Hello from Germany!

My name is Ins, and I am one of the people who is organizing an art-exhibition-archive about and around intersex, please see our short concept under http://www.101intersex.de.

Please forward following call, thank you very much!

Love,
ins
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The 1-0-1 intersex AG is seeking your contributions to the online-archive and the exhibition, which will open at the Neuen Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst in Berlin, on June 10th, 2005.

1-0-1 is working to develop an archive and material resources, which visualize private and actionistic, artistic, as well as scientific positions concerning intersexuality and sexual/gendered/ethinc hybridity in order to support and encourage an exchange between people, disciplines and cultural fields.

We cordially welcome you to participate through word and/or image: reflection, letters, descriptions of actions or utopias, articles, recordings, sketches, photography…

For reasons of compiling we ask you to restrict manuscript submissions to a Din A4 page and a maximal of 2, 10 x 15 cm photographs .
The collection of material will be published in the 101 intersex archive. We are happy to receive all forms of submissions which could broaden and enrich the exhibition.

Please send your contribution to one-o-one@gmx.de
(texts as .doc or .rtf files, images as high-resolution (300 dpi) .jpeg
or via postal service to:
Karen Scheper de Aguirre
Alt-Moabit 41
10555 Berlin
In sending contributions, the sender assumes the legal responsibility for the publication of the submitted materials.
We ask for your understanding that we reserve the right to make an editorial selection.
The exhibition concept can be found on our website.

The 101intersex website: http://www.101intersex.de
The website of the NGBK: http://www.ngbk.de

!@#$%^&*()_

Another great initiative of people who wonder why they are male or female and, after they can’t find an answer to that question, bother us with their problem.

1. I hate it when people use the word ‘intersexual’ as a noun. Somebody with the syndrome of Down isn’t a ‘downer’ and somebody with an intersex condition isn’t an intersexual.
2. I’m certainly not a hermaphrofite (I’m not a snail!)
3. Intersexuality is basically a problem of stigma and trauma, not gender.

Miriam

PS. On a lighter note.... an example of a human hermaphrodite:

After all, the brain is the most important sex organ

__________________
The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth.

Hello Miraim, let me try to respond to your comments on our project:

Another great initiative of people who wonder why they are male or female and, after they can’t find an answer to that question, bother us with their problem.

Actually, I am intersexed myself, and except two of the four others of our work group are transgendered, so no, this is not another great initiative of as you put it “them”, bothering “us” with their problem.

"I hate it when people use the word ‘intersexual’ as a noun. Somebody with the syndrome of Down isn’t a ‘downer’ and somebody with an intersex condition isn’t an intersexual."

I do agree with you, I do not like the use of a medically installed term (meaning a syndrome) as a noun. As you might have seen we chose the wording "so-called" or put the word "intersexual" in "". The initiative of our project is also based on the discussions that are currently going on here in germany, and we (our work group) question and reject the idea of "intersex condition" as a medical condition. To describe the fact of people whose reality (in body, experience and often identity) differs from the male/female matrix, we use different wordings: “Intersexual” “Hermaphrodite” and “Zwitter”. None should be understood as a label by someone for others, but instead use it in reference to its source. Only when someone is using one of the terms above as an identity-label for themselves we are using it as such.

“I’m certainly not a hermaphrofite (I’m not a snail!)"

Me neither, though I personally use the H-word for myself in some occasions. Some folks do use this ("hermaphrodite") as a term for identity. We use it also as another word for Intersex, because people we want to address often have no idea what Intersex means, the term Hermaphrodite rings a bell in many people though, a wrong idea of dual-sexed beings certainly, (the german word “Zwitter” means “something double”), but our goal is to reach a broad public, including people with intersex conditions. The other reason we use all these terms is based on the fact that all of them have been (and still are) labels used by doctors, by law or overall prejudice, and this can be the time to discuss the reclaiming of (derogative) terms, inventing or reinventing terms.

Intersexuality is basically a problem of stigma and trauma, not gender

This is the main approach of ISNA and Alice Dreger, and I do not agree with it. I ask WHY is it a problem of stigma and trauma? Why do doctors (who act in the name of society) decide to rather tell lies or half-truths to their patients? One of my answers would be: because in our society we have very limited and strict ideas how “healthy” bodies are sexed. The idea of sex and gender is strongly mixed with the fears of society, who in average only accepts heteronormative behavior. Therefore a body whose sex is “ambiguous” or “questionable” is a threat to this heteronormative behavior. So Gender is in my opinion certainly ONE aspect.

