Breaking the Gender Dichotomy: Why Two Are Definitely Not Enough (And Why It Matters!) Kand Mcqueen, Ph.D
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Breaking the Gender Dichotomy: Why Two are Definitely Not Enough (And Why It Matters!) Kand McQueen, Ph.D. TRANSGENDERISM • Blanket term that refers to those who permanently or periodically do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth (Carroll, Gilroy, Ryan, 2002) • Shows up early • Shannon Garcia: Trans Youth Family Allies (TYFA) “Blanket Term” TRANSGENDERISM • The manifestation of transgenderism is not always dichotomous • “I am a woman trapped inside the body of a man” (MTF) • “I am a man trapped inside the body of a woman” (FTM) • "I don't feel like a man trapped in a woman's body, I just feel trapped” o Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues (pp. 158-59) Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity • Two completely different attributes o Height & Weight • Most gay men feel like men; most lesbians feel like women • Transgender person can be: o Gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, etc. TRANSGENDERISM AND SOCIETY'S COMMITMENT TO THE BINARY Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. --Bertrand Russell Tyra Hunter • August 7, 1995 Washington, DC • “This ain't no bitch” • “Look! It's got a cock and balls” • “It don't make any difference. He's (sic) a person. He's a human being” • D.C. General Hospital a doctor refused to treat her • She was 24 Two Are Definitely Not Enough (And Why It Matters) 1 Kand McQueen, Ph.D. http://Kand.McQueen.com LAWRENCE KING 1993-2008 • February 12, 2008, Oxnard, California • Brandon McInerney, age 14 • Charged as an adult • Premeditated murder, firearm, hate crime • Faced up to 51 yrs. to life, no parole • Plea agreement after a hung jury • Dec. 2011: 21 years; Released when 38 Erin Vaught • July 18, 2010 coughing up large amounts of blood • Taken to the emergency room at BMH • Her ID included her female name and was marked female • She was entered into the computer system as a male – “I pointed out that my ID says 'female.' There were two ladies there, and one of them snickered a little bit and covered her mouth. The other got a very annoyed look on her face” • She was stared at and insulted when escorted to an examination room • A nurse asked her partner, “So is it a 'he' or a 'she?' Or a 'he-she?'” – She was also referred to as an “it” • She was asked inappropriate questions having nothing to do with coughing up blood as well as a given psychiatric examination – Signs of depression or suicide ideation? • Two-hour wait with NO MEDICAL TREATMENT – “Well, we don't know how to go about treating someone with your condition” – “I responded, 'I don't even know my condition. That's why I'm here!' She replied, 'No. Your other condition. The transvestite thing.'" • She was, “…embarrassed and trying not to cry.” She walked out. Robert Eads Ovarian Cancer 1996 • He was refused treatment by two dozen doctors o “You'd make our female patients uncomfortable” • In 1997, he was finally accepted for treatment by the Medical College of Georgia Hospital • By 1998, his cancer had metastasized to his uterus, cervix, and other abdominal organs • Died in 1999 at the age of 53 • Southern Comfort o 2001 Documentary First Do No Harm Except to Trans People Two Are Definitely Not Enough (And Why It Matters) 2 Kand McQueen, Ph.D. http://Kand.McQueen.com Yaz'min Shancez • 20 year-old hair stylist in Fort Meyers, Florida • Identified as a woman since 2004 • June, 2014 o Murdered, set on fire, dumped in a garbage can • Police treated as a homicide, not a hate crime o Fort Myers Police Lt. Jay Rodriguez § “We have no indication at this time to say this was specifically done because it was a male living as a female or anything like that” • Her father, Harvey Loggins: o "We didn’t hate him for what he was. Still to this day I love him. I wish he was here right now.” (Naples Daily News, 2014) • Terry Lynn Brady, 45, was arrested on second-degree murder charge on July 30, 2014 • Nothing official; various reports they may have had a sexual relationship • Reports that Shancez may have “outed” him on Facebook as someone who like to “be with” men But underneath it all, aren’t we really dichotomous? INTERSEXED • Individuals born with neither the standard male nor standard female anatomy (Dreger 1998) • Hermaphrodite • Somewhere in-between male and female • 'DSD’ Disorders of Sex Development Intersexuality: How It Happens Gonads and Genitals and Chromosomes (Oh My!) Manifestations of Intersexuality There are a lot of different ways to be intersex Types of Intersexuality Not XX and not XY one in 1,666 births Klinefelter (XXY) one in 1,000 births Androgen insensitivity syndrome one in 13,000 births Partial androgen insensitivity syndrome one in 130,000 births Classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia one in 13,000 births Late onset adrenal hyperplasia one in 66 individuals