Lawrence is currently considering adding gender identity to its nondiscrimination ordinance and today the City's human rights commission held a public forum to discuss the issue.
I went as part of a group of people representing different aspects of the transgender spectrum. Most of the people there were supporters adding of gender identity. The committee seemed focused at first about protecting people that were going to transition or had transitioned.
But I and others pointed out the issue is a bit more complex than that. For instance, there are people such as myself who don't fit the gender binary. Are we not to be protected against loss of job? Not to be protected against discrimination in housing?
The sticky wicket in at least one of the commission members minds seemed to be the issue of locker rooms, gyms and bathrooms. What if a man goes in to the woman's bathroom? Well first of all. if some one is transitioned entirely, likely you wouldn't spot them unless you have some thing about carefully scrutinizing the other people in the rest room or locker room. Even some one as myself-strongly transgendered but not planning on transitioning would probably be hard to spot, well OK in a rest room- and we certainly wouldn't go into an all woman's facility; the genitals don't match.
Not only that-quite frankly where ever possible I look either for unisex bathrooms or places with single stalls and a locking door, but on occasion I have gone into a crowded woman's room if absolutely have to. Go in, do my thing sitting down like a genetic woman, wash hands, check hair and leave.
One of the speakers at the forum was a lesbian whom I suppose might be construed as mannish or at least androgyne in appearance. She related how she was harassed by a woman in the women's rooms for being in the wrong rest room. Well I know, having done it accidentally, you don't go into a men's room dressed en femme because there is a fantasy about umm making it with a transgendered or transsexual person and this one man was not going to take no for an answer. I was concerned enough that I had a male friend in the group I was with, walk me to my car when I was ready to leave just in case.
So when it comes to rest rooms creeps are creeps even if they are in the "right" rest room.
As for showers and places where there is nudity involved, those are sex segregated places, and a transgendered person in the middle of transitioning or some one such as myself who's not transitioning can be excluded pretty easily I would think.
One speaker brought up work place issues and the example of a construction worker whose transitioning complaining because she can't wear high heels to do some sort of construction job. Well it is already settled law that workplaces have the right to enforce work related equipment rules. Another speaker felt that it might be difficult to pass a law that is precise enough to be enforceable, and granted courts do throw out laws because of vagueness to the point of unenforceability but it seems there you are trying to prohibit something (Like loud parties).
Here is a relevant counter example. There are a number of definitions of religion-and yet we don't say well that's too vague to enforce. Who would you exclude? Atheists? Granted some on the religious right might want to do that but in our society we define these classes of protected people in the broadest way possible.
I hope seeing a broad spectrum of transgendered people gave the committee a little bit more to go on. They hope to have a recommendation ready by November and a forum related to that before taking something to the City Commission. That is probably where the real opposition will emerge and all kinds of red herrings and bizarre hypotheticals will just pop from the sky.
Link to LJWORLD article.
Other links from The Force:
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2009/03/proposal-in-lawrence.html
Now It's Showers!
Sex in Humans: It's a delicate balance
Secrets of Bug Person Exposed!
The Tyranny of the Dichotomous Mind
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Just in Time for Christmas...
The Pope has released another in a series of misguided statements about gender and sexual orientation, this time attacking gender theory.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7796663.stm
See also:
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=14067&size=A
It isn't at all clear to me what the Pope means by gender theory. If he means that gender is entirely a social construct a la post modernism then he is quite correct from my biological perspective. But I think he means to reenforce the standard gender binary.He says for instance:
"It is not "out-of-date metaphysics" to "speak of human nature as 'man' or woman'"
Well, yes it is outdated metaphysics because his statement is based on the assumption that there is some sort of metaphysical essence that distinguishes us from other animals and that this essence is somehow reflected in the gender binary. What is sad is that the Pope has lots of good things to say on many levels about the dignity of people-including in this address- but saying good things but based on faulty medival premises ultimately does more harm than good.
That said, the Pope is rightfully concerned about human nature and its manipulation: He notes (quoted from Asia Times) that:
“We should re-read the encyclical Humanae Vitae starting from such a perspective. In it Pope Paul VI’s intention was to defend love against a utilitarian view of sexuality, the future against the exclusive claim of the present, and man’s nature against its manipulation.”
and here he is a on target just as he is generally on target when it comes to issues of human dignity. But it seems he clings to outmoded typological thinking because it provides clear rules whose descendent, by the way, is the 1960's slogan "If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem". We are moral animals, and moral animals capable of looking beyond the short term-taking an ethical progression outward from ourselves and immediate familiy to all of creation and taking it forwards in time to contemplate what we want our species to become.
