Gourt > Society > Transgendered > Intersexed > Gender Assignment
Sex assignment refers to the assigning of sex at the birth of a baby. In over 99.9% of births, a relative, midwife, or physician inspects the genitalia when the baby is delivered, sees ordinary male or female genitalia, and declares, "it's a girl" or "it's a boy" without hesitation or uncertainty. The assignment is perceived as a recognition of an essential aspect of this new human being, apparent to everyone. In nearly all cases, usually without conscious deliberation, the parents rear the child as a member of the assigned sex/gender.
The act of assignment is a social act, and is in nearly all cases, and all societies, an act that seems a simple recognition of a simple biological reality. However, the usual act of assignment carries with it some conscious and unconscious assumptions, namely that the external genitalia reflect other aspects of biological sex, such as internal anatomy, gonads, hormones, and chromosomes. The act of assignment usually carries the implicit expectation that future gender identity will develop in the gender of anatomy, assignment, and rearing.
In a minority of cases one or more of these assumptions prove false. There have been rare instances where parents (for a variety of reasons) have reared a biologically normal child in the opposite gender. More commonly, in the case of some transgender or intersex individuals, gender identity does not simply follow the biological sex or sex of rearing. In some conditions usually termed intersex, the external anatomy does not reflect accurately the internal anatomy.
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Last assignment of 2010 (gender equality for Sunday Times) finished and dispatched. Happy holidays - it's mince pies and wine from here on.
elliefitzs (Eleanor Fitzsimons) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:11:23 -0000
Last assignment of 2010 (gender equality for Sunday Times) finished and dispatched. Happy holidays - it's mince pies and wine from here on.
Council of Europe debates draft on gay adoption and gender re-assignment Next week in Europe, a... http://bit.ly/6tnmVV #news #tech
GayTechBoy (GayTechBoy (Jared)) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:36:47 -0000
Council of Europe debates draft on gay adoption and gender re-assignment Next week in Europe, a... http://bit.ly/6tnmVV #news #tech
Am I a Woman? - Summary of a 1998 Mademoiselle article about intersex activist Angela Moreno in which she describes the lingering effects of her gender assignment surgery.
Ambiguous Genitalia: Stop Gender Assignment - An article by Deborah E. Brown, Director Intersex Support Group International, urging parents to avoid early invasive treatments.
Meta Description: [ One word I would give to parents of a child born with ambiguous genitalia thinking about fixing the malformed genitals and gender assignment. STOP! ]
Astraea: Genital Surgery Controversy - Text of a New York Times article examining the legal issue of gender assignment surgery and comparing the practice to female genital mutilation.
Meta Description: [ New Debate Over Genital Surgery ]
British Association of Paediatric Surgeons - Draft statement of the Working Party on the surgical management of children born with ambiguous genitalia. Lists the members of the party, defines the various conditions that cause ambiguous genitalia, and gives references. Also has an appendix describing the forms of clitoral surgery, their indications, and their effects.
Genital Plastic Surgery - An article examining the nature vs. nuture argument that encourages parents to make an informed decision about whether or not to consent to surgery.
Meta Description: [ Website for Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group ]
Genital Surgery On Intersexed Children - A letter from Cheryl Chase, Executive Director, Intersex Society of North America to a judge in Colombia, South America expressing the opinion that choices involving sexual identity and cosmetic genital surgery should be left to the patient.
Meta Description: [ INSA letter- genital surgery on intersexed children. Choices involving sexual identity, cosmetic genital surgery should be left to the patient. ]
Into the Hands of Babes - Article from Johns Hopkins Magazine about William Reiner and his change of heart with regards to the treatment of intersexed children.
Making the Cut - Article from Ms. Magazine tracing the history of clitoridectomy from the 1800s when it was used to prevent masturbation to the modern practice of assigning gender to sexually ambiguous children.
Meta Description: [ Official Ms. Magazine site. Articles from the magazine, book reviews, online community, feminist 'take action' center, Ms. mall. Get Ms. delivered! ]
Managing Intersex - An editorial with references and responses arguing that most vaginal surgery in children should be deferred.
Physician's Weekly Point/Counterpoint - Doctor's Peter Lee and Philip Gruppuso argue the issue of whether cosmetic surgery should be performed on children born with ambiguous genitals.
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Queer Cut Bodies - Paper by Morgan Holmes subtitled Intersexuality Homophobia in Medical Practice which examines the surgical and medical management of intersexed children in terms of a relationship of violence in which the intersexed are disenfranchised, suggesting that homophobia is a motivating factor in the management of intersexed bodies.
Sexual Scientists Question Medical Treatment of Hermaphroditism - Summary of a symposium titled Genitals, Identity, and Gender, at the 1995 convention of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex.
Surgery for Intersex - Article from the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine examining the sex of rearing, the long term outcomes of feminization, and the patient's view. Includes references.
The Genesis of Gender Identity in the Male - Summary of the NYU study subtitled Prenatal Androgen Effects on Gender Identity and Gender Role which examined gender identity, gender reassignment, and related issues in 36 patients who are genetically male, but were born without a phallus.
The True Story of John/Joan - Story of an anonymous baby boy who was turned into a girl by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1967 after the boy's penis was burned by an electro-cautery needle during circumcision.
Meta Description: [ In 1967, a baby boy was turned into a girl, proof that a child’s gender identity could be changed. The sex reassignment though was a failure. Story. ]
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