeries are regularly done for no other reason than making the child "look normal." Medical literature regularly tells doctors it's vital to pick a sex & perform whatever surgeries they deem necessary to make the child's body fit that sex, often including forced HRT at puberty. They often argue that not forcing them into the sex binary could result in trauma– but that trauma only exists because they will live in an intersexist society that tells them they should be ashamed of their body. It's a real "being trans will make you depressed because of how I will treat you" type situation. & a lot of people are lied to about surgeries performed on them as children, because doctors tend to be weird about admitting that intersex variations exist & act like they are doing people a favor by not telling them.

That's why being against forced surgery is such a big part of intersex activism. If you want to know more check out advocacy groups like InterACT:

#m. #ask box #intersexism #igm tw #medical abuse tw

[icannotgetoverbirds]

i may be biased but i think that dandelions should be symbols of intersexuality

dandelions:

belong in this world

are natural

are good for this world

are beautiful

are whole just as they are

are resilient

have been here for a long-ass time

will be here for a long-ass time

deserve to exist

dandelions are NOT:

unnatural

a new phenomenon

wrong

bad

dangerous

broken

something that needs to be changed

bound by society's ridiculous 'rules' that are based on incorrect, unscientific information

just like intersex people! Plus they're yellow like the intersex flag, so that's a bonus.

The moment you start drawing lines between acceptable and unacceptable for things that cannot be changed, it will inevitably lead you to find yourself on the wrong side of that line. When you draw lines between what bodies are acceptable and what bodies are unacceptable, you will inevitably find yourself placed into the unacceptable box.

Intersex bodies must be accepted as they are, must be held as just as worthy as perisex bodies, both for intersex people's sake and for the sake of human diversity.

These lines are not unlike the lines we draw between 'good' and 'bad' plants. We call plants that we don't want weeds, despite dandelions providing much more practical utility than a rosebush. And where does that leave us? In a world where dandelions are poisoned, uprooted, crushed, killed for the crime of growing wherever there is a place to grow. In a world where rosebushes could easily find themselves given the same treatment the moment they no longer provide value.

And for what? To uphold antiquated and incorrect ideas of the way the world should be, often at the detriment to ourselves and the world we live in? For the aesthetic?

And we do this with human lives, violently 'correcting' the 'flaws' that are perfectly natural through unwanted mutilation and medication.* Doctors do this to children, to literal infants, and it's perfectly legal. I find it telling that, despite its legality, those same doctors and hospitals tend to guard any records they might keep of such procedures, even from the parents and the child in question, quite closely.

Sorry this kinda turned into a rant. I just think the metaphor is really fitting, and I'm pretty passionate about intersex issues (being an intersex person myself), and I really like dandelions.

*There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to adjust one's own body to what they themselves would prefer, regardless of the starting point and/or end goal. In addition, I recognize that certain intersex conditions require medical intervention for survival - that's not what I'm referring to here. What is wrong is forcing people into a false binary and abusing modern medicine to make an unwilling person fit into a box they don't want to be in. This is about autonomy and enthusiastic consent without undue influence.

#byrd chirps #intersex #intersexuality #intersex pride #bodily autonomy #intersexism #tw intersexism mention #tw igm mention #igm #dandelions #dandelion #dandelion appreciation #i say this as a transgender intersex person btw #i am pro radical bodily autonomy #radical bodily autonomy

[intersex-support]

I found out about 10 years back that I had some kind of I surgery on my genitals as a child (when I was 1), but I didn't really think much about it at the time. I've since become more curious about what the surgery might have been for. It was listed as a 'labia separation', but as far as I can tell they don't normally perform that kind of surgery unless there is an urgent medical need (usually if the child isn't able to pee properly). I asked my mum for some more details (1/?)

(cont) She told me that the doctors said it was because they "didn't think my hole was big enough" and that my grandma (on my father's side) had a similar problem as a child also. I'm trying to find out more information as to why they would do this to a 1 year old, especially as this doesn't sound like a labia separation at all. Does this sound like the kind of surgery that might be performed on an intersex individual? 2/2

TW: detailed surgery talk

Hi anon,

It is definitely possible that this is a surgery that might be performed on an intersex person. Generally, surgeries that happen on intersex children at birth/early childhood include surgeries like vaginoplasty, clitoral reduction, gonadectomy, hypospadias repair, labiaplasty and some other outdated surgical techniques. This can actually include labia separation-some intersex variations like Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia sometimes cause labial fusion, although they don't always and aren't the only cause of labial fusion.

