My artifact is a 20/20 clip about intersex, specifically a girl named Hilda Viloria. In the clip they tell the story of Hilda being born with an enlarged clitoris and how it affected her life starting as a child. Hilda did not have corrective surgery and is happy she didn’t. Her story is a positive one; ending with her embracing who she is and not hiding in the shadows and thinking she is abnormal. Also in the clip they interview a M.D, Kenneth Glassberg. He talks about how it is important for babies to get the reconstructive surgery because if they don’t they will have a more difficult life within the society we have today.
I chose this
clip as my artifact because it was a positive outlook on an intersexual individual.
20/20 was attempting to educate the public on a different side of the
male/female gender connotation. Their isn’t just two type of sexes in this
world, there’s never been; so as a whole we need to accommodate people for how
they are born. The reason we have a hard time accepting that there are
different people out there is because we are so stuck in our traditional ways. Straying from tradition means everyone’s lives
must change in one way or another, which I don’t personally see as a bad thing.
It won’t cost people more money or physical effort; it would simply just ask to
accept the diversity of this world. The doctors believe that “fixing” the
problem at a very young age is the best because, based on how society is today,
it will be easier for the child. I feel this is a huge authoritative push for a
more “normal” society. They are taking away the child’s identity that they are
born with and, in some cases, literally scaring them for life. I feel that in
both of the readings the authors were pushing for society to change rather then
the intersexual individuals. It will
defiantly be a long road of changing societies minds about the intersexual
community but I think it one that needs to be addressed. America prides
ourselves on freedom but they sweep under the rug all the issues that aren’t categorized
as a general. Because this problem, of
not accepting, does not affect the majority of the population we need to have
intersexual people and it’s supporters speaking up more on the issue.
Questions:
1. How do you think
they portrayed intersexuality in this clip?
2. 2. In Sterling’s
piece it states, “We calculated that for every 1,000 children born, 17 are
intersexual in some form. That number is 1.7%.”
Because this world is set up in way in which we generalize people and
their problems, do you think 1.7% is enough to grab say the government’s
attention?
3. 3. Again in
Sterling’s piece it states,“When a treatment team is
presented with an infant who has ambiguous genitalia, the team could
make a gender assignment solely on the basis of what made the best surgical sense. The physicians could then simply encourage the parents to raise the child according to the surgically assigned gender.” Do you think there should be a period
of time where, if a baby is born with ambiguous genitalia, parents and
doctors should have to wait to see what traits the child show of
gender? Or should we as a society begin
to see intersex as something that doesn’t need to
be fixed?
4. In Chase’s piece it states, “ Healing is a
process without end. The feeling of being utterly alone may be the most
damaging part of what has been done to us.” What are the
repercussions of doctors telling the families to keep the fact that their child
had genital surgery a secret?
5. Like most topics in this class, I think
education and awareness is a big issue. Do you think we should be educating people
more about the intersexual community at a younger age? Do you think that it
would make a difference?
No comments:
Post a Comment