Erik Schneider, Christel Baltes-Löhr (eds.) Normed Children Gender Studies Erik Schneider, Christel Baltes-Löhr (eds.) Normed Children Effects of Gender and Sex Related Normativity on Childhood and Adolescence This publication is the English version of “Normierte Kinder. Effekte der Ge- schlechternormativität auf Kindheit und Adoleszenz” edited by Erik Schneider and Christel Baltes-Löhr in 2014. A third unchanged edition has been publis- hed by transcript Verlag in 2018. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Na- tionalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No- Derivatives 4.0 (BY-NC-ND) which means that the text may be used for non-commer- cial purposes, provided credit is given to the author. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ To create an adaptation, translation, or derivative of the original work and for commer- cial use, further permission is required and can be obtained by contacting rights@ transcript-verlag.de Creative Commons license terms for re-use do not apply to any content (such as graphs, figures, photos, excerpts, etc.) not original to the Open Access publication and further permission may be required from the rights holder. The obligation to research and clear permission lies solely with the party re-using the material. © 2018 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Cover concept: Kordula Röckenhaus, Bielefeld Cover illustration: suze / photocase.de Translated by Matthias Müller and Svantje Volkens Typeset by Anne Müller Printed by Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar Print-ISBN 978-3-8376-3020-6 PDF-ISBN 978-3-8394-3020-0 https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839430200 CONTENTS Introduction 09 Christel Baltes-Löhr, Erik Schneider CHAPTER 1: THEMATICAL FRAMEWORK Always Gender – Always Different 17 An Attempt at a Definition Christel Baltes-Löhr Human Diversity: To the Detriment of Norms 39 Janik Bastien Charlebois Gender Identities and Human Rights 45 Jean-Paul Lehners The Gender Issue, a Question of Non-Discrimination 57 Charles Goerens CHAPTER 2: CATEGORIES The Concept of Human Gender: Its Epistemological and Ethical Impact 63 Michael Groneberg The Art of not Being Categorized Quite So (Much) 81 A Critique of the Knowledge and Power of Sex Éric Fassin Who has a Disorder? Who gets to Decide? 95 Jörg Woweries An Unusual Way of Addressing Sex/Gender 113 Tanguy Trillet CHAPTER 3: BIOMEDICINE The Sex of Knowledge: Sexuated and Gendered Anatomy 123 Sylvie Deplus Determining Sex/Gender: 137 Genes and DNA Precisely Do Not Predict the Development of a Genital Tract... Heinz-Jürgen Voß Cuba: A Revolution of Sexualities, Sexes/Genders and Bodies 155 Mariela Castro Espín CHAPTER 4: SEX/GENDER NORMATIVITY AND TRANSIDENTITY Trans-Children: Between Normative Power and Self-Determination 167 Erik Schneider Hormone Treatment of Transsexual Adolescents 189 Achim Wüsthof Genetic or Biological Trans Parenthood: Dream or Reality? 197 Petra de Sutter CHAPTER 5: SEX/GENDER NORMATIVITY AND INTERSEX BODIES Intersex/Gender-Related Constitutiveness: 209 Specific Realities, Specific Norms Simon Zobel Intersex: Medical Measures on the Test Bed 229 Jörg Woweries Intersex and Human Rights 245 Vincent Guillot Medical Resistance to Criticism of Intersex Activists: 257 Operations on the Frontline of Credibility Janik Bastien Charlebois, Vincent Guillot CHAPTER 6: EDUCATION/PRACTICES OF SUPPORT The Parent-Child Attachment and its Influence on Children 273 Developing beyond the Binary Sex/Gender Norm Karin Weyer Transmitting Gender Competence in Biology Teacher Training 285 Isabelle Collet Prisoners of Lexicon: Cultural Cisgenderism and Transgender Children 297 Natacha Kennedy Educational Activities: From Binary to Gender-Plural Approaches 313 Christel Baltes-Löhr Transidentity and Puberty 339 Tom Reucher ANALYSIS AND OUTLOOK Optimism, Happiness and other Cruelties from a Conference 351 on Sex/Gender Norms Todd Sekuler Authors 365 Introduction1 Christel Baltes-Löhr, Erik Schneider The present publication is based on selected contributions for the 2012 confer- ence ‘Gender Normativity and its Effects on Childhood and Adolescence’, which was held in cooperation between the association Intersex & Transgender Luxem- bourg and the University of Luxembourg.2 The conference helped release syner- gies, an occurrence which is still unusual for not only Luxembourg, but also the spheres beyond it: the collaboration and joint discussion between people whose own biographical circumstances led them to engage with the