Intersex Surgery - Beginning of the End?

Cross Posted from OII-NZ.



Could the battle to end cosmetic 'normalising' surgeries on the genitals of intersex babies be drawing to an end? The portents are good if a Times on Line report is correct. In an article titled Caster Semenya and the middle sex, Times journalist, Helen Rumbelow has revealed a ten year long 'experiment' conducted under a cloak of secrecy by Britain's National Health Service.

According to the Times the British 'experiment' began after Gynaecologists, Catherin Minto and Sarah Creighton published ground breaking research on the surgical impacts on women with CAH, in the Lancet. [HERE]

"As a gynaecologist at University College Hospital, she (Creighton) was the first to set out to compare those whose doctors had, at birth, attempted to “normalise” their genitals, and those who had no surgery. Nobody had followed up on patients in the past, as, cloaked in secrecy, doctors had concealed the truth from parents and child."

As a result, claims the Times, British parents have been discouraged from surgery purely for reasons of social acceptability, for the last decade, leaving it up to the child to make their own decision in their own good time.

If this means what it appears to mean only those surgical interventions necessary to protect the life or long-term physical health of the baby are performed. This reflects the position intersex advocacy groups such as OII, and individuals such as Professor Milton Diamond, have argued for years.

Creighton's research showed that CAH women who had avoided surgery were no worse off, and in many cases better off, than those who had been subjected to it. In an interview Creighton told The Times, "We (Britain) are leaders in this field, worldwide, in terms of disclosure to the parents and child, and challenging surgery."

If these revelations are correct then other countries around the world will be watching and waiting. The anticipated results may be published earlier than expected. The media feeding frenzy around Caster Semenya has driven the British experiment into the open, according to Professor Adam Balen, consultant gynaecologist at Leeds General Infirmary.

Intersex activists would argue that there was no reason to keep it secret in the first place. Not unreasonably they might point out that the real experiments were the cosmetic 'normalizing' surgeries and the bizarre pediatric gender assignments, with their attendant deceptions and dishonesty.

Now there may be room for cautious optimism. Intersex people are not unused to hidden medical agendas. But if the surgeons, the sexologists and psychotherapists can bring themselves to admit they got it wrong, this battle at least may be drawing to a close.

Times On Line Article: HERE

Caster Semenya: Holding Her Head High

Semenya is the only one
who can hold her head high,
writes NIALL KEILY.


From The Irish Times:

THE SPORTING fate, indeed the life future of Caster Semenya remains in some sort of existential limbo as the international athletics federation (IAAF) concludes its council meeting in Monaco today apparently unable to produce a verdict.

It’s difficult to read the political runes as the IAAF continues to vacillate, but it has been one hell of a bizarre, rollercoaster year for the 18-year-old South African woman.

Twelve months ago, she was just a Commonwealth Youth Games champion, running outside 2 min 4 sec for the 800m. She was gauche, raw, unco-ordinated; yet tough, strong, determined.

Taken in for coaching by the skilled and sympathetic coach Michael Seme and given a bursary to study sports science at the University of Pretoria, her progress was incrementally swift. Then at the July’s African Juniors in Mauritius, she won in 1 min 56 sec. And it was at this point that factors outside her control intervened. The IAAF quietly asked that Semenya – robust, slim-hipped, husky-voiced – to be sex-tested. Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene tricked Semenya into doing the test; he subsequently lied when questioned about it.

In Berlin last August, she won the world championship 800m in 1 min 55.45 sec, and the IAAF machine went into overdrive, confirming the July test had been carried out.

The ASA and IAAF got into pass-the-blame-parcel games.

Chuene, the ASA and IAAF between them managed to cock up just about everything, and news leaks alleged first, that she had high levels of testosterone; secondly, that she is ‘intersex’. South African politicians joined the fray, jousting for pole position in defence of Semenya.

Cont....

Full Article HERE

Endocrine Disruptors and Child's Play

Phthalate Exposure Linked to Less-Masculine Play by Boys

"A study of 145 preschool children reports, for the first time, that when the concentrations of two common phthalates in mothers' prenatal urine are elevated their sons are less likely to play with male-typical toys and games, such as trucks and play fighting.

The University of Rochester Medical Center-led study is published in the International Journal of Andrology.

Because testosterone produces the masculine brain, researchers are concerned that fetal exposure to anti-androgens such as phthalates -- which are pervasive in the environment -- has the potential to alter masculine brain development, said lead author Shanna H. Swan, Ph.D., professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, director of the URMC Center for Reproductive Epidemiology, and an expert in phthalates."

Although the researchers are urging caution until confirmation trials are conducted, there is nothing all that surprising in these findings. Other endocrine disruptors are known to influence changes in sexual behavior. In 2005 Britain's Guardian Newspaper published an article titled "Chemicals in plastics harming unborn boys".