I would be happy to continue a discussion, and I am also very keen to hear different opinions. Don´t push away allies of either identity or experience, though I understand that there are times of colonization of issues by people for their own good. Our project is not trying to invade or misuse the work of intersex activism, we see ourselves as part of this activism.
best,
ins

Hi Ins,

Thank you for your comments. I agree with you that being intersex is not primarily a medical condition. When I bring that position up around here, the reaction is generally a pat-on-the-head reply that I am a simpleton and that no rational person could have any doubts that intersex is primarily a medical condition.
I am glad to see that your group in Germany is trying to develop a theoretical understanding of intersex that goes beyond traditional practices based upon the fields of medicine and social work. I think that several movements for social empowerment have gone throught a historical process that moves along a path of 1) Ancient Understanding (based upon religion), 2) Medical Understanding (based upon medicine), 3 Liberation Understanding (based upon the self-awareness of a social movement). I believe that the interesex movement is capable of following a similar path.
There is work coming out of America that supports this general approach. I am thinking of a book by Sharon Preves called "Intersex and Identity", which contains much fieldwork supporting an emerging "liberation understanding". As painful as it is to read, I really love her work.
Thanks Ins for joining our forum. I look forward to more postings from you.

Peter

What type of intersex condition do you have? My intersex condition came about because of my lack of ability to produce cortisol from my adrenal gland which caused the androgens not to be supressed and create ambiguous genitals but also cortisol is needed in times of physical stress to help one live through through physical stress of illnes or operation. SIMPLE VIRILIZING 11 HYDROXYLASE DEFICIENT CLASSICAL ADRENAL HYPERPLASIA ...not a medical condition? People die from having an adrenal crisis. As for having my period though what I was born with well it wouldn't of happened without the surgery archaic as it was but my my genitals being a threat to the "heteronormative behavior" well no Ok that is a bit much but it works for you.

How on earth did this all become so trendy? "A simple prop to occupy your time" What's wild is that I HAVE A VERY REAL FEMALE CANCER and reading in INS 'S post about "intersexuality" makes me wonder if they just want an exhibit to make us a third sex. My body was born different because of no cortisol and there is nothing trendy about that. Three cheers for the man that invented cortisol in the 50's because before that people with CAH died early.

Reading this thread several times (more than several actually) I'm seeing really good points from everyone. Art has always been a catalyst for coping and change. One only has to look (and listen) to the art, words, and music that was created by slaves in 18th and 19th century America or the artwork that was created by jews and others held and murdered in nazi concentration camps. Art has a place in our world and art can reflect what intersex people experience and feel.

But, once again an argument over semantics and reflection erupts. Who represents what? Who has authority to speak out? i don't know the answers to those questions and thus they are merely hypothetical.

I think it is pretty clear I get annoyed at those who wish to co-opt the intersex experience when they are not actually intersexed. I think it is pretty clear I can be anal about language-- language about us and even our own words are still evolving.

Denying that intersex is a medical condition is denying the very experience that many of us go through. It's like expecting me to answer a question along the lines of what it is like to grow up intersexed or asking me if I would have liked the clitoris that was stolen from me in infancy. I know no other existance because my own medical history is part of me. Expecting me to see someone who claims intersex without a history of shame and secrecy is like asking me to see you as someone you are not but playing make-believe because it suits you. It may be PC, but it is still make-believe just like I thought Barbie could be like me when I was growing up.

Ins brought up an excellent point with

It's an excellent question. Why is it that shame and secrecy and trauma is such a big part of our experience? I don't think it can be denied that it's there. I know it is there, and I see and hear it pretty much everyday. Yet, I agree with Ins with questioning what is behind it. It's one of the reasons we should focus our sights on changing society through speaking out, making ourselves visible and not worrying about changing laws. Art can do that---that is, change society and ultimately changing society is what will be the vehicle for change.

__________________
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is. --Margaret Mitchell

I would just like to say that I have sensed, after "listening" to Miriam (Dutch), Ins (German), and Americans, that things are done differently in different countries and cultures inre *beep-beep* activism. Can we rightfully question, criticize, and even outrightly scold and reject the Dutch, German, or American activists when we have not even met or listened to them?...merely looking at a "representative" poster or brochure.....isn't that somewhat prejudicial?..they ought to know what's appropriate for their society.......and inviting another society (country) to participate represents ( to me ) an opportunity for realization on a global scale and not just "nationalities". Semantics are confusing enough when just within ONE language...it can be confusing/misleading when compared to other languages, especially when the original meaning and/or concept is somewhat lost or distorted upon translation. I noticed the subtle differences when reading the German text compared to the English .....on both links provided.