Just because the Pope's essentialist assumption is flawed doesn't make his concerns any less valid-but again some of his conclusions, drawn from wrong premises (that creation implies an essential nature) can lead to great harm, something I really don't think he really intends inspite of his bullheadness about gender and sexual identity.
I really don't think he means for me to feel less than human because I don't fit his notions of male and female very well. He probably thinks a bit like Rick Warren who said well gee I have gay friends, I have been to gay people's houses. The essentalist stance leads to a debasing of human dignity, there very things that the Pope and Warren claim to be defending.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7796663.stm
See also:
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=14067&size=A
It isn't at all clear to me what the Pope means by gender theory. If he means that gender is entirely a social construct a la post modernism then he is quite correct from my biological perspective. But I think he means to reenforce the standard gender binary.He says for instance:
"It is not "out-of-date metaphysics" to "speak of human nature as 'man' or woman'"
Well, yes it is outdated metaphysics because his statement is based on the assumption that there is some sort of metaphysical essence that distinguishes us from other animals and that this essence is somehow reflected in the gender binary. What is sad is that the Pope has lots of good things to say on many levels about the dignity of people-including in this address- but saying good things but based on faulty medival premises ultimately does more harm than good.
That said, the Pope is rightfully concerned about human nature and its manipulation: He notes (quoted from Asia Times) that:
“We should re-read the encyclical Humanae Vitae starting from such a perspective. In it Pope Paul VI’s intention was to defend love against a utilitarian view of sexuality, the future against the exclusive claim of the present, and man’s nature against its manipulation.”
and here he is a on target just as he is generally on target when it comes to issues of human dignity. But it seems he clings to outmoded typological thinking because it provides clear rules whose descendent, by the way, is the 1960's slogan "If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem". We are moral animals, and moral animals capable of looking beyond the short term-taking an ethical progression outward from ourselves and immediate familiy to all of creation and taking it forwards in time to contemplate what we want our species to become.
Just because the Pope's essentialist assumption is flawed doesn't make his concerns any less valid-but again some of his conclusions, drawn from wrong premises (that creation implies an essential nature) can lead to great harm, something I really don't think he really intends inspite of his bullheadness about gender and sexual identity.
I really don't think he means for me to feel less than human because I don't fit his notions of male and female very well. He probably thinks a bit like Rick Warren who said well gee I have gay friends, I have been to gay people's houses. The essentalist stance leads to a debasing of human dignity, there very things that the Pope and Warren claim to be defending.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Now it's showers!
Conservatives-OK to be fair-religious conservatives, have gotten a new hot button issue, namely the recent spate of laws protecting transgendered people from discrimination. True to form, these conservatives have been raising the specter of men in women's rest rooms or as this article notes-men in showers.
Geesh-first of all someone who is not planning on SRS (Sexual reassignment surgery), such as a non op TS, is not going to go into a public shower. They don't want to call attention to themselves. Likewise in terms of rest rooms, if a male to female TG needs to use the rest room, she is going to use the one that will call the least attention to herself, which unless she is totally unable to pass, is going to be the ladies room.
The opponents of non discrimination laws aims at TG's are in part exploiting what my fellow blogger, Larry Arnhart, might call the yuk factor, that in a sense comes from our evolutionary history and informs many of our moral decisions in spite of our attempts at rationalizing morality. I think most of us who identify as transgendered understand the yuk factor issue whether we want to admit it or not and that plays into our desire to just blend in and be left alone.
But the opponents are also playing upon stereotypes and fear. Consider this comment from a site called Americans for Truth referring to a Colorado proposal:
"anyone–regardless of their biological identity–will be welcome in the men’s or ladies’ room, including cross-dressers, men who self-identify as women, women who self-identify as men, and people who haven’t made up their minds. To make matters worse, Colorado defines “public accommodations” as everything from malls, restaurants, and schools to small and even home businesses. The other side says this is about discrimination. But the chance of offending a few people hardly justifies putting everyone else at risk, which is exactly what SB 200 does."