The Guardian article pointed out that high levels of phthalates were known to influence gender role behavior in male animals, making them more feminine and leading to poor sperm quality and infertility. Phthalates are found in every-day items such as the cling wrap that is used to protect some food. Phthalates leach into the food its supposed to be protecting and microwaving food covered with cling wrap is known to significantly elevate their transfer.

Another [2005] study suggested that even normal levels of phthalates, which are ubiquitous, could disrupt the development of male [human] babies' reproductive organs and affect future adult behavior patterns.

For the full Science Daily article click: HERE

See also TS-Si

Research Serves a Warning to DSM-V Rewrite.

Sex-based prenatal brain differences found.

The increasing pile of scientific findings should be causing both scientists and gender theorists alike to question the validity of last century's identity paradigm. This most recent news release comes from Science News.

Prenatal sex-based biological differences extend to genetic expression in cerebral cortices. The differences in question are probably associated with later divergences in how our brains develop. This is shown by a new study by Uppsala University researchers Elena Jazin and Björn Reinius, which has been published in the latest issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Professor Elena Jazin and doctoral student Björn Reinius at the Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology previously demonstrated that genetic expression in the cerebral cortices of human beings and other primates exhibits certain sex-based differences. It is presumed that these differences are very old and have survived the evolutionary process. The purpose of the new study was to determine whether they appear during the process of brain development or first upon the conclusion of that process. Identifying the initial genetic mechanisms that prompt the brain to develop in a female or male direction is a long-range research objective.

More HERE

Trans-Fried Fluff

Wrestling the WPATH Sacred Cow

This morning I was alerted to the presence of a new blog. Trans-Fried Fluff proclaims itself:

"A Site Dedicated to Preserving the Integrity of the Sex- gender Distinction, Exposing International Semantic Terrorism, and Denouncing the unethical Conflation of Sex and Gender."

These are a couple of short extracts from its first post:

"From its conception tawdry hogwash and objectionable claptrap have been the stuff of life for WPATH. Even more ironically the development of this organization has almost exactly mirrored the trajectory of its sad constituency.

It started life as one acronym, changed its orientation and role, adopted a new name and demanded of the world at large that it still be taken seriously. Unfortunately some people did. They still do! But should they? ..."

And ....

In the 1970's Money's hand was everywhere. He'd successfully duped the world into believing that David Reimer (then known as John/Joan) was happily playing with dollies, fluffing around in frocks and 'playing house', just like mummy..."

If taking aim at sacred cows such as WPATH are these blogger's real intention (the site is multiply authored) then here at HBS-NZ, we hope they keep up the good work.

Click here for: Trans-Fried Fluff

http://trans-fried-fluff.blogspot.com/

R stands for Rage

'R‭' ‬ had his hand and forearm swathed in plaster.‭ Two days earlier he'd tried to punch out the reinforced glass window in his front door.‭ ‬That one angry punch had broken most of the bones in his right hand. It was just the last of many angry punches. 'R' radiated anger.

Aggression was the way he walked. Belligerence was the silver studded leather jacket hanging from his shoulders on the hottest day. Anger was the tremble of his voice. It glared like bitter razors from his eyes.

He was in his early twenties. Melbourne born. A tiny baby with a micro-penis. An officially undersized willie that, unlike a fish, could not be thrown back. Its part of a medical mythology, passed around the profession like an urban legend. 'Boys with micro-penises can't grow to be real men if their willie's are too small to insert in a vagina', runs one myth. Another is they'll grow up thinking they are not 'proper' men. They might even think they're female.

‭‬When babies are born with micro-penises physicians pinch the organ between their thumb and fore-finger to ensure its stretched length is over three millimeters.‭ ‬ If not the baby's testicles may be removed,‭ ‬a vagina fashioned from the baby's colon,‭ ‬and the boy raised as female.‭ 'Real men' do not have micro-penises.

The practice of rearranging babies genitals and raising them as one or other sex is called 'paediatric gender assignment'.‭ ‬Its one of the medical devices used to conceal the existence of biological diversity in human sex development.‭

Doctors in Melbourne had attempted this with‭ '‬R‭. Had tried to trick him into thinking he was a girl.‭ They'd failed. And that's why 'R' was angry. ‬Sometimes‭ he ‬vented by punching holes in walls and windows.‭ ‬ Eventually his partner, fearing for herself, persuaded him to see a therapist.

On his second visit the therapist thought‭ '‬R‭' ‬might like to discuss his gender identity issues.‭ ‬She wondered if he was having difficulty dealing with his lesbianism.

‭ ‬"I'm not a lesbian,‭" '‬R‭' ‬replied.‭ "‬I'm a man‭! ‬I don't have any identity issues‭!"

