Intersex People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Intersex People - Essay Example We live in a two- sex world and it is considered normal to be either male or female. The tag of abnormality is also attached to those individuals whose sex or gender identity is ambiguous. This paper focuses on whether the ideas of normalcy along with the theory of Cartesian dualism shape the construction of intersex, intersex therapies and sex reassignment surger.y. The concluding section discusses how modern day intersex management is largely based on culturally perceived notions of normalcy. The need for an attitudinal shift with a view to accepting differences and historical understanding of intersex are discussed. The alliance between bodies (male or female) and gender identity (man or woman) is taken for granted in our society. However Milton Diamond estimates at nearly 1.7% of the population is both with genitals that are not clearly male or female. (Hird, 2003). While this is an extreme condition, variations in sexual and gender development are not unusual. Some of the major types of variation have been elaborated in Fig 1. This paper focuses on people with intersex condition. Intersex is a biological condition. The Australian Medical Association states that a person born with intersex conditions has "sex chromosomes, external genitalia or an internal reproductive system that is not exclusively either male or female." (Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) Support Group website) On t... This paper focuses on people with intersex condition. Intersex is a biological condition. The Australian Medical Association states that a person born with intersex conditions has "sex chromosomes, external genitalia or an internal reproductive system that is not exclusively either male or female." (Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) Support Group website) On the other hand there are transsexuals who are different from pople with intersex condition because they are biologically normal men and women. Transsexuals usually are people who feel they they are in the wrong body.The World Health Organisaton define transsexuals as people ," who have a desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of, one's anatomical sex, and a wish to have surgery and hormonal treatment to make one's body as congruent as possible with one's preferred sex." (Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) Support Group website) Many of the problems faced by people with intersex condition and transsexuals are rather similar. Often both are subject to sex reassignment surgeries. How did Intersex become a medical Problem In the 19th Century intersex was not regarded as a medical problem. Dr. Jorge J. Daaboul, Director, Pediatric Endocrinology Children's Hospital of Oakland in his paper presented at the American Association for the History of Medicine, May 19, 2000, refers to Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex by Alice Dreger. He says that this book highlights how intersexed individuals led normal undistinguished lives until the late 19th century. Psychologically healthy and well adjusted, the genital peculiarities of these people were accepted as the variations caused by nature.