The site then goes on to mention the potential use of this law by sexual predators:
"For every transvestite who takes advantage of this law, there are a dozen sexual predators who will see this as a chance to put women and children into a vulnerable situation."
Really? Let's get real. Are there sexual predators out there? Sure, but I don't think anti discrimination laws are going to help them in any significant way. After all we do have laws against lewd behavior.
Consider, if I might be so indelicate, when you go into a rest room do you ever really see people displaying their genitals? Even in the men's room where the possibility is likely, because of the nature of the plumbing, such displays would typically be considered lewd. Of course, maybe my rest room experience is atypical, but I don't think so. People tend to be fairly private about rest room activities-whether through some innate or cultural imperative, I don't know. So I am not really concerned about the sexual predator issue.
And I do understand the fear. After all, the other night en femme in Kansas City at a meeting I had one of the men at the meeting escort me to my car just as the women did. There really are predators out there. Only most of them aren't in the ladies room.
Geesh-first of all someone who is not planning on SRS (Sexual reassignment surgery), such as a non op TS, is not going to go into a public shower. They don't want to call attention to themselves. Likewise in terms of rest rooms, if a male to female TG needs to use the rest room, she is going to use the one that will call the least attention to herself, which unless she is totally unable to pass, is going to be the ladies room.
The opponents of non discrimination laws aims at TG's are in part exploiting what my fellow blogger, Larry Arnhart, might call the yuk factor, that in a sense comes from our evolutionary history and informs many of our moral decisions in spite of our attempts at rationalizing morality. I think most of us who identify as transgendered understand the yuk factor issue whether we want to admit it or not and that plays into our desire to just blend in and be left alone.
But the opponents are also playing upon stereotypes and fear. Consider this comment from a site called Americans for Truth referring to a Colorado proposal:
"anyone–regardless of their biological identity–will be welcome in the men’s or ladies’ room, including cross-dressers, men who self-identify as women, women who self-identify as men, and people who haven’t made up their minds. To make matters worse, Colorado defines “public accommodations” as everything from malls, restaurants, and schools to small and even home businesses. The other side says this is about discrimination. But the chance of offending a few people hardly justifies putting everyone else at risk, which is exactly what SB 200 does."
The site then goes on to mention the potential use of this law by sexual predators:
"For every transvestite who takes advantage of this law, there are a dozen sexual predators who will see this as a chance to put women and children into a vulnerable situation."
Really? Let's get real. Are there sexual predators out there? Sure, but I don't think anti discrimination laws are going to help them in any significant way. After all we do have laws against lewd behavior.
Consider, if I might be so indelicate, when you go into a rest room do you ever really see people displaying their genitals? Even in the men's room where the possibility is likely, because of the nature of the plumbing, such displays would typically be considered lewd. Of course, maybe my rest room experience is atypical, but I don't think so. People tend to be fairly private about rest room activities-whether through some innate or cultural imperative, I don't know. So I am not really concerned about the sexual predator issue.
And I do understand the fear. After all, the other night en femme in Kansas City at a meeting I had one of the men at the meeting escort me to my car just as the women did. There really are predators out there. Only most of them aren't in the ladies room.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Susan Stanton: One Year Later.
You may remember the controversy in Largo Florida about a city manager who decided to transition from Steve to Susan on the job. As a result she lost her job and hasn't much been in the news lately so what has happened to Susan? The St. Petersburg Times just ran a story about her and it is a bit sad and heartening at the same time. Plus Susan has managed to generate new controversy, this time within the transgender community itself.
The upshot is that she is still looking for a job and lots of her former friends have shunned her. Yup, you sure learn who your friends are when you decide to transition-that's what my transsexual friends tell me. You really really need to be very financially and with a strong network of friends to make transitioning work.
She is quoted as saying:
"People assume I'm making tons of money, traveling around speaking. But the truth is: I need help. I'm starting to approach people I know in the area, which I never thought I'd be doing."
Later in the article observes that people who have known her for 20 years won't speak to her, including some of her own family: not at all unusual for those who decide to transition.
On the plus side she appears to have won acceptance from her son. even if he still calls her Dad. That's OK.
