Intersex Explainer
What does "intersex" mean? (and why it matters)
Just a quick note: This post contains beautiful anatomical illustrations of genitals.
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October 26 was Intersex Day! Coming up on November 8 is Intersex Day of Solidarity, so now seems like a great time to talk about what “intersex” means (and doesn’t mean) and why it matters that you know.
Intersex people are born with differences in their sex chromosomes, gonads, or external genitals that aren’t instantly recognizable as “male” or “female.” They’re the “I” in LGBTQIA2+.
Hang on, let me zoom out farther: Homo sapiens is a sexually dimorphic, sexually reproducing species, which means we are mostly either sperm-producers or egg-producers.
Nope, gotta zoom out even farther: Humans have bodies. They also have genders, and they are born into cultures. Cultures notice the shape of a newborn human’s genital parts and assign that person a gender—generally either girl or boy—which shapes how this new human is taught to behave, what emotions are acceptable, and what interests they’re expected to have. As the person develops, they may feel that the gender they were assigned in a good fit for them, or they may feel that their assigned gender is not a good fit; they might feel that another existing gender category is a better fit, or they might look at their options and nope-out. That is, they might feel that none of the existing gender categories in their culture comes close to describing their internal experience of their gender. And this whole process begins on the day the adult look at the shape of a new human’s genitals and assign a gender.
Got that so far?
I’ll get into more detail on this in future posts, but for now all you need to know is that bodies exist and gender exists and they are not the same thing. My genitals’ shape does not dictate anything about my personality or yours, my interests or yours, my emotions or yours. People just vary.
Okay. Now, sometimes a baby is born and the shape of their genitals is not obviously male or obviously female. When this happens, the straightforward, simple, loving response is to celebrate the birth of a healthy baby and let the kid tell you what their gender is, as they develop a sense of identity in their culture. No worries.
But what often happens, instead, is that people freak. the fuck. out. They seriously cannot cope without a gender box to put a baby in. They’re terrified of all sorts of things, just as parents of newborns with any kind of difference worry for the future of this small human who is their responsibility. Most parents have never heard of intersex before their child comes into their lives, they’ve never considered that bodies and gender aren’t the same thing, or that—and here comes the big reveal—everyone’s body is made of the same parts, just organized in different ways.
All the same parts, organized in different ways.
And that’s why intersex is nothing to freak out about.
I will explain:
Here are two drawings by Erika Moen, which she made for Come As You Are. One is the extended internal anatomy of a phallus that, based on its external shape, we call a clitoris. The other is the extended internal anatomy of a phallus that, based on its external shape, we call a penis.
Notice how they’re made of the same basic parts, just organized in different ways. Each has a glans or “head,” each has a corpus spongiosum that terminates in a bulb, and each has a pair of corpora cavernosua that terminate in crus or “legs.”
(A note for anyone who is just now learning that the clitoris is more than just the nub at the top of the vulva: I know, right?!?! So exciting!)
(A note for anyone who is just now learning where the clitoris is: I know, right?!?! It’s frickin’ everywhere!)
This is called “biological homology”—body parts having the same origins, even when they don’t have the same function. Here’s my favorite example of this: The “it’s a girl!” body shape has some stretchy skin where hair grows, right? The labia. And the “it’s a boy!” body shape has stretchy skin where hair grows—the scrotum. Both of these parts develop from the fetal labioscrotal tissue. If you get close up and personal with a scrotum, you’ll see a seam running up the center, where the tissue knit together during fetal development. If things had been a little different in the womb, this tissue may have developed to look more like labia.
Here’s an external view, more art by Erika Moen:
Ooh, quick quiz: What is the gender of a person with labia?
A.You can’t tell by their genitals, duh, only the person can tell you
B.Woman
C.Man
D.Non-binary
You picked A, right? Because we all understand that a person’s gender isn’t determined or dictated by the shape of their genitals, no matter what certain YA fantasy novelist may believe. (Maybe I’ll write a post about why some people struggle with this whole genitals-aren’t-gender thing. Or maybe not, maybe some things are better done in longform video format.)
But the variety is more than just “penis organization” and “clitoris organization.” Each human with a clitoris has a different shape and size of clitoris compared to every other human with a clitoris! Each human with a penis has a different size and shape of penis compared to every other human with a penis! It’s delightful! There’s no right or wrong, better or worse shape and size, they just vary. (I know your culture has probably taught you that some genital shapes and sizes are better than others, but that’s all just body-policing lies you can begin to notice and let go of. That process will be easy for some people and extremely difficult for others, but it’s available to everyone. You can be kind to your genitals and appreciate them for what they are right now, and even see them as beautiful, no matter their shape or size.*) (*If you’re trans, non-binary, or any other kind of gender rebel, this might have an extra layer of complexity for you, if your genitals aren’t congruent with your gender identity. S. Bear Bergman suggests a practice of lovingkindness toward your body parts, even as you may long for them to be different.)
Okay so everyone’s genitals are different from everyone else’s. And everyone’s genitals are healthy and normal, as long as there’s no infection or pain, right?
And that includes the folks who, on the day they’re born, have genitals that aren’t obviously “penis organization” or “clitoris organization.” Here’s an external view of just one variation in how intersex genitals might show up (drawing again by Erika Moen):
Notice how these genitals are also made of the same parts, just organized in a different way. Phallus? Check. Glans? Check. Labioscrotal tissue? Check. All the same parts, organized in different ways. Healthy and beautiful, just like all the other genitals. Only infection or pain is a problem that needs treatment, just as with all other genitals.
Now, if the world were just and loving of human variation, this would not be worth a 1000+ word post. It would just be part of the ways people are both the same and different from each other, like the location of our moles and freckles or the shapes of our knees. If the world were what it should be, no doctor would try to “correct” the genitals, any more than they would try to “correct” one hand being a little larger than the other.
But the world is not just and it is not loving of human variation. Instead, it wants our bodies and identities to match the categories constructed by our culture, and if we don’t match, it will force us to. And it mostly doesn’t care how much people suffer as a result.
This has to change, and there are lots of people who’ve been working for decades to create that change. For example Amnesty International and a host of Intersex-ledorganizationsaroundtheglobe, arefighting to support Intersex people and their families and protect them from unnecessary and damaging medical interventions that serve only to reinforce compulsory definitions of “man” and “woman.”
And there’s this from the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner:
In countries around the world, intersex infants, children and adolescents are subjected to medically unnecessary surgeries, hormonal treatments and other procedures in an attempt to forcibly change their appearance to be in line with societal expectations about female and male bodies. When, as is frequently the case, these procedures are performed without the full, free and informed consent of the person concerned, they amount to violations of fundamental human rights.
[…]
Ending these abuses will also require States to raise awareness of the rights of intersex people, to protect them from discrimination on ground of sex characteristics, including in access to health care, education, employment, sports and in obtaining official documents, as well as special protection when they are deprived of liberty. They should also combat the root causes of these violations such as harmful stereotypes, stigma and pathologization and provide training to health professionals and public officials, including legislators, the judiciary and policy-makers.
What can you do?
You’ve already started doing it. You’re learning. You’re recognizing that bodies vary and Intersex is not a medical problem requiring surgical or hormonal intervention on a person too young to give informed consent. You’re becoming baffled that anyone could think differently, even as you understand that people panic when they don’t already understand. You can interrupt when you hear people confusing genital shape for gender. You can send them this article if they’re fearful about or uncomfortable with bodies that don’t match their idea of what genitals “should” be.
You can be part of the shift, by declining to participate in a culture that lied to you about gender and bodies, by instead welcoming the diversity of human bodies and gender.
See? You’ve already starting doing it.
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