ITC and the International Intersex Movement

What role do ITCs play in galvanizing us into action, and would we be as socially active without them? The general, non-determinist answer, is no; technology doesn’t make us more active, it’s the other things surrounding technology like culture, norms and rituals.  I have one example, however, of ITCs, causing individuals to mobilize, and that is the case of the international intersex community. Unlike the L’Aguila case, none of the people involved in the intersex movement had ever meet or would likely ever meet, if not for ITCs.  There was almost no hope for face-to-face meetings due to the nature of their condition.  Intersex refers to a number of medical conditions in which the sex of an individual is not fully developed into either male or female.  The common misnomer is hermaphrodite.  Some conditions of intersex are as common as 1/1000 (meaning, that of the 9,000 students at AU, at least nine can be assumed to have a condition of intersex).  In the late 1970’s Dr. John Money set the standards for treating intersex based on his soundly disproven hypothesis that a child could be raised in either gender the parents chose.  The sex was selected based on what genital operation would produce the most convincing results. Most hospitals advised parents never to tell their children the truth about their condition, and also that they continue to get reconstruction surgery through puberty (without telling them why), resulting in a life of secrecy and confusion.

David Reimer was Dr. Money’s experiment case and only a few of his closest doctors and family knew the reality – it didn’t work, David was living his life as a man not the woman Money claimed.  The world didn’t find out the truth until 1997, when he told Rolling Stones magazine (his favorite).  In 2001 PBS did a special on intersex based on Reimer’s story and the work of several people who came forward after hearing about his case.  For the first time, people realized that there were other others out there, and that the hypothesis, by which they had been forced to live their lives, was false.  Once people discovered they weren’t alone, they formed websites and online communities to reach out to others who had lived in silence for years.  Because their condition was so secretive, most people never knew another intersex individual.  As the transnational community grew they began protesting and lobbying for a change of the medical field.  The book Middlesex was written on the subject, which prompted an Oprah special on intersex, increasing awareness and the community.  Eventually, after fighting off the assumption that they were actually transgender or transsexuals, the paradigm shifted.  Now doctors have adopted an entirely new practice for treating individuals of intersex, waiting until the individual has gender identified (usually around three) and then waiting until he or she is old enough the make the decision to have reconstructive surgery.

   The intersex movement would not have happened if it were not for ITCs. Not enough people would have come together over their shared history if it weren’t for television and the Internet. Especially, with the silence most people have towards their condition. Although the condition is more common than people think, it is still infrequent, and the likelihood of a transnational movement facilitated by face-to-face communication is almost impossible.