So what's the new controversy? In the same article, Susan is quoted as saying that she's different from other transgendered people..."like I'm seeing a bunch of men in dresses." Further on she discusses ENDA-that's the proposed federal legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. This last year the sponsors toyed with the idea of adding gender expression to ENDA. This was ultimately rejected.
She says:
"The biggest issue against the federal legislation is that politicians think the ladies' rooms will be invaded by guys in drag," Susan says, "instead of someone like me."
This of course has led to her being attacked as not being supportive of trans rights and the GLBT portion of the noosphere has quickly reacted, generally negatively. Representative is this quote from Becky's Blog:
"In addition, I’m more than a bit puzzled by her reaction. Susan Stanton worked in government and the political arena for almost a decade and a half at minimum. Did she really expect acclaim or acceptance of the views attributed to her in this article from members of a community as violently persecuted on as Transgender-Americans? Did she really expect support and sympathy from a community of people who have been being legally denied employment, housing, basic social services, contact with children and other loved ones, and even simple human respect for who we are and how live our lives as a matter of course throughout history in most areas of this country? If she did, then it’s clear to me that while she may understand how to live and function on a daily basis as a woman, she still doesn’t have any real understanding of what it means to be a transgender person, and particularly a transwoman, in the United States of America in 2008."
Apparently Susan has been overwhelmed with critical e-mail about the comments in the article and she has responded with a message to the TS community on her website. She writes:
"Contrary to the St. Petersburg Times article, I do not see members of the transgender community as “men wearing dresses.” However, I do feel there is a fundamental misunderstanding by the general public that being transgender is simply a matter of men wanting to “dress up as women.”"
Unfortunately, here she definitely is right about common public perception. I don't think her comments are going to mollify the transgender activists. Plus her comments do nothing to educate the public about ENDA and I am not sure the criticism she is receiving is going to help passage of a gender expression inclusive ENDA either. It's too bad Susan had gotten thrust into a role she really didn't want and maybe wasn't equipped for.
Here is a sampling of other reactions:
http://endablog.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/analysis-the-second-susans-self-tale/
http://transgroupblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/please-susan-step-out-of-spotlight.html
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/01/largo_was_right_to_fire_stanton.php
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4057
Related posts on The force that through...
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/10/enda-controversy.html
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/05/couple-of-gender-items.html
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/04/steve-stanton-revisited.html
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/03/update-transgendered-city-manager-fired.html
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/03/get-over-it.html
The upshot is that she is still looking for a job and lots of her former friends have shunned her. Yup, you sure learn who your friends are when you decide to transition-that's what my transsexual friends tell me. You really really need to be very financially and with a strong network of friends to make transitioning work.
She is quoted as saying:
"People assume I'm making tons of money, traveling around speaking. But the truth is: I need help. I'm starting to approach people I know in the area, which I never thought I'd be doing."
Later in the article observes that people who have known her for 20 years won't speak to her, including some of her own family: not at all unusual for those who decide to transition.
On the plus side she appears to have won acceptance from her son. even if he still calls her Dad. That's OK.
So what's the new controversy? In the same article, Susan is quoted as saying that she's different from other transgendered people..."like I'm seeing a bunch of men in dresses." Further on she discusses ENDA-that's the proposed federal legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. This last year the sponsors toyed with the idea of adding gender expression to ENDA. This was ultimately rejected.
She says:
"The biggest issue against the federal legislation is that politicians think the ladies' rooms will be invaded by guys in drag," Susan says, "instead of someone like me."
This of course has led to her being attacked as not being supportive of trans rights and the GLBT portion of the noosphere has quickly reacted, generally negatively. Representative is this quote from Becky's Blog:
"In addition, I’m more than a bit puzzled by her reaction. Susan Stanton worked in government and the political arena for almost a decade and a half at minimum. Did she really expect acclaim or acceptance of the views attributed to her in this article from members of a community as violently persecuted on as Transgender-Americans? Did she really expect support and sympathy from a community of people who have been being legally denied employment, housing, basic social services, contact with children and other loved ones, and even simple human respect for who we are and how live our lives as a matter of course throughout history in most areas of this country? If she did, then it’s clear to me that while she may understand how to live and function on a daily basis as a woman, she still doesn’t have any real understanding of what it means to be a transgender person, and particularly a transwoman, in the United States of America in 2008."