"That's what I mean,‭" ‬the therapists answered.‭ "‬You've got a vagina,‭ ‬you were raised as a girl,‭ ‬but you identify as a man.‭"

When‭ '‬R's therapist attempted to to turn his problems into gender issues she was following a script that is repeated every time an intersexed baby is identified.

'‬Gender‭' ‬was once a grammatical term,‭ ‬relating to the practice of endowing inanimate objects with the properties of male,‭ ‬female or neuter.‭ ‬In the‭ ‬1950‭'‬s feminism adapted it to describe the way men and women become socialised into their respective roles.‭

Expatriate New Zealand psychologist,‭ ‬John Money,‭ ‬expanded the feminist concepts by inventing terms like‭ "‬gender expression‭" ‬and‭ "‬gender role behaviour.‭" ‬He also coined the term‭ "‬gender identity‭"‬.‭ ‬Money believed this developed in infants as they‭ "‬deciphered a continuous multiplicity of signs that pointed in the direction of their being a boy or‭ ‬a girl.‭"

On one occasion Money attempted to raise an identical twin boy as a girl after the infant lost his penis in a botched circumcision.‭ ‬Money claimed success throughout the‭ ‬1970‭'‬s,‭ ‬and refused to publish its failure when he became aware of it.‭ ‬Consequently the belief that all humans learn to identify themselves as male or female according to the way they are raised became entrenched.‭ ‬Its reason doctors believe in the myth of paediatric gender assignments and psychologists think transsexuals have disordered identities.‭

Its also why transgenderism and psycho-feminist gender theory is not a science: its a pseudo-scientific narrative. The most recent product of an ancient cultural bio-variant phobia, only lately cobbled together from John Money’s theories. To this day Its primary function is the erasure of biological variation in sex formation.

The attempt to mislead 'R' into thinking he was a girl had not worked. He had not ‬deciphered the continuous multiplicity of signs that pointed in the direction of his being ‭ ‬a girl, including his possession of a vagina, to conclude he was female. The attempt to give him a disordered 'gender identity' had failed miserably.

From the perspective of his Therapist, 'R' simply could not win. He was a lesbian. He had a disordered identity because it wasn't the one that theory had predetermined for him. The exchange made him even more angry. He stormed out and made his enraged way home. At his front door he eyed up the glass window pane for a moment. He screamed his outrage: and he punched.

'R‭' ‬ had his hand and forearm swathed in plaster.‭ Two days earlier he'd tried to punch out the reinforced glass window in his front door.‭ ‬That one angry punch had broken most of the bones in his right hand.

A reasonable person might understand his anger.

Caster Semenya: Its Time to Stop!

To this partial reprint from The Nation HBS-NZ adds these observations:

Caster Semenya is NOT 'transgender'. Ms Semenya has not announced that she wishes to live in the gender role opposite her birth sex. Its doubtful given her culture, that she would even consider identifying as such.

Caster Semenya is NOT 'Gay, 'Queer, Lesbian, or Bi-sexual. Ms Semenya has never announced her sexual preferences. It is doubtful given her culture that she would even consider identifying as such.

Ms Semenya is NOT transsexed for all the above reasons. She is none of these things and remains none of these things unless she, herself, explicitly states otherwise.

Attempts to use Ms Semenya's situation to gain political merit by association, such as placing intersexed and transgendered together as if they were one and the same, are reprehensible and solely designed to equate two states of being that have nothing whatsoever in common. It is the view of HBS-NZ that those GLBTQ bloggers, and commentators who engage in this practice are little more than parasites and exploiters of human misery.


From The Nation:

After being subjected to a battery of "gender tests," which included invasive exams by a gynecologist, an endocrinologist and a psychologist, Semenya's private business is now presented for public consumption.

If the leaks are to be regarded as true, they show that Caster Semenya has internal testes and no womb or ovaries. She is possibly one of the millions of people in the world (one of 1,666 births in the United States alone) who are classified as "intersex."

Or she may have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), which affects two to five out of every 100,000 births. The different biological gender classifications are complex, ever changing and, ideally, private. But to the drooling press, it's vulture time.

As Yaniv wrote, "The tests, ordered...after Semenya's 800-meter victory in the World Championships, determined she's a hermaphrodite--having both male and female organs." Now the story has gone international, and Caster Semenya has gone into hiding.

Forget for a moment that the term "hermaphrodite" is as outdated and offensive as "mulatto." Forget that these test results were leaked first to the Australian press, which also referred to Semenya as a hermaphrodite. Forget that Australia was the country that brought these accusations against Semenya in the first place.

Besides being a cruel and idiotic practice, sex testing doesn't account for the idea that gender is at least in part socially constructed and far more fluid than the iron categories of male and female. An 18-year-old woman is being torn apart in the press for doing nothing but winning a race. If it is the goal of the media and IAAF to destroy the life of a young, talented female athlete by outing her as potentially intersex then they are not simply pitiless; they are socially repugnant.

for the full article click HERE