What’s the big deal about gender? – Female Identity as Intersex

Surprisingly, many newborn babies, as high as one in 100, can show some slight intersex body characteristic at birth.

“Given the choice of “male”, “female”, “intersex”, says intersex woman, Mairi McDonald, “I would unhesitatingly select “intersex.”

“But society does not give me that option,” Mairi continues, “so I select “female”… with deep reservations, gritting my teeth at a society which will not accept my right to simply be who I am.”

Letting girls be “who they are” can be a challenge to many modern doctors. Gender “normalizing” surgery for girls, and their counterpart boys, has been offered as a quick answer to a complex condition. The procedure is controversial though and not always successful. It has been known to create more harm than good, resulting in post-op cases that have been known to later produce chronic nerve pain, physical scaring, psychological suffering and/or body dysfunction.

It is clear the answers to sex-identification are not easy.

“To encounter the stories of the individuals who make up the intersex rights movement is a touching and humbling experience,” says Anne Tamar-Mattis, intersex advocate, Founder and Executive director for AIC – Advocates for Informed Choice. “Many intersex people have experienced enormous personal tragedies at the hands of their doctors and with the consent of their parents,” continued Tamar-Mattis.

“Because tests and historical data are not 100 percent accurate in determining one’s gender it is important to note that the intersexed person may choose another gender as she/he ages. This is why it is important to avoid un-necessary, non-consensual, usually un-reversible genital surgery,” advises the Intersex Society of South Africa.

The Intersex Society of North America, who are also fighting for the rights of intersex women and men worldwide, agree. The major problem is not that of male versus female sex-identity, but one of stigma and trauma. The organization’s mission is to change the shame, secrecy and unwanted genital surgeries “for people born with an anatomy that someone decided is not standard for male or female.”

“Intersexed people are a natural variant and an important part of human diversity,” says the Intersex Society of South Africa.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7S3xqHKbjU&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0]

The issue of gender and sex-identity is changing as we learn more about the diversity of our biologic human DNA structure. Are we on the cusp of discovering what determines gender? The old mantra – all girls have XX chromosomes and all boys have XY – is no longer reliable. While transex and intersex are different conditions, scientists are now looking beyond chromosomes to “brain sex” and the role of newly discovered genes. This is an excerpt from the award winning documentary ”The Gender Puzzle” by The Documentary Channel (2005). The full-length version is available through Journeyman Pictures.
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For more information on this topic see these reports:

• “Women, Gender Equality and Sport“ – United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, December 2007
• “Women in the Olympic Movement” - WSFF – Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (UK), May 2007
• “Gender Testing of Female Athletes“ – Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 2009
• “Introduction to Intersex Activism“ – IPDX – Intersex Initiative Portland, October 2003
• “Employment Discrimination: Wilma Wood v. C.G. Studios, Inc.” – United States District Court Case Decisions, Pennsylvania State Court, April 24, 1987

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Women News Network – WNN New Delhi, India news correspondent, Nilanjana Bhowmick, received an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Central England in Birmingham, U.K. As a radio producer for BBC World Radio, Nilanjana has also worked on South Asian current affairs and current news from Europe. She is also a current news producer for WINGS – Women’s International News Gathering Service as well as the founder of a new citizen’s news network, Shetizen Journalist.

Journalist, Lys Anzia, of WNN, has also contributed to this report.
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Additional sources for this article include the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, ISSA – Intersex Society of South Africa, United Nations DAW – Division for the Advancement of Women (Department of Economic and Social Affairs), CBS News, Warren Alpert Medical School – Brown University, AIC – Advocates for Informed Choice, American Journal of Human Biology, The Intersex Society of North America, IBNLive News, The Guardian, U.S. National Library of Medicine, The National Institutes of Health, IOC Medical Commission Newsletter (1968), New York Times Health Guide and AISSG – Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group and AFP News.
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©Women News Network – WNN 2010

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