User:Danirosenthal/sandbox

I will be adding and editing topics under the Intersex page. I want to create a section that will explain intersex individuals exclusion from the Standard Model of Sex and Gender and how the gender binary is changeable, but it has not been changed because of the issue revolving around adding the "third sex." I will also add to the section about hardships and how the workplace can be a very hostile, unfair place for an intersex individual. Lastly, since adding images is difficult I figure I'd take a stab at it.

My Contributions
The section I added to the Intersex page two days ago is still up today (11/21/13) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex#Exclusion_from_Standard_Model_of_Sex_and_Gender

Added that I was part of an educational assignment to better the chances of my work staying up. (11/21/13)

There was talk about someone noticing that many of us were working on the same topic and wanted to know if we were from an educational institution. My group members and I left a message on the Intersex talk page explaining that we were working on that page for a class assignment.

Added Sterling and Spanier references on the Intersex page.

Edited contributions on Intersex page to remove any phrases that may imply some sort of bias.

Added paragraph to Hardships section on Intersex page 11/23/13

Added journal reference from The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy from UCLA School of Law. 11/26/13

Added web citation from National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund. 11/26/13

Both additions (Exclusion from Standard Model and Hardships) have stayed up to this day. (11/30/13)

Added image of before and after Genitoplasty surgery on intersex individual. Found under "surgery" section on intersex page. (12/2/13)

Added web citation for image of Genitoplasty surgery used on intersex page. (12/2/13).

I did not notice any take downs as of 12/2/13, however the section I created called "Exclusion from Standard Model" was added to.

The image I posted was removed and there was talk about whether it was a copyright violation or not. They said it was removed because I did not receive authorization from the copyright holder.

Added Zihan's peer edit suggestions to both "Exclusion" and "Hardships" sections.

Added image of phallometer to Intersex page. (12/3/13).

Addition to Intersex page: Specifically "Exclusion from Standard Model" section
The standard model of the difference between sex and gender says that one’s sex is biologically determined while one’s gender is socially or culturally determined. Sex being biologically determined means that when a child is born, doctors classify he or she as either male or female depending on the anatomy of the infant. Gender being socially or culturally determined means that the way in which that child is raised, socialized, and taught determines whether he or she takes on masculine or feminine traits. The standard model says that humans are sexually dimorphic. This means each and every human being is either male or female, thus leaving out those who are born intersex, for example. The standard model explains that gender is categorized into two separate, opposing sides being either masculine or feminine, again completely excluding those who are intersex, transgender, androgynous and so on. Modern scholars such as Anne Fausto-Sterling and Bonnie Spanier criticize and reject the standard binary of sex and gender for a variety of reasons such as objectivity in science, heteronormativity, inclusion of intersex individuals, and the trust our society gives doctors and scientists. Anne Fausto-Sterling’s article titled “Of Gender and Genitals: The Use and Abuse of the Modern Intersexual” criticizes the standard model of sex and gender by using the case of intersex individuals by explaining how those individuals are neither male nor female so they do not fit in the sex binary. While the standard model says that sex is biologically determined, Fausto-Sterling challenges this by stating “From the sum total of hermaphroditic evidence, the conclusion that emerges is that sexual behavior and orientation as male or female does not have an innate, instinctive basis" (46). This quote explains that, based on the study of hermaphrodites, sexual behavior is not determined by classifying one as either male or female. Basically, she is saying that nurture trumps nature. She also shows how our society puts a great deal of trust in doctors because they are seen as the experts and those who decide what nature tells us. Due to the fact that the standard model is a sexual binary, doctors for decades past have felt the need to immediately “correct” intersex children after birth. Fausto-Sterling states, “The attending physician, realizing that the newborn's genitalia are either/or, neither/both, consults a pediatric endocrinologist (children's hormone specialist) and a surgeon. They declare a state of medical emergency. According to current treatment standards, there is no time to waste in quiet reflection or open-ended consultations with the parents” (45). Doctors felt that this was a medical emergency because intersex children were seen as abnormal, and because we live in a society based on heternormativity, physicians were pressured to make anything abnormal, normal. Contrary to the belief that physicians thought it was vital to immediately decide a sex for an intersex child, evidence shows that just because science chooses a sex for a child that does not guarantee that the child will grow up to “fit” that gender role. For example, the article states, “These individuals seemed to be listening to some inner voice that said that everyone in authority surrounding h/her was wrong. Doctors and parents might have insisted that they were female, removed their testes, injected them with estrogen, and surgically provided them with a vagina, but still, they knew they were really males” (69). These individuals are the exception to the standard model and a prime example of why the standard model is not relevant. These types of people do not properly fit the sexual dimorphism so a more acceptable categorization would be the alternative model. The alternative model a spectrum with completely male on one side and completely female on the other, leaving room for sexually ambiguous humans to be categorized somewhere in between. Bonnie Spanier’s article titled “From Molecules to Brains, Normal Science Supports Sexist Beliefs About Differences” discusses the role that hormones play in determining the gender roles that individuals take on. Our society is one based on heterosexism so anyone that falls outside the norm is seen as abnormal or needing to be fixed. Homosexual individuals do not fit the sex and gender dimorphism and Spanier states, “The conflation, based on heterosexism, reflects and reinforces what is normal and what is abnormal in sexual relations. Obviously, in this framework, gay men and deficient in maleness and thus are more female than “normal” males; conversely, lesbians are male” (368). This says that homosexual individuals are neither fully male nor fully female when it comes to gender so they too would be excluded from the standard model. Spanier’s article also discusses Dr. Ruth Bleier’s criticism of flawed medical studies involving the size of the corpus callosum in females compared to males. Spanier writes “she [Bleier] argues very strongly for the predominant role of environmental influences” (369). This relates back to doctors feeling the need to treat intersex children as a medical emergency without consulting anyone, including the parents. Evidence shows that nurture has much to do with sex and gender roles so using the standard model in modern medicine is invalid because many individuals cannot be classified as completely male or completely female.