Apparently Susan has been overwhelmed with critical e-mail about the comments in the article and she has responded with a message to the TS community on her website. She writes:
"Contrary to the St. Petersburg Times article, I do not see members of the transgender community as “men wearing dresses.” However, I do feel there is a fundamental misunderstanding by the general public that being transgender is simply a matter of men wanting to “dress up as women.”"
Unfortunately, here she definitely is right about common public perception. I don't think her comments are going to mollify the transgender activists. Plus her comments do nothing to educate the public about ENDA and I am not sure the criticism she is receiving is going to help passage of a gender expression inclusive ENDA either. It's too bad Susan had gotten thrust into a role she really didn't want and maybe wasn't equipped for.
Here is a sampling of other reactions:
http://endablog.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/analysis-the-second-susans-self-tale/
http://transgroupblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/please-susan-step-out-of-spotlight.html
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/01/largo_was_right_to_fire_stanton.php
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4057
Related posts on The force that through...
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/10/enda-controversy.html
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/05/couple-of-gender-items.html
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/04/steve-stanton-revisited.html
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/03/update-transgendered-city-manager-fired.html
http://theforcethat.blogspot.com/2007/03/get-over-it.html
Friday, January 04, 2008
Gender in Second Life
There is an interesting discussion on the economics of gender in online games over at Story Geek, another new blog to my blogroll. Since I am not a gamer I was not aware of the difference between Second Life and MMORPGs. Apparently in most other virtual universe systems you cannot switch your gender easily. In contrast, Second Life is very flexible.This leads has led to an underground economic system for sale of avatars on e-bay for example, something that does not exist for Second Life. But in Second Life female clothing is much more varied and expensive than male clothing. Of course doesn't this parallel clothing in real life?
One nice thing about Second Life is that I can find female shoes that fit!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Sexism and Creationists...what a combo
I like to tell my Biology and Genetics students that we are for the most part out of the sexist bad old days when women were thought to be incapable of doing science...but Michael Behe-he of the irreducible bacterial flagellum has demonstrated that sexism is alive and well. Seems he is playing the gender card in the case of grad student virologist, SA Smith when she had the gall to correct the Dr. Behe about the evolution of the HIV virus.
Well I had to check what Behe said for myself, because I had met Behe and watched his testimony at the Kansas Creation Science hearings and he seemed like a nice sort of guy though majorly confused about what his own paper on the evolution of proteins was really saying.
Behe says of SA Smith:
"Although she calls herself a “pre-grad student,” the tone of the post is decidedly junior high, the tone of someone who is trying hard to compete with all the other Mean Girls on that unpleasant website. I’ll pass over all that and try to stick to the substance."
Hmmmm I had to look up Mean Girls and I assume Behe is really referring to this site connected to the movie, Mean Girls. Sounds to me as if Behe has taken to imitating a real life Mean Girl Ann Coulter. I guess Behe is a bit grumpy given the failure of his irreducible complexity ideas to explain anything about biology. Or maybe its simply that 19th century scientific beliefs go hand in hand with misogyny.
To be fair to Dr. Behe, maybe he is really meaning to play the "I'm the professor she's the grad student" card. As if THAT is going to win any friends and influence people. Also to be fair misogyny along with racism is found in other scientists including some who are decidedly NOT creationist, James Watson being a recent and ancient case in point.
Ann Coulter image from wbrower.net/OBB/images/Ann_Coulter.gif
Well I had to check what Behe said for myself, because I had met Behe and watched his testimony at the Kansas Creation Science hearings and he seemed like a nice sort of guy though majorly confused about what his own paper on the evolution of proteins was really saying.
Behe says of SA Smith:
"Although she calls herself a “pre-grad student,” the tone of the post is decidedly junior high, the tone of someone who is trying hard to compete with all the other Mean Girls on that unpleasant website. I’ll pass over all that and try to stick to the substance."
Hmmmm I had to look up Mean Girls and I assume Behe is really referring to this site connected to the movie, Mean Girls. Sounds to me as if Behe has taken to imitating a real life Mean Girl Ann Coulter. I guess Behe is a bit grumpy given the failure of his irreducible complexity ideas to explain anything about biology. Or maybe its simply that 19th century scientific beliefs go hand in hand with misogyny.To be fair to Dr. Behe, maybe he is really meaning to play the "I'm the professor she's the grad student" card. As if THAT is going to win any friends and influence people. Also to be fair misogyny along with racism is found in other scientists including some who are decidedly NOT creationist, James Watson being a recent and ancient case in point.
