Essay on Intervening Surgical Intervention

Discussion of issues related to non-normative sexual and gender identities as related to mental health began in the 19th century (Drescher, 2010). Initially medical and psychiatric providers viewed issues related to gender identity as resulting from delusional thought processes (Drescher, 2010). As a result the concept of surgery as a solution to gender identity differences was viewed as unnecessary and ultimately an incorrect form of treatment (Drescher, 2010). In 1952 the first gender reassignment surgery was performed in Denmark on an American citizen (Drescher, 2010). The publicity in the American media that followed this surgery brought the concept of gender identity to the public eye. During the 1960s research about gender identity started to develop and it was the work of Money, Stoller, Benjamin, and Green that ultimately change professional and public concept of Gender Identity (Drescher, 2010). These four individuals were among the first to conduct clinical and academic research on gender identity and gender roles (Drescher, 2010). As a result of their research beliefs about non-normative gender identity shifted from a problem of the mind to a biological disorder that was fixed and should be treated with

     This paper takes a look into the lives of three males breaking out of their gender

Bradley et al., also mention a similar case in which a 2-month year old male was injured during an electrocautery circumcision and his entire penile shaft was burned and the penis eventually sloughed off. At 7-months the rest of the penis and testes were removed and the parents made the decision to reassign their son to a female and to raise him as a girl. The patient was interviewed at two separate times. The first time was at age 16 and the patient stated that she had been living a female life and had no uncertainty about being a woman. The patient mentioned that during her childhood she viewed herself as a “tomboy” but she still maintained her circle of friends to mainly girls. She wanted to have sexual intercourse with males so she arranged a vaginoplasty. She was interviewed once more at age 26 and reported that she had been attracted to women in fantasy, and enjoyed experiences with both women and men. She now

Most of these individuals feel such intense uncomfortable emotions, who also, sadly, like David, end up committing suicide (Herman, Haas). Colapinto’s book helps us to understand the issues of “intersexuality” or more commonly now known as transgender individuals. It helps us as reader understand the negativity of these conditions and the turmoil these individuals experience. It makes us realize the importance gender has an identity, something we may not realize and take for

Genitals that were ambiguous were just thought of as a natural variation of human anatomy [2]. Due to a huge leap in medicine in the 20th century, the medical field started to view intersexual conditions as abnormal and curable through surgery and other options. Starting in the 50s, doctors have used the “concealment-centered model” of healthcare when intersexuality is encountered. Using this model’s derivation, the “optimum of gender rearing model”, doctors “correct” the ambiguous genitals by means of surgery and hormonal treatments. Under this model, gender assignment should be done as early as possible so that children would “grow up to be good (believable and straight) girls and boys” [1]. This method of healthcare tries to “normalize” intersex individuals because it is trying to prevent the individuals from being “ostracized” in society

Transgender and transsexual rights campaigns champion the rights of individuals to identify as a gender opposite to, or (sometimes, but not always) more broadly “other than,” that which they were assigned at birth. Some movements for intersex and trans rights even reject assignment at birth altogether as inadequate for classifying their sex or their future gender identity. Both camps raise questions challenging the interconnectedness of gender and biological sex, but some of the ways in which trans and intersex individuals pursue civil rights are markedly different. Leslie Feinberg, author of Trans Liberation, defends the right to express and identify as whatever gender one wishes, regardless of sex assigned at birth, without fear of persecution. Intersex people also argue for acceptance of a “body-gender disconnect” (relative to hegemonic ideals) but with the important detail that their bodies never could have fit on a binary to begin with. But, as discussed in Giving Sex by Davis et al., when trans people seek the right to immediate and unencumbered medical intervention with their sex, in order for ethics and insurance to allow for it, they and their physicians must make the argument that such a body-gender disconnect is a medical emergency, while intersex people instead seek the right to not have their sex surgically altered and for medical professionals to not view their intersexuality as a medical – or social – emergency.