How does one say "queer-bodied" in German?.....Schwule verkoerpert? That translation perhaps wouldn't make sense over there?

And art doesn't need translating............and it is.... von Lebensanfang, meine originale Heimat.....................

Ach! Los geht's nach Berlin , sofort abhauen!

Conceptually (English) better to replace with : what they regard as normally developed human beings

.

I would simply replace with :
is a threat to those who consider themselves normal.

The term heteronormative behaviour conceptually comes across as incomplete in the English language....implying behaviour only (gender)........and not taking anatomy into consideration when used in the first quote.
However I can understand that it is this behaviour or socially constructed ideal that regards the ambiguous sex threatening. It seems many people on this planet confuse and conceptually interchange the words sex and gender and in German the word Geschlecht may mean sex and gender both. Hence...German conceptual terms may be confusing to English-speaking peoples. I personally don't think Ins is denying intersex as a medical condition, rather is denying the validity of society's concept of an intersex medical condition as a real threat to the above "behaviour" And questions the reasoning of a system that predetermines how a healthy body should be "sexed"......in Geschlecht (gender and sex)

Arghhhhh!! ......when will our planet have a universal language?

I would like to clarify my position on intersex as a medical condition. I believe that sometimes, in perhaps less than 10% of intersex births, medical treatment is needed to safeguard the life of the child. I am all in favor of medical treatment in such cases. In the vast majority of intersex cases, being born intersex does not require medical treatment. There is a theoretical reason for this. As Dr. Joan Roughgarden explains in her book "Evolution's Rainbow", many intersex conditions have a frequency of about 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 40,000. While this may seem rare, people with genetic conditions with that frequency have a mathematically high degree of "Darwinian Fitness", which means that the condition will not kill you. Rarer conditions, with a frequency of 1 in 500,000 are much more likely to be fatal. So, it is a cold mathematical fact from a genetic perspective that intersex conditions are relatively frequent, and consequently most intersex people will not need medical intervention to stay alive. I know that one can bring up the objection that common conditions, like tooth decay, require that most people have medical treatments. But I don't think that it is proper to compare intersex conditions to tooth decay. (A quick note - Dr. Roughgarden says that at roughly 1 in 20 (my quick number) among humans, homosexuality has a genetic "Darwinian Fitness" factor of well over 99%. This totally refutes the theory that homosexuality is genetically unhealthy. After much thought, I am coming to believe that everyone is basically bi-sexual for the reason that homosexuality is not a private catagory, but something that is very public, even if most people don't practice it.)

Up until about 150 years ago, most intersex people lived very well without medical treatment. Medicine has made some real progress in the treatment of some intersex conditions, and we can certainly be thankful to the person who discovered\invented cortisol. However, when I say that intersex is not primarily a medical condition, I am putting the stress on PRIMARILY. This is because the vast majority of intersex people do not need medical treatment. The major reason that intersex children are referred to medical specialists is for normalizing procedures. In reading over the literature, what impresses me time and again is how much more self-respect intersex people seemed to have in the past, before normalizing surgery became common. Maybe I am wrong, but I believe that I would have had much more self-respect in my life, if there had not been a systematic attempt to conceal my genital surgeries behind a wall of shame and secrecy. I definitely agree with Betsy that shame and secrecy is a big part of growing up intersex. However, I have also heard grumbling from some American intersex activists that they want to go beyond the "victim" mentality as they call it. That is a position that I would like to learn more about. Although information is scarce, it seems that historically intersex people often stood up for themselves. As Betsy has said in the past, at least the "bearded lady" got paid.

I can see a world, maybe a hundred years from now, where it is acceptable to live an intersex life free of the medical profession. In that world, not having infant genital surgery would not be a cause for shame. Those intersex people, who need medical treatment for medical problems, would get the treatment and medicines they need without great economic barriers. And yes, even those people who want normalizing surgery could have it if they provided their own consent to the treatments at an appropriate age.) Once normalizing surgery becomes scarce, then viewing intersex conditions as primarily medical conditions would past into the trash can of history along with so much other bunk.

Peter