Comments on: India officially recognizes third sex/gender

By: A Case of The Third Sex « Me I Think…

A Case of The Third Sex « Me I Think… — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:44:39 +0000

[...] It is imperative that the government considers such persons and make a ruling such as that of India which recognises the unique identities of intersex and transsexual individuals. By having an “O” for Other, it paves way for covering issues surrounding ambiguous [...]

By: seelenlos

seelenlos — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:13:12 +0000

as an ally working for a human rights group fighting for human rights for the intersexed, wanted to say thank you for your differentiating definitions, for too often, intersex is lumped together with (or even coopted by) other groups, much to the political disadvantage of the intersexed.

since you mentioned santhi, check out this:
http://zwischengeschlecht.org/pages/Justice-for-Santhi-Soundarajan-and-Caster-Semenya-Rally-19.11.09

oca, give santhi her medal back! NOW!!

By: Introducing (and remembering) Rita Hester » Sexuality and Society

Introducing (and remembering) Rita Hester » Sexuality and Society — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:32:44 +0000

[...] In the past few weeks there have been several new stories (at least the U.S.) about young people dressing “queer” (in other words, playing with gender and not adhering to a rigid sex/gender system), while some school officials wring their hands in dismay. Some officials respond by attempting to BAN gender non-conformity at school, such as we see in the Morehouse College case and in the case of the girl who is fighting to wear a tux for her Senior class photo. One school principle attempted to simply CANCEL an event where gender/sexual non-conformity might be displayed (Alabama prom story). Meanwhile, one official response to gender non-conformity in India has been to simply add another official sex/gender category: voters can now register one of three sexes: male, female, or “other.” [...]

By: Kari Lerum

Kari Lerum — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:36:13 +0000

Brit, I agree that the word “other” is problematic and reflective of differential power relations, but in this case (where a fairly wide range of people are included in this category) what word would you propose? I suppose “third sex/gender” might work — but only if folks recognize themselves as such. The benefit of “other” is that it’s wide open for interpretation … nobody is excluded by definition …

By: Brit

Brit — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:08:13 +0000

Does it bother anyone else that they are referred to as “Other”?!

I don’t like the language of this. I think you’re still reaffirming the trans person as an outsider with the terminology of “other”.

By: Kari Lerum

Kari Lerum — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:39:48 +0000

Thanks, Melissa! Much appreciated, and I’ve added this crucial citation to the list of recommended readings.

By: Melissa Embser-Herbert

Melissa Embser-Herbert — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:49:06 +0000

Don’t forget the outstanding work of our sociologist colleague, Sharon Preves. http://www.amazon.com/Intersex-Identity-Contested-Sharon-Preves/dp/0813532299

In fact, as a sociology site and though Anne Fausto Sterling was/is a critical figure in this area, I would much rather see Sharon’s work cited above re intersexuality!