Ann Coulter image from wbrower.net/OBB/
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Gay Children?
One of the things I am always impressed with is how early many of my gay friends report knowing they were different. This feeling of difference jibes with my own feelings growing up male but not feeling that that was right-that I too was very different inside. So why am I disturbed by this article in the Village Voice titled "Queer in the Crib?"
http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0725,reischel,76971,15.html
What's disturbing about this article is we have yet another way to use kids to project adult beliefs and desires. The article for instance, has a five or six year old dressed in leather with handcuffs-quite the old guard looking s/m practitioner. Young kids certainly develop a sense of their gender and sexual identities and do a lot of experimenting. I react the same way when I see little boys forced into sports because daddy is a frustrated ball player or little girls forced into ballet because mommy is a frustrated dancer.
One of the specialists quoted in the article says:
Parents ought to be there for kids and help kids develop and influence that development in positive ways...but not turn them into little poster children. Kids do develop a sense of who and what they are early and need to be able to turn to parents for advice. Lord knows my parents couldn't give me any help with my struggles prepuberty let alone puberty, but this article is a sort of pandering which I don't see as being good for kids. Kids need space and time to develop on their own, not to become pawns the the culture wars or become little sexualized robotized consumers.
http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0725,reischel,76971,15.html
What's disturbing about this article is we have yet another way to use kids to project adult beliefs and desires. The article for instance, has a five or six year old dressed in leather with handcuffs-quite the old guard looking s/m practitioner. Young kids certainly develop a sense of their gender and sexual identities and do a lot of experimenting. I react the same way when I see little boys forced into sports because daddy is a frustrated ball player or little girls forced into ballet because mommy is a frustrated dancer.
One of the specialists quoted in the article says:
"We needed a category that would be descriptive of children that were not oldAnd it looks like people are setting on "gender variance" as a way of describing kids who don't seem to fit the normal pattern of gender related behavior. I am just not sure this is a good idea. Labels can be valuable but labels develop a life on their own and that is not always a good thing and could lead to an unnecessary intrusion of "services" into kid's lives. There is a principle in quantum mechanics which says that the observer affects the experiment. Kids aren't experiments, but the idea is the same.
enough to declare gender or sexuality in the adult sense," he says. 'Because,
obviously, a five-year-old is not going to know what they are in terms of
sexuality or gender.' "
Parents ought to be there for kids and help kids develop and influence that development in positive ways...but not turn them into little poster children. Kids do develop a sense of who and what they are early and need to be able to turn to parents for advice. Lord knows my parents couldn't give me any help with my struggles prepuberty let alone puberty, but this article is a sort of pandering which I don't see as being good for kids. Kids need space and time to develop on their own, not to become pawns the the culture wars or become little sexualized robotized consumers.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sex in humans: It's a delicate balance.
For years we have been taught that during human development the default sex was female and an individual with a copy of the SRY gene would develop into a male. There is an interesting interview with Eric Vilain from the University of California in this month's Scientific American. Dr. Vilain's work has updated this simplistic notion and his work has implications that go beyond genetics.
Dr. Vilain studies intersex individuals. He got interested in this topic as a medical student in Paris. He was assigned to the pediatrics unit and was shocked at how doctors made decisions about gender assignment for children with ambiguous genitalia.
His lab has discovered that sex and perhaps gender seem to involve a balancing act between different sets of genes. On the one hand is the SRY gene. Balancing that appear to be a series of what he calls "anti male genes", for instance the WNT4 gene that he calls female specific. Indeed this gene appears to inhibit male hormone production by females. WNT4 and other sorts of genes may also prove to be not just "anti-male" but be required for proper ovarian development, but this still needs to be demonstrated.
Vilain's work has implications for the politics and handling of gender related issues. From the transgender perspective this work is interesting because it provides an approach that might help explain gender identity 'disorders' at least in some situations. After all the SRY gene appears to be expressed in the brain. Might the same hold true for some of these other genes related to gonadal development? Might gender identity and behavior be as much about genetics as about social construction?