With real life stories, and scientific data, she explains why intersex infants should be treated differently than they currently are. Intersex infants are reassigned at an early age with the intention of making the child and parents life easier, when in actuality, in most instances, the child decides to change genders at an older age. Sterling advocates for parents to be told all of the options and to bring more awareness to intersexuality, instead of treating it as a medical emergency in dire need of reassignment. Furthermore, she includes her list of genders, female, male, herm, merm, and ferm, to identify every case of

Transgender children are beginning to use cross sex hormone treatment (the injection of testosterone for biological females and oestrogen for biological males) at ages as young as 12. This allows the children to go through puberty as the gender that they consider themselves to be, developing the secondary sexual characteristics of said gender. However, there is much debate to whether or not children should be able to transition at such a young age. It is said that the children, as they approach their teen years, may change their mind on their gender, and they aren’t old enough to know their gender. However, not allow them to transition is shown to have negative outcomes, which are briefly presented in the article. How Young is Too Young?, an

Narratives are defining aspect of Preves piece on intersexuality as she uses the experiences of those directly affected by the stigma surrounding ambiguous genitalia to prove her point. Medical professionals within our society are often viewed as having an authoritative role and their opinions are rarely contested. Due to this, it is clear that their opinions help to shape the way individuals feel about themselves and how others should view them. When discussing Drew, who did not undergo medical sex reassignment, Preves addresses the fact that it was only after seeing a gynecologist that Drew felt her body was “different” (Preves 2013:28). This is due to the “authority of the doctor’s medical position”, which led Drew to reconsider her self-concept. Medical professionals are social agents, meaning they influence socialization and can impact what society views as normal and acceptable (Preves 2013:32), which is why Preves asserts that medical professionals have the ability to “normalize” sexual variation and reframe the way society views these differences. The issue is that individuals and society strive to classify individuals into groups. Being born with aspects of both sexes restricts one individual from easily defining another, and this is also true for societal views

Surgical intervention may be considered when patients do not response to specific antibiotic therapy and the infection has spread to the joint. Surgery may also be indicated if persistent soft-tissue abscess or a penetrating injury is present. According to Hockenberry et al. (2013), “opinions differ regarding surgical intervention, but many advocate sequestrectomy and surgical drainage to decompress the metaphyseal space before purulent fluid erupts and spreads to the subperiosteal space, forming abscesses that strip the periosteum from bone of form draining sinuses” (p. 1080). In my patient’s situation, a simple incision with drainage of the deep abscess was necessary to control the spread of the Staphylococcal infection since the x-ray films

Treatment options for gender dysphoria have evolved since the 1950s when the first sex reassignment surgery was performed. The evolution of this medical intervention has allowed for a complex arena of highly controversial criteria on which to base treatment options. The discussion of who should or should not undergo intervention drove further the discussion of whom is

The skin is 15% of the total human body weight and is the human body's largest organ. In

When a woman is pregnant she hopes for her baby to be healthy and well, like every mother-to-be would want for her child. Some even wish for it to be a girl so they can dress her up and do her hair and be “mommy’s little princess” others wish for it to be a boy that way he can help dad out with fixing the car, stereotypically speaking. Whatever the reason may be parents all around the world sometimes have a preference on what sex they want their child to be. Parents-to-be want a particular gender either for social, medical and financial reasons, ethics, culture, or personal experiences

In the two articles, researchers wanted to study brain structure differences in the transsexuals and how different they are from healthy individuals to understand its potential influence on sexual orientation, gender identity, sex hormones and biological sex. Many confuse the terms transsexual and intersex, whereby transsexual refers to people who are born with typical male or female anatomies but feel that they were born in the wrong body. This results from the mismatch between gender-specific brain development and physiological development. Whereas, intersex are people with a sexual anatomy that is not considered typically male or female. These two conditions show that viewing sex as a binary concept has limitations and the biological spectrum on its own is enough to the dispel this notion of gender being binary.