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Kessler’s piece addresses the issue of intersexed children at birth and how doctors deal with the situation. Rather than defining the gender of a child with abnormal genitals by their chromosomes, they base their decision on the body. If the child doesn’t have a penis, it’s a woman. If the child has a penis but it is too small to perform heterosexual sex later in life, the child is said to have a “mirco penis� which they often reconstruct into a clitoris and make the child into a woman. I feel that it is extremely wrong to classify someone based on their genitals and the ability of the penis to make a woman happy.
I also find it very interesting that they believe that this method works and that if all of the appropriate steps are followed the child will develop into the gender they are assigned, and “will not question her or his assignment and request reassignment at a later age� no matter their chromosomal gender. Really? I do not agree with this, especially when they also say that the child must be kept informed about their gender and their body. I would imagine the child would somewhat question their gender, and if they feel strongly enough, I believe they would change their gender.
By telling parents what they should do about their child’s gender, I feel that doctors are misusing their power and authority. People respect doctors and value their opinion, but I really feel the decision should ultimately be up the child when the time is right. Choosing your child’s gender for them before the age of 18 months as recommended, can ultimately make life worse for the child. Its not going to help socialize them, when they do not know whether they are really a boy or really a girl.
This article really reinforces that gender is a construction of society. Every decision for the child is based on what is “normal� in society and what people will accept. Thus, this reinforces the idea that there are only two genders, and only one way for sexuality, and that is the way of the penis and the vagina. Intersexed individuals must be fixed to fit into the norms of society because there is no room anywhere else for them.