Indeed in another interview Dr. Vilain has this to say about gender identity:
For the intersex community, his work has led to proposals to replace much of the nomenclature related to intersex individuals. In Vilain's view, the term 'intersex' is too vague and he would replace it with the term 'disorders of sexual development (DSD)'. Some in the intersex community support these sorts of changes because it would enable them to get medical treatment. Others think that the new nomeclature pathologizes what they view as 'normal variants.' Vilain responds:
Yet the intersex community is not abandoning the term intersex, but using it in the sense of an idenity rahter than a set of medical conditions. Sherri Morris makes this point quite clear in the ISNA blog:
So we see how genetics research affects more than just medical knowledge; it affects how we view ourselves at some very fundamental levels. For the subtle conflict and balance among the genes in the human organism is reflected in the complex nuances involved in even the most basic aspects of our identity, laying waste to the simplistic notions of male and female clung to by so many in our society.
Other Links:
Brian K. Jordan, Jennifer H.-C. Shen,Robert Olaso, Holly A. Ingraham, and Eric Vilain Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 September 16; 100(19): 10866–10871.
Intersex Society of North America
Technorati Tags:
genetics
gender identity
intersex
Dr. Vilain studies intersex individuals. He got interested in this topic as a medical student in Paris. He was assigned to the pediatrics unit and was shocked at how doctors made decisions about gender assignment for children with ambiguous genitalia.
His lab has discovered that sex and perhaps gender seem to involve a balancing act between different sets of genes. On the one hand is the SRY gene. Balancing that appear to be a series of what he calls "anti male genes", for instance the WNT4 gene that he calls female specific. Indeed this gene appears to inhibit male hormone production by females. WNT4 and other sorts of genes may also prove to be not just "anti-male" but be required for proper ovarian development, but this still needs to be demonstrated.
Vilain's work has implications for the politics and handling of gender related issues. From the transgender perspective this work is interesting because it provides an approach that might help explain gender identity 'disorders' at least in some situations. After all the SRY gene appears to be expressed in the brain. Might the same hold true for some of these other genes related to gonadal development? Might gender identity and behavior be as much about genetics as about social construction?
Indeed in another interview Dr. Vilain has this to say about gender identity:
"This is really the big enigma and to me it's also the most important aspect of
sex determination to understand because I believe out of all the definitions of
sex, gender is the most important. In fact it's how people feel that is
important, regardless of what they look like, of what their levels of hormones
are, or what their face or genitalia look like. It's what they feel within
themselves."
For the intersex community, his work has led to proposals to replace much of the nomenclature related to intersex individuals. In Vilain's view, the term 'intersex' is too vague and he would replace it with the term 'disorders of sexual development (DSD)'. Some in the intersex community support these sorts of changes because it would enable them to get medical treatment. Others think that the new nomeclature pathologizes what they view as 'normal variants.' Vilain responds:
"We can play with words like that, but for practical purposes these "normal
variants" have a lot of health risks that require lots of visits to the doctor
for a bunch of issues that intersex patients have: fertility issues, cancer
issues (the testis inside the body can increase the risk of cancer), sexual
health issues. So if you're to start going to the doctor a lot for your
condition, you can call it a normal variant, but that's not really useful.
You're calling it a normal variant for political purposes."
Yet the intersex community is not abandoning the term intersex, but using it in the sense of an idenity rahter than a set of medical conditions. Sherri Morris makes this point quite clear in the ISNA blog:
"It would be a mistake to advocate that “intersex” be replaced with “DSD” within
such community, in the same way that people with a variety of different
conditions identify themselves using terms which may vary from the terms
employed by their health care providers. For example, instead of using a
diagnosis such as “achondroplasia,” many individuals with such conditions have
banded together using the term “Little People” because it reflects their
history, culture, and real-life experience."
So we see how genetics research affects more than just medical knowledge; it affects how we view ourselves at some very fundamental levels. For the subtle conflict and balance among the genes in the human organism is reflected in the complex nuances involved in even the most basic aspects of our identity, laying waste to the simplistic notions of male and female clung to by so many in our society.
Other Links:
Brian K. Jordan, Jennifer H.-C. Shen,Robert Olaso, Holly A. Ingraham, and Eric Vilain Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 September 16; 100(19): 10866–10871.
Intersex Society of North America
Technorati Tags:
genetics
gender identity
intersex
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
A Couple of Gender Items...