conference topic, political activists aiming at establishing equal rights for all those who do not conform to the normative notions of a binary sex/gender order and at removing the taboos around their ways of life, and finally members of the scientific com- munity who dedicate themselves to this subject in their research and teaching. During the exchange of innovative ideas and concepts regarding the subjects and topics related to ‘inter- and trans-sex/gender-related constitutiveness’,3 the aim was to avoid any hierarchizing speech about so-called affected persons by so-called professionals, and to strive for an equal exchange of all conference par- ticipants regardless of their sex/gender affiliation. Around 200 attendees from various European countries (Belgium, Germa- ny, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain), Canada and Cuba, as well as speakers from such diverse disciplines as biology, medicine, law, education, psychology, sociology and philosophy, made it possible to embark on a comprehensive and multi-faceted debate. The conference was met by considerable media interest, even far beyond the borders of Luxembourg. Following the event, a desire for a continued international exchange between 1 | Originial version in German. 2 | URL: http://idw-online.de/pages/de/attachmentdata18240.pdf [21.12.2013]. 3 | Instead of trans*, the German version of this publication uses the form trans' developed by the association Intersex & Transgender Luxembourg. In order to not to disturb the lecture and to avoid miss-understandings, trans' is not used in the English version and replaced by trans. Inter' is replaced by inter. The term of sex/gender-related constitutiveness will underline the assumption that all sexes, all genders are to be considered as results of ongoing processes of social constructions and developments. ‘Inter- and trans-sex/gender-related constitutiveness’ is an innovative translation for the German terms ‘Intergeschlechtlichkeit’ and ‘Transgeschlechtlichkeit’. 10 Christel Baltes-Löhr, Erik Schneider speakers, researchers and interested persons remained. This led to the devel- opment of international and pluridisciplinary connections which also included parents’ groups of trans children. Thus the present publication can serve as a landmark for raising further awareness of issues of inter- and trans-sex/gen- der-related constitutiveness within scientific and public debates. What is particularly remarkable about the conference is its focus on the life situations of children and adolescents, whose subjective self-attributions of sex and gender do not conform to the binary normative sex/gender matrix, but who live – are forced to live – lives that are strongly delimited, and often even constricted, by this very matrix. This indicates a more comprehensive perspec- tive offered by the conference and the present publication: the questioning of currently accepted sex/gender norms. Generally, sex/gender and the corresponding norms seem to be an integral part of life – like the air we breathe. It seems normal to have a sex/gender – and only one at that. The power of such normative notions becomes particularly clear in encounters with people who do not seem to conform to these norms, or who even seem to resist them altogether. This observation brings up questions about the necessity of such norms and the consequences resulting from their blind, i.e. unreflected implementation. Particularly with regard to children, adolescents and their families, an in- tersectional perspective quickly reveals correlations regarding the potency of normative attributions of sex/gender with other interrelational dimensions such as ethnicity, age and physical constitutiveness. On the other hand, normative notions, processes of norming, of approaching variation and otherness, as well as confirmation and affirmation can also be elucidated with such a perspective on children and adolescents. Without trying to establish yet another classification of people with affiliations to particular groups of sex/gender, we will in the following present two groups, regarding those who do not conform to the hitherto predominant sex/gender norms, that this publication is primarily concerned with: people who feel they do not belong to the sex/gender assigned to them at birth are in the following referred to as trans persons. Those whose physical features cannot be reduced to one of the two standard sexes, i.e. female or male, are referred in the present publication as intersex persons. Correspondingly, children