Vaginal agenesis one in 5,000 births Ovotestes one in 83,000 births Idiopathic (no discernable medical cause) one in 110,000 births Two Are Definitely Not Enough (And Why It Matters) 3 Kand McQueen, Ph.D. http://Kand.McQueen.com Iatrogenic (caused by medical treatment, for instance progestin administered to pregnant mother) no estimate 5 alpha reductase deficiency no estimate Mixed gonadal dysgenesis no estimate Complete gonadal dysgenesis one in 150,000 births Hypospadias (urethral opening in perineum or along penile shaft) one in 2,000 births Hypospadias (urethral opening between corona and tip of glans penis) one in 770 births Intersexed Birth • “Social Emergency” (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2000) • Assign a “Sex of Rearing” • 25 years, Children's National Medical Center & George Washington University Medical School (Washington DC) o 91 intersexed births o 79 (81%) assigned female (Newman, Randolph, & Anderson, 1992) Medical Management Restoring to Normalcy How Often Does This Happen? Frequency of Intersexuality • Total number of people whose bodies differ from standard male or standard female anatomy: o One in 100 • Total number of people receiving surgery to “normalize” appearance: o Two in 1,000 § Blackless, Melanie, Anthony Charuvastra, Amanda Derryck, Anne Fausto-Sterling, Karl Lauzanne, and Ellen Lee. 2000. How sexually dimorphic are we? Review and synthesis. American Journal of Human Biology 12:151-166. Available from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/issuetoc?ID=69504032 • 1 in 2000 born with 'confusing genitals' (isna.org) o Based on the number referred to gender identity teams in hospitals Extremely Rare? • Based on the 1 in 2000 estimate: o More common than cystic fibrosis § 1/2,500 - 1/90,000 § (http://www.cysticfibrosismedicine.com/htmldocs/CFText/genetics.htm) Two Are Definitely Not Enough (And Why It Matters) 4 Kand McQueen, Ph.D. http://Kand.McQueen.com Still, it's really rare, right? Population of the U.S.: 307,006,550 Do The Math… • 307,006,550 ÷ 2,000 o 153,503 people in this country • State of Indiana? o 6,423,113 o 6,423,113 ÷ 2000 o 3,211 in this state alone One in a Million? • Estimated population of the world is 7 billion o 7,000,000,000 o 7,000,000,000 ÷ 1,000,000 o 7,000 • Happening 7,000 times around the planet every day INTERSEXUALITY AND SOCIETY'S COMMITMENT TO THE BINARY Response to Conditions • Micropenis o 2 Standard deviations below the mean o Sometimes 2.5 SD Let's talk about the standard deviation… The Dichotomy • A non-binary sex is not an option • We don't cut up the inadequate paradigm, we cut up people in an attempt to make them fit the paradigm • Who are we trying to make 'feel better' here? Working Alongside Transgendered People TRUST Respect the Diversity Not all Transgender People are the Same Two Are Definitely Not Enough (And Why It Matters) 5 Kand McQueen, Ph.D. http://Kand.McQueen.com Not all transgendered people will transition • MTF—FTM o Some will transition, some will not o Some will take hormones, but no surgery o Some will take hormones with some surgery o Some will take hormones with all possible surgeries o Some will try to pass, some will not o A male identity does not necessarily mean that person will want to try to pass as male o A female identity does not necessarily mean that person will want to try to pass as female Not all transgendered people adhere to a dichotomy • Gender Queer • “Transgenderists” • “Gender Outlaws” (Bornstein, 1994) • “Gender Non-Binary” Not all Transgender People Embrace the Diversity • “You're not really trans” • “If you were really trans, you'd be willing to do something about it” • “You're not female-to-male; you're androgyne” • “You don‘t really feel male” • Pyramid with transsexuals at the top Empathy Try to imagine what life has been like and what they may have gone through… A Person is Not Solely Defined by Means of Transgenderism NOT ALL TRANSGENDERED PEOPLE ARE THE SAME!!! You may know a lot about transgenderism, that does not mean you know ANYTHING about the individual in front of you Not all transgender people are the same… • Some are friendly and outgoing • Some are shy and may want nothing more than to just ‘be’ • Some are militant and may be actively looking for a reason to find fault • And on and on… Some will be easy to work with, others, not so much!! After all they are, first and foremost, HUMAN BEINGS! Two Are Definitely Not Enough (And Why It Matters) 6 Kand McQueen, Ph.D. http://Kand.McQueen.com Transitioning Considerations What if someone you work with announces their intention to transition? Remember: They are Having to Learn How to Live as the “Other” Learning to Live as the “Other” • “The excitement stemming from finally beginning the transitional process after so many years of shame and denial often leads clients to make decisions without thinking through the interpersonal, financial, and potentially legal consequences” (Wester, et al., p.