Inside
Intersexuality
|
 |
Frequently Asked Questions
from non-intersexed people
|
 |
-
Yes... intersexed people, real hermaphrodites, really do exist!
The trouble is that most people are only familiar with the two types of
mythological hermaphrodite. Hermaphroditus, the merger of Hermes and Aphrodite
into one body is a myth and only a myth. Hermaphroditus gives rise to a myth
herself about intersexed people - what I call the Two in One myth.
Intersexed people are not "both sexes in one" but are a biological
uniqueness of their own form.
The second type of mythological hermaphrodite can be seen in some types of
pornography. These people are NOT intersexed people. They are women with carefully
done prostheses who are making pornography. Some people also seem to be
identifying themselves as "intersexed" when perhaps what they mean is
"intergendered". Intersex refers to the physical manifestation of
genital/genetic/endocrinological differentiation which is different from the
cultural norm (refer to the ISNA FAQ for a detailed discussion of biological
specifics).
-
People who know that intersexed people really do exist may
wonder, "If there may be as many as one out of two thousand people
affected by some form of intersex condition... where are they all? Why don't we
hear of them or see books about their stories?"
The answer is that most intersexed people have a very, very hard time with
the personal issues which surround being born intersexed. There is a relatively
small group of "out" intersexuals in the world, a number that is
steadily growing, but the vast majority of us live with the silence, shame and
fear that we learned as children and teens. Other misunderstood minorities have
made great strides in being recognized. There are thousands of books written by
Gay men and women and even dozens on the subject of transexuality, which is
thought to be quite rare in actuality.
The reason may be that most intersexed people have been subjected to very,
very powerful family, medical and societal proscriptions about talking about
their bodies or medical status. This begins from the very moment of birth for
most of us because that is usually when the question is first asked, "Is
IT a boy or a girl?" Intersexuals who are subjected to neonatal
surgery undergo that early physical trauma and resulting
lifelong trauma on many levels.
Intersexuals who miss early surgery often grow up alone and confused... and
often abused, because of their "in between" status. Surgery as young
teens and adults to "correct" their bodies is also traumatic and may
not have a satisfactory outcome. It all adds up to one thing: a very strong
desire to keep quiet and not tell anyone about being intersexed.
Another factor may be abuse. Some intersexed chidren are abused by peers and family due to
their intersexuality. But there is also a sort of institutionalized abuse which
takes its toll. The constant dehumanizing exams, case studies, etc. are
painful, humiliating and upsetting for a child or young teenager. The result is
a desire to never have to talk or deal with the subject ever again.
- It varies from person to person. You will certainly never offend anyone
with the terms intersexed and intersexual. Unfortunately those terms seem to be
becoming more prevalent amongst people who are not intersexed, so there is the
possibility of confusion. Some people are using what I used to call the
"H" word. I never used the term because it symbolized my oppression
as a research subject utilized for medical experimentation. I also objected to
its mythological origins. We are not creatures from myth or Ovid. Other
intersexed people are comfortable calling themselves hermaphrodites. Perhaps
the use of the word will help de-mythologize it.
Street terms like
"morph" and "morphodite" will not be well received.
- People known in the medical literature as true hermaphrodites have a mixed
gonadal structure, ovo-testis, or sometimes one ovary and one testis. Pseudo-
hermaphrodites constitute everyone else. As far as intersexuality itself
goes... the separation is arbitrary and of academic interest only. Gonadal
cellular structure is but one aspect of human biology which affects sex and
sexual identity. Early medical writers could have chosen some other form of
intersex and labeled it as "true hermaphroditism", such as Androgen
Insensitivity Syndrome, but they didn't. The origin of this division is
probably more properly in the realm of the social sciences as applied to the
medical culture of the time.
- These terms were used by Anne Fausto-Sterling in her 1993 article in _The
Sciences_ "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are not enough". Herm
refers to "true hermaphrodite"; a merm would be a person born
intersexed whose karyotype was XY and a ferm is an XX intersexed person. These
delineations serve to educate people that sex is not a bipolar dichotomy, but
they do not really classify intersexed people themselves in any meaningful way.
-
- Progestin-induced androgenization
Caused by prenatal exposure to
exogenous androgens, most commonly progestin. Progestin is a drug which was
administered to prevent miscarriage in the 50's and 60's and it is converted to
an androgen (virilizing hormone) by the prenatal XX persons metabolism. If the
timing is right, the genital anlagen is virilized with effects ranging from
enlarged clitoris to the development of a complete phallus and the fusing of
the labia. The virilization only occurs prenatally and the endocrinological
functionality is unchanged, ie. feminizing puberty occurs due to normally
functioning ovaries.
In other words, XX people affected in-utero by virilizing hormones can be
born into a continuum of sex phenotype which ranges from "normal female
with large clitoris" to "normal male with no testes". It is
noteworthy that the use of progestin is not effective in the prevention of
miscarriage.
- Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
Caused when an anomaly of adrenal
function (21-hydroxylase or 11-hydroxylase deficiency) causes the synthesis and
excretion an androgen precursor, initiating virilization of a XX person
in-utero. Because the virilization originates metabolically, masculinizing
effects continue after birth. As in PIA, sex phenotype varies along the same
continuum, with the possible added complication of metabolic problems which
upset serum sodium balance. The metabolic effects of CAH can be counteracted
with cortisone. The scenario for medical intervention for intersex is
similar... but CAH people have an increased likelihood of early detection due
to metabolic imbalances (Salt Losing Form).
- Androgen Insensitivity/Partial Insensitivity Syndrome
In AIS/PAIS
the cellular metabolism of an XY person is such that the cells do not respond
to the effects of androgens. Endocrinological function is normal... but the
cells ability to bind androgens, due to compromised receptor site metabolism,
causes a partial or complete lack of response to virilization. PAIS produces
effects similar to CAH or PIA in a neonate... genital ambiguity. With complete
AIS a neonate shows no indication that they are intersexed as the external
genitalia are completely phenotypically female. Internal female structures do
not develop however because Mullerian Inhibiting Hormone is present and
prevents the formation of a female genital tract (oviducts, cervix, uterus,
part of the vagina).
Another form of AIS is present in individuals with 5-alpha reductase
deficieny. During the formation of the male genital tract from the Wolffian
duct portion of the genital anlagen, the target tissues are not repondent to
testosterone, another form, hydrotestosterone is required at this stage. The
required enzyme, 5-alpha reductase, is missing so these people may be assigned
and reared as girls. However, since pubertal genital tissue is sensitive to the
effects of testosterone... such a child could experience masculinizing puberty
and genital growth - assuming that their gonads have not been removed.
- Turner's Syndrome
Turner's Syndrome children are born with an XO
karyotype and, in the absence of gonads, develop without any endocrinological
influenceing sexual phenotype. What this means however, is that they are
phenotypically female and raised as such.
It is significant that these events... the discovery and
"management" of our medical conditions occur as neonates, children or
teenagers ie. during puberty. Our say in which physical "sex" we are
intended to be ranges from very little to none.
© Copyright Kira Triea
top| more faqs |
faqs for parents
home
~ about me
~ intersexuality
faq ~ intersexuality vocabulary
~ articles
real people ~
bulletin board
~
|
|
