Event 4- Intersex

     
      For this 4th event, I went to a talk on intersex and listened to Dr. Georgiann Davis from UNLV and Dr. Vernon Rosario from UCLA. This was interesting because I do not know much about intersex. Intersex, according to insa.org is, “variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male” (insa.org). This would be like someone born with a male appearance, but having female anatomy. 
(Sign at the Event)
    Dr. Davis is very knowledgeable on this topic as she has written many works on intersex. Some of the things she mentioned are:
  1. It is hard to mark
    1. This makes sense because how will the parent know what gender the baby is and feels?
    2. The parent should not have to make the choice for the child
    3. If the child is born intersex, they should have the choice to choose later
  2. It is a slower process for transexual people as they need to prove
    1. A transgender person is someone who simply feels like the other gender that was marked. There is not much difference, yet they have a slower process to go through
  3. Finally, she wanted doctors and providers to collaborate
    1. Both sides need to understand and come to a solution. This way, there can be a better process for intersex people.
      (Dr. Davis's Powerpoint)
    Dr. Rosario gave a brief history on intersex and used some artwork in his powerpoint that depicted intersex. Some of his main points were:
  1. These are fairly new terms
    1. Maybe prior to this, it was taboo to claim you were different than the gender assigned. There were definitely people earlier who had a tough time being intersex or not heterosexual.
  2. Hermaphroditism was the base of medical knowledge
    1. Hermaphroditism is someone born with both reproductive organs
    2. This makes sense that this would be the foundation for doctors, as they would be seeing that the person has both. Whereas in intersex, the person may feel a different gender and that is almost impossible for doctors to spot
      (Dr. Rosario's presentation)
This does seem like something I may consider to write the final on. Before going to this talk I did not realize that there were all these problems with gender and being assigned at birth. This now does open my eyes a bit more to realize that this is an important problem- people are being assigned the wrong gender at birth or not given the choice to pick. I agree with Dr. Davis that the process for intersex should be slow and that collaboration is key!
(selfie of me by the sign)
Sources
"What Is Intersex?" What Is Intersex? | Intersex Society of North America. Insa.org, n.d. Web. 9
June 2017.
Selfie with sign in the back. Photograph. Mine
Sign at the Door. Photograph. Mine
Dr. Davis’s Powerpoint. Photograph. Mine
Dr. Rosario’s Powerpoint. Photograph. Mine

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