Being Unattractive Or Physically Different/disabled DOES NOT Equal Being Morally Bad/evil. There Is An

Hello! I'm going to be running some lessons on queer stuff in my highschools Queer Student Union, and I plan on doing one or two days dedicated to us intersex people. What core concepts do you think i should I teach someone who has never even heard of intersex people before?

Oh excellent! I have a lot of recommendations, so this is going to be a long one.

What is intersex, and what it isn't - We are people whose natural sex characteristics fall outside of what is typically male or female. Here is a list of intersex conditions/variations you can use as examples.

Being intersex is not the same as being transgender or nonbinary, and is a separate category from gender identity; you do not transition into being intersex. Intersex is not a third sex, but rather an 'other' category, for those whose natural development does not fit typical ideas of male or female bodies.

Not all intersex people identify as LGBTQIA+, which should be respected, just as it should be respected that intersexuality is a valid and included reason someone can consider themselves part of the community. Intersex people are included in pride.

We are not disordered for our intersex traits, intersexuality is a natural occurrence in any population with males and females. Some intersex variations do come with associated health conditions, but it is not the intersex part of the variation that is the health condition, and not everyone with intersex traits has health complications. I would recommend this page We are More Than a Disorder, and this statement on DSD terminology from InterACT, one of the most prominent intersex advocacy groups.

It is not in our best interest to forcefully sort us into the male & female sex binary. Intersex people can be any gender and may consider their sex to be male or female (this may or may not be in addition to being intersex. Many of us consider ourselves to be intersex males or intersex females, and some of us consider ourselves to just be intersex) It is wrong to say phrases such as 'all intersex people are male or female', or 'intersex variations are sex specific'. Sorting us into this binary comes with the caveat that we are 'wrong' males or 'wrong' females, rather than normal, fully formed, intersex human beings. This is the basis of the oppression we face.

Be sure to note that no intersex people, including those with genital variations, have both reproductive organs, we are not H-words (good time to add that this word is outdated/derogatory and I considered a slur). A hermaphrodite can only come from a hermaphroditic species, such as snails and worms. The use of the term hermaphrodite itself should be discouraged, even in context of animals. A term like monoecious is much better. The term hermaphrodite and pseudohermaphrodite used to be medical terms for us, and was commonly used in the early days of intersex activism, such as here. An intersex person may reclaim this word, but it is inappropriate and wrong to refer to an intersex person this way.

Intersex variations are not rare. We make up over 2% of the population (there is no accurate statistic because of a number of factors, intersex variations are extremely underreported, or erased from medical records). We are a widely invisible group who has been purposely erased with medical violence for decades. We are considered "rare" because of 'corrective' and 'normalizing' treatments. Intersex healthcare as it currently stands is more concerned with making us 'look normal' rather than making sure we are healthy. I would recommend reading @dabwax's paper Medicalizing Sex: The Erasure of Sexual Diversity, and this TED Talk by Georgiann Davis. include what you will from that in your lesson. Don't skimp out on the medical erasure part, it is very very very important for anyone learning about intersex people to be aware of just how far behind our movement for bodily autonomy is.

These medical interventions are not a thing of the past, and happen in all of the grey shaded countries on this map. Not only do they happen, they are often considered proper medical protocol.

I hope this is helpful! Good luck!

If any others want to add on, please feel free!

and what i really want is more deformed characters who are GOOD instead of this awful pattern of the deformed characters being evil.

anyways i am currently working on multiple such characters.

Really wish I saw more art of deformed characters. More diversity in bodies. I feel like people are scared to draw us because they’re worried they’ll do it wrong or something. But 1. wrong and trying is better than nothing, and 2. you can always ask somebody for input. There are always people who are willing to answer your questions, you just have to find them. My asks are always open and I know a to of other people who are like that, too.

intersex person: yeah my parents agreed to put me under surgery as a baby because my doctor thought my genitals made me ugly. they feel numb half the time. sometimes i can’t tell if it’s blood, discharge or piss down there. i feel violated in every sense of the word. i can’t look below the waist without wanting to throw up

person you thought was safe: lmao imagine being so privileged you complain about getting surgery that some would die to have lollll #cis privilege

Migraines are so odd, like wdym I have a headache and now I'm temporarily blinded

agreed, making things i need pretty?? instantly changes my perspective on it.

decorating my feeding pump and using fun tube tape has done wonders for my mental health and not being able to intake much besides water by mouth. making things your own when you're disabled is such a necessity for me. 

i love video game character design

i got to the stoneville chapter and. oh my god. not even nonoy or, like, dada and giovanni are as hyper-detailed as this guy

I MISS MY HOBBIES 😭😭😭😭😭

natasha lyonne’s movies/shows <3333

thats all

hello to my physically disabled friends. if you, like myself, spend a lot of time in bed and stick to one particular spot it might be worthwhile to see if your mattress needs rotating. i got mine shifted and it became immediately obvious that it had developed an indent and wasn't supporting me well. i could feel the difference immediately after lying down