The fact that the doctor said the reason was that the vagina wasn't big enough makes me think it's even more likely that it could have been some sort of procedure like vaginoplasty. In intersex kids who get vaginoplasty but still have a uterus, cervix and upper vagina, the procedure usually involves separating the fused labia and then creating a wider vagina. (source-tw for photos and explicit medical language). Of course, we can't confirm anything 100% over the internet-but a lot of the things you're describing, as well as the vague way that doctors talked about it, are things that are really common in a lot of intersex people's experiences with surgery. It's possible it could have just been labial fusion surgery to allow for urination, but the doctor's comment is really sticking out to me as something that a lot of doctors say in intersex surgeries.

If you ever had follow up surgeries, felt like you visited an OB/GYN or endocrinologist a lot more than average growing up, had frequent UTIs, pain during sex, or had other unexplained things in your medical record, those could all also be signs that would point towards intersex being more likely.

I know that thinking about the possibility of being intersex and learning that you might have undergone intersex surgery as a child can be a really overwhelming experience, so please feel to reach back out for as much support as you need. Whatever emotions you might be feeling about the possibility are valid. It can be a really big shock to think about being intersex, even if you've known about the surgery for years, and you don't need to go through that alone. We have a resources page and I can also direct you towards support groups if you're interested.

Sending love and solidarity your way anon, and please feel free to reach back out with any follow up questions.

💜💜💜

-Mod E

#asks #igm tw #intersex surgery tw #surgery tw #intersex #actuallyintersex

[identitty-dickruption]

the other thing you lot need to keep in mind is that being intersex isn’t entirely about genitalia, and many intersex people have roughly “normal-looking” genitals

when people talk about our bodies, a lot of the time they’re still using the fetishised version of the intersex body. they’re still thinking of us as having both a fully functioning penis and a fully functioning vagina, and that’s just NOT the case

yes, it’s possible for intersex people to have genital differences, but even then. it’s the least interesting part of my intersex experience. when you choose to just focus on the genitals, you’re forgetting:

the trauma that often happens to those of us with genital differences (e.g. IGM)

the hormonal differences (which can also result in medical trauma, as well as bullying and shame)

the resulting and/or comorbid chronic illnesses that often come about due to being intersex

being intersex is not 100% traumatic or anything. I actually have come to love my intersex body and my intersex community. but for all that is holy. please stop acting like being intersex is just “cool quirky genitals”

#intersex #intersexism #tw medical trauma #tw igm #pride #queer

[intersexfairy]

intersex people are not rare and the medical & scientific communities are not authorities on intersex people. intersex people are fairly common and the medical and scientific communities are our oppressors.

they're the ones who created the illusion that we're rare. they pathologize our existence, abuse us, lie to us about who we are, prevent us from being born, and from having children of our own. they call us disordered and defected. the list the of awful things they do is very long.

so, few of us know we're intersex. few of us know we can be intersex. few of us accept we're intersex. few of us are out as intersex, and if we are, people hardly know what that is. again, the list goes on. we are made invisible, and we're right in front of you. always have been.

#istrauma #medical abuse #intersexism #igm tw #igm #lgbtqia #lgbtqia+ #lgbtiq #lgbti #lgbtqiia+ #medical abuse tw #abortion #abuse #abuse tw

[prententiousjackal]

10th day of intersex

At what time could someone learn that they or someone else is intersex?

Intersex could hypothetically be known before conception if you genetically engineered or selected for someone as such. But that doesn't (legally) happen in humans and is only allowed for animals.

Intersex conditions could be found during pregnancy with a karyotype test or screening for different intersex related genes. This can lead to the selective abortion and genocide of intersex people. Doctors may exaggerate risks based on their biased schooling serving a perisex-normative standard.

Intersex conditions could be found immediately after birth. These conditions include ambiguous genitals. Again, doctors may exaggerate risks and coerce parents to perform unnecessary genital surgeries that are only for aesthetic purposes. (That's not to say all surgeries are bad. If a child is born without an exit for urine or feces, then some sort of hole being made is necessary.) Parents may then be told to hide all knowledge of the surgery from their child.

Some intersex conditions discovered at birth may call for the child to have repeated medications or repeated appointments to the doctor. Children can be lied to about the nature of their medication or appointments. These children might go until teenage years or adulthood before finding out the truth. Or they could have parents who tell their children about their bodies as their children ask questions, need the information or relevant conversations or situations arise.

Some intersex conditions, like hormonal conditions, go undiscovered until the time of puberty where an absence of puberty or unexpected puberty happens.

Some intersex conditions may go unnoticed until the individual tries to have a child and discovers their intersex condition as the reason for their infertility.

Some intersex conditions go unnoticed until after the individual dies and coroners or forensic scientists discover their condition.

And some conditions are never known at all.

#intersex #days of intersex #intersex awareness #intersex acceptance #igm #end igm #tw mutilation #mypost