Added Paragraph to Hardships Section on Intersex Page
People subconsciously categorize, label, and classify others within the few moments of meeting or seeing them. Gender is one of the first categories people think of when classifying someone else. Categorizing comes from both nature and nurture. Nature being the brain automatically classifying someone new into a category seen fit. The nurture aspect is how someone classfies someone else, why they classify them as whatever they choose, and the feelings brought out when classifying someone. Humans tend to organize things into two opposing categories and are comfortable when they can make clear distinctions thus easily categorizing people, however uncertainty sets in when people come in contact with ambiguous objects, ideas, or people. When it comes to the workplace, intersex people are more likely to experience discrimination and unfair treatment than a clearly male or clearly female individual. Women and minorities have experienced workplace inequality for decades past and continue to experience that today. Due to the fact that when people feel uncertain about something they tend to get insecure, nervous, and maybe even hostile so when, for example, an employer is uncertain about an employee, that employer may consciously or subconsciously treat this specific employee different than all of the other employees. This is another hardship intersex individuals must face and overcome even though it does not affect their abilities in any way.

Peer Edit Suggestions
It is suggested that “bodies… only live within the productive constrains of certain highly regulatory schemas.” People must be “culturally intelligible as males or females”.

Fausto-Sterling mentions that “no masculine women or effeminate men need apply.” These individuals are considered to be “unthinkable, abject, unlivable.” As this belief is deeply rooted in people’s mind, it is essential and imperative for “surgeons, psychologists, and endocrinologists, through their surgical skills, [to] try to make good facsimiles of culturally intelligible bodies.”

The current pattern of gender binarism accelerates and polarizes the development of male and female beings. Nevertheless, for those “physically intermediate beings” who are considered as “abnormal, ambiguous, or intersexed” as it is mentioned in the article “From Molecules to Brains, Normal Science Supports Sexist Beliefs About Differences” by Bonnie Spanier, the cultural “sexual dimorphism in mammals left little room for ambiguity.”

Images
This image was added to the wikimedia commons.

I also tried to post, more than once, a before and after picture of a corrective cosmetic surgery called a Genitoplasty. It was taken down both times for copyright issues and the second time I tried posting it I received a message that if I tried again I would be blocked from adding/editing images.