More Politicized Hyperbole Courtesy of OII

[louisev]

Originally Posted by Peter

Hi Louise,

As a person who underwent non-consensual infant genital surgery, I am pretty much in agreement with the un-named queer theorist that you mentioned. However, I would take your reported remarks a step futher, and say that it is not the worst of the medical management of intersex infants with ambiguous genitals that is driven by "stereotypical expectations of a patriarchal and heteronormative nature", but that virtually all medical treatment of infants with ambiguous genitals is grounded in such expectations. I know that such considerations might not helpful in your case. Other people, including myself, have had a very difficult life due to having a body that is different.

Peter

Hi Peter,

Fair enough, and I will concede to your experience as one whose body was modified before you could even have had a say-so or basic awareness of the choices made for you. I didn't have that experience: my experience was highly unusual for America in a modern setting (I was in Massachusetts, not far from Mass. General which did infant genital surgery at the time I was borna). My mother worked for a time at Mass General in the 1950's. My mother made a choice regarding me based not only on extensive experience with neonates as a nurse (and she probably saw one case if not two of the more typical form of CAH, and most likely cases of hypospadias and other sex divergences. And she knew that any infant born 'differently' from the phenotype would be hauled off to emergency surgery within days or weeks. She had to know this, and she made sure that I was out of that hospital the next morning and I never saw a doctor (or a hospital) for that matter, until I had a major injury requiring medication and possible foot surgery. So - my mother, though part of the medical establishment, was not in cooperation with the medical establishment, and bully for her. I hated her for much of my life for being a nurse who hated doctors - never understood it, until I learned what she must have done for me, and understanding has replaced anger. If she could speak (she is now aphasic and has refused all speech therapy) I would ask her what she knew of the treatment of infants with ambiguous genitalia when she was at Mass General and Tewksbury.

So this is my conceding the point regarding the queer theorist and the heteronorming and the tyranny of the binary system (as well as the Female Eunuch of course.) I escaped the medical heteronorming and the modification - all modification, except the superficial not being permitted to wear pants or short hair, so I can't speak to that.

However, that being said... if we determine that the standard of care for treatment of intersex, and the insistence on a binary presentation consistent with maleness (particularly hetero maleness) and femaleness is in itself a human rights issue because it causes harm and life problems for the individual's entire life: then where does that leave us in the larger culture? Is there any reason to expect that - outside of eliminating the irreversible genital surgeries to infant bodies - that there are larger issues that need addressing, such as how the parents interact with and view the child? I saw a message I believe I wrote about before, from the cah.org, in which a woman who was preparing to give birth (days overdue) said that if her baby was truly ambiguous then she would commit murder. So the heteronorming is different for different conditions and largely, due to the influence of or reception by - the parents.

I'm really tired and on medication so I'm not sure whether any of what I wrote makes sense. I'll look at it again after I have another nap.