Intersex

Story from Facebook - Conversation I had while at work today.

Me: So what do you want to be for Halloween?

Little Girl: I think I should be Thor.

Her Mother: You know that’s a boy, right?

Little Girl: Yeah, and I am a girl and I want to be Thor.

Her Mother: Don’t you want to be something pretty?

Little Girl: Thor is pretty.

Second story – from a proud mum whose seven year old son had broken his arm and, when asked what colour caste he would like, asked for one in pink. The smiling doctor objected, saying pink was for a girl, to which the boy replied with words to the effect there is no blue and no pink, no boy and no girl which wiped the smile off the doctor’s face and the boy got his pink caste.

There have been many instances of actors and actresses successfully entertaining as a member of the opposite sex- drag as it is called, britches part, (female) or female impersonation (male).

Elliot Sailors had a successful career as a female model until she hit thirty. Facing a dramatic decrease in job offers, many models are forced to shift gears as they age. But instead of turning to behind the scenes fashion work or hosting shows like America’s Next Top Model, Sailors pursued a career as a male model. To make herself appear more conventionally masculine, she binds her chest, cuts her hair, and highlights her jaw. She believes that transitioning to male modeling has afforded her more time in the industry as men don’t face the same limited standards of youth: “Men don’t need to look as young as possible, so I have a lot of time,” she tells New York Post. Her life has changed since taking on a male role. She and her supportive husband are often considered to be a gay couple, and she realizes that people rarely hold doors open for her. She now prefers dressing down and going out without make-up. Let's hope her actions encourage others to challenge gender norms in fashion and lead to less rigid standards for youth in female modeling. 

 “Male and female created he them” and there you have it, one or the other, masculine or feminine and nothing in between. Unfortunately for those of a religious bent who believe this it simply isn’t true. M. or F. on a birth certificate places a person squarely in one corner or the other but what if a person doesn’t’ exactly fit in either box?

Research in the late 20th century has led to a growing medical consensus that diverse intersex bodies are normal—if relatively rare, 1 in 1500 or 1 in 2000 —forms of human biology. The great designer either meant it or his screwdriver slipped along the way.

This pink and blue thing is nonsense'

 Germany has become the first country in Europe to allow babies with the characteristics of both sexes to be registered as neither male nor female, with the introduction of an X designation on passports to follow. Parents are now allowed to leave the gender blank on birth certificates, in effect creating a new category of "indeterminate sex". The move is aimed at removing pressure on parents to make quick decisions on sex assignment surgery for newborns. Sometimes surgery is done on the baby to turn its physical characteristics as far as possible in one direction or the other. In one case, a person with no clear gender-defining genitalia was subjected to surgery. The person said many years later: "I am neither a man nor a woman. I will remain the patchwork created by doctors, bruised and scarred. Hopefully those days are over despite the problems intersex may cause.

Sarah Graham, an intersex woman says there is "absolutely no visibility for intersex people in the world." She said many intersex people were happy with their gender, but "it would be nice... to have a box where you can choose to come out... as an intersex person."

How many intersex persons like gays unwilling or unable to admit their sexuality are still in the closet? But the world in parts is changing.

Australians have had the option of selecting "x" as their gender - meaning indeterminate, unspecified or intersex - on passport applications since 2011. A similar option was introduced for New Zealanders in 2012.

In South Asia, Bangladesh has offered an "other" gender category on passport applications since 2011.

Nepal began recognising a third gender on its census forms in 2007 while Pakistan made it an option on national identity cards in 2011.

India added a third gender category to voter lists in 2009.

Though transgender or intersex people have long been accepted in Thailand and are officially recognised by the country's military, they do not have any separate legal status. But, Germany now apart, in our Western world they don’t even have recognition.