I have been following the Steve/Susan Stanton story out of Florida. Steve Stanton was fired as city manager of Largo Florida for wanting to transition from male to female. There is a very sensitive report in the Saint Petersburg Times about the transition from Steve to Susan. This shows a good balance of the good things about transitioning and at the same time some of the costs that have to be born by the person and his or her family. The article has a very nice picture of Susan. I hope they continue to follow this story and I wish Susan well.
Another transition in the news, one with a more positive outcome employment wise is that of sports writer, Mike Penner of the LA Times who is transitioning to Christine Daniels. This is well covered in Newsweek here. Newsweek also has a wonderful article titled "Rethinking Gender" along with links to other articles as part of a series on gender. You might also enjoy Christine's blog, Woman in Progress at the LA Times website.
This article asks:
"What is gender anyway? It is certainly more than the physical details of what's between our legs. History and science suggest that gender is more subtle and more complicated than anatomy. (It's separate from sexual orientation, too, which determines which sex we're attracted to.) Gender helps us organize the world into two boxes, his and hers, and gives us a way of quickly sizing up every person we see on the street. "Gender is a way of making the world secure," says feminist scholar Judith Butler, a rhetoric professor at University of California, Berkeley."
Yes, gender helps make the world secure. It's not strictly a social construct, but as the article goes on to explain probably a mix of social and biological factors. For most people gender identity goes along with biological sex. And even those such as Christine or Susan, want to fit in what for them is the right box, hence the desire for transitioning.
We police gender so carefully-maybe its our primate love of displays and our gender markers are often some what silly. For instance, I saw a set of boy and girl medallions in a catalog. Stare and stare at them I could not see the difference between them for about five minutes. The girl medallion had a pink ribbon while the boy medallion had a white ribbon. Geeesh!
Now don't get me wrong-I am not advocating an end to gender-just an end to the bizarre social policing of gender that infects our society. Let people sort themselves along the gender spectrum. Probably most people will end up the same, but those who don't fit our gender notions will have a much easier time of things.
On a personal note, the Kansas City area transgender community lost a key supporter in Fran Martin who died of cancer last week. She was a friend, courageous advocate and tireless worker. Fran helped many area people, myself included, sort out gender identity issues. She never condemned or judged. She is missed.
Other links:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/womaninprogress/
Technorati Tags:
gender
transgender
Another transition in the news, one with a more positive outcome employment wise is that of sports writer, Mike Penner of the LA Times who is transitioning to Christine Daniels. This is well covered in Newsweek here. Newsweek also has a wonderful article titled "Rethinking Gender" along with links to other articles as part of a series on gender. You might also enjoy Christine's blog, Woman in Progress at the LA Times website.
This article asks:
"What is gender anyway? It is certainly more than the physical details of what's between our legs. History and science suggest that gender is more subtle and more complicated than anatomy. (It's separate from sexual orientation, too, which determines which sex we're attracted to.) Gender helps us organize the world into two boxes, his and hers, and gives us a way of quickly sizing up every person we see on the street. "Gender is a way of making the world secure," says feminist scholar Judith Butler, a rhetoric professor at University of California, Berkeley."
Yes, gender helps make the world secure. It's not strictly a social construct, but as the article goes on to explain probably a mix of social and biological factors. For most people gender identity goes along with biological sex. And even those such as Christine or Susan, want to fit in what for them is the right box, hence the desire for transitioning.
We police gender so carefully-maybe its our primate love of displays and our gender markers are often some what silly. For instance, I saw a set of boy and girl medallions in a catalog. Stare and stare at them I could not see the difference between them for about five minutes. The girl medallion had a pink ribbon while the boy medallion had a white ribbon. Geeesh!
Now don't get me wrong-I am not advocating an end to gender-just an end to the bizarre social policing of gender that infects our society. Let people sort themselves along the gender spectrum. Probably most people will end up the same, but those who don't fit our gender notions will have a much easier time of things.
On a personal note, the Kansas City area transgender community lost a key supporter in Fran Martin who died of cancer last week. She was a friend, courageous advocate and tireless worker. Fran helped many area people, myself included, sort out gender identity issues. She never condemned or judged. She is missed.
Other links:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/womaninprogress/
Technorati Tags:
gender
transgender
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