Abstract

There is a general observation that society has unconsciously set standards as to what I acceptable  and not in relation to ones gender. There are what are considered as acceptable practices and approaches to every issue relating to gender and sexuality. This is indeed a wide topic and one that generates a heated argument. In this paper, focus  is given to  intersexuality as one aspect of this debate.

 

Introduction

The term intersexuality generates a lot of debate and may sometimes mat  be  misunderstood especially when trying top define who is intersexual or not. Various interpretations and definitions have been brought forward in relation to this term. The debate on its use however is raised  by the term  itself as well as its application , particularly to people who are considered to be intersexual. The society has its own way of looking at this whole topic and various societies have  a particular way in which they handle  this group of people. In this paper, effort will be made to explain the term from a personal perspective as well look into what has been laid out in various academic material.

Understanding the Term Intersexuality.

It may be important to highlight at the onset of this discussion that the term intersex  is also commonly refereed to as hermaphrodite  and this is perhaps the  commonly used term. Intersex (from which intersexuality is derived)  may be understood from a basic point of view as a condition in which a person  or any other animal does not come out clearly as either male or female. Technically this individual may have sex chromosomes, anatomy or physiology that cannot be described from as social point of view as male of  female(Califia,2003).Primarily, the all flora and fauna will easily be classified as either male or female. Therefore when an individual doesn’t fall  into any of these categories there is bound to be a “conflict” that must be labeled in a given way by the society. Researchers argue that  intersexual characteristics  will often  be visible at birth, but some develop later during puberty(O'Keefe and  Fox,  2003)). Another important factor to underline is that   one cannot be labeled intersexual by relying on just a single observation or existence of a single characteristic. That  is to say  there is no single “intersex body;”  but  the understanding  is that the individual has a variety of conditions that do not have anything in common other than that they are deemed “abnormal” by the medical establishment.

Intersexuality  may also be understood by looking at as the existence of both male and female hormones or physiological characteristics in  an individual. Traditionally, this phenomena has been distinguished as  the existences or both male and female organs in and individual’s body(Harper, 2007). Unlike many other forms of sexuality such as homosexuality which I may be acquired  though conscious will, intersexuality is more of a natural occurrence..

Personal Position

 From a personal perspective, intersexuality  is more of a natural occurrence that  tends to  make an individual not to have a clear distinction or alienation to either male or female. It may presented in their genitals or other physiological components or any other form. My position is that these are normal individuals with the ability to perform  any task and unless  one feels that they would need to alter this for one reason or the other ,it should be let to remain and such individuals  should be accorded respects like all other persons

Explanation of the position taken

I strongly believe that intersexual individuals have the ability to carry out any  tasks in life just like other human beings except where there may be medical concerns in one way or the other. To a great extent, these occurrences are natural an individual is born only to realist that  they belong to this category  by the existences of  the mentioned characteristic. In that case, these individuals may not have anything much to change. Society nonetheless has a tendency of looking at these  individuals as “abnormal.”In fact, in some societies, if a child exhibits characterizes of being hermaphrodite, they may face a number of challenges and in extreme cases they may be killed. The reality though is that many intersexual individuals are just between male and female through a genetic alienation  but in the overall  they are able individuals (Systems, 2006). In that case, these individuals should be protected by law and any other means applicable. The discriminatory nature  in which  these individuals are treated in some places should  be discouraged and addressed.

In respect and response to this concern, it is my strong believe that intersexual individuals should put efforts to protect their own position and make it known to the world that theirs is not a misfortune. The formation of the intersex Society of North America (ISNA) for example is a clear demonstration   of how such individuals can make a difference  by countering  stigma. This organization states its mandate as addressing the “shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries for people born with an anatomy that someone decided is not standard for male or female.”( Dreger, 1999) In other words they firmly being male or female may not necessarily occur to an individuals and in case one is born an intersexual the best thing is to accept  it and live with it.

This position is further asserted by an evaluation of what individuals have to contend  with when confronted with an intersex child. Here, doctors undertake a process that essentially in the first years of that child’s life aimed to create genitals that appear “normal” or ones that  conform to society’s definition of male and female bodies. One of the dangers of  this process is that there is risk of  compromising sexual sensitivity and future gender/sex preferences of the individual. That is, the individual in their adulthood may feel they should have been let to belong to the other gender. Making such a decision thus becomes a risky affair

 

 

Common Disputes

To some extent, my position may be challenged by those who believe that an individual can and should only be male or female. This therefore becomes a point debate especially given that  in the modern world there are  possibilities of  successfully undergoing a transformation and an individual born as an intersexual  be made a distinct male or female. Those holding the opinion that a man must be and should be distinctly male or female may therefore  want to argue that intersexual should endeavor to achieve such a position. These opinions are further asserted  by arguments that align to the fact that one can only be able to perform some tasks appropriately if they are alienated to  a particular gender. For instance, the question of   whether these individuals can marry comes into the picture. In addition, thee might be the argument of  how these individuals  will be legally recognized or identified. With such views, one may want to argue that  my position that intersexual individuals  should be let to remain as they are may  be challenged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Califia, P. (2003). Sex changes: The politics of transgenderism. San Francisco: Cleis Press

Harper, C. (2007). Intersex. Oxford: Berg.

Dreger, A. D. (1999). Intersex in the age of ethics. Hagerstown, Md: University Pub. Group

O'Keefe, T., & Fox, K. (2003). Finding the real me: True tales of sex and gender diversity. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass.

Sytsma, S. E. (2006). Ethics and intersex. Dordrecht: Springer

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