Cy Perry
WGSS 275
Professor Shaw
9/13/2016
Meaning of Unfair
Today’s society has more flaws than even imaginable. Different citizens upbringing create a bias towards what is right and wrong in society. Some create tension between different groups. These groups also fall into so many different categories as well. Race, religion, political views, etc. This is a practice that has been around for as long as man kind has been civilized. The works of author Elizabeth Reis in, “Impossible Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America”, further go into detail over these flaws and bias in early America and even more in recent America (1960). These bias mostly focus on the bias of society towards Hermaphrodites and the shaming this group of individuals faced and face. For the most part this reading focused on the being of a Hermaphrodite and the horrible bias and treatment they went through in the early times and even the more recent times in America.
There was one section of the reading that really stuck with me. Well more than just one part but the aspect at hand was really something that disturbed me more than anything else in the piece. There were several times where the formation of male and female sexual organs was considered to be almost demonic. Along with the term demonic, these people were also looked at as witches. This information sickened me. There was and still is, a negative connotation linked to something a person has absolutely zero control over. Although that is the case in most cases of bias, these examples made me feel a way that I never have really felt before. I felt for those poor people. They were discriminated against for something that was not controlled and can be seen as a completely unfair act of sheer hatred.
Although most of the piece that Reis wrote about was full of different instances where these poor people were put through terrible things, the comparison to a demonic creature has to be the most powerful, (pg 417.) Religion was much more prevalent and held much more power in the early stages of civilization then it holds today. With that being said, the church was a very powerful place in the early times. It perhaps held as much power as any form of government at the time. If the church thought something, that meant the rest of the population felt the same way. Hermaphrodites were compared to a demonic creature that had one leg, wings on its back, and had both male and female genitalia. The sickening process that which these people were put through has touched a place in my heart. I don’t think I will ever forget or at least it will never completely leave my mind what these people were put though.
Another aspect of the piece Reis wrote that I knew little about before reading it, the genital mutilation of Intersex people. These people were basically put on display to show off their sexual organs, all the while being called “monsters.” Although monster seems to be a little bit lighter of a term then being referred to as demons, this still had a lasting effect on me. These people were put on display, whether that be pictures taken close up of their private parts, or having horrible and graphical drawings portraying what the person saw as their sexual organs. I cannot even imagine the humiliation these people must have felt while going through this process. If you would like to see the picots that I am referring to, see Reis’s piece as there are multiple pictures though out that show these gruesome acts.
This article helped me understand so much more about the group of people. As far as other articles I found interesting about the topic, the piece that Dan Littauer wrote about Intersex Awareness Day, was also extremely full of information. This piece goes into detail about a day I had no idea existed. That is basically what Littauer talks about in this piece. That is the lack of awareness that most of the planet has regarding Hermaphrodites. There is a stat that blew my mind. Its is known that between 1.7%-4% of the worlds population Interesx (Littauer,Intersex Awareness Day calls attention to an often ignored, misunderstood community.) Although that may seem like a small percentage, that is a massive number of human beings on the planet. This piece has many informative statistics. including how some things in nature can create the Intersex defect at birth. This piece can easily be related or linked to the piece that Reis wrote in many different ways. Reis has a more heart wrenching approach by showing some of the gruesome details that the Intersex group of people were put through throughout the years, while Littauer goes through some ways that Inttersex can be better understood and what steps are being made. Both of these pieces helped me understand so much more about Intersex and the people it effects. I would recommend both to anyone looking to find a better understanding of the misunderstood group.
There was one section of the reading that really stuck with me. Well more than just one part but the aspect at hand was really something that disturbed me more than anything else in the piece. There were several times where the formation of male and female sexual organs was considered to be almost demonic. Along with the term demonic, these people were also looked at as witches. This information sickened me. There was and still is, a negative connotation linked to something a person has absolutely zero control over. Although that is the case in most cases of bias, these examples made me feel a way that I never have really felt before. I felt for those poor people. They were discriminated against for something that was not controlled and can be seen as a completely unfair act of sheer hatred.
Although most of the piece that Reis wrote about was full of different instances where these poor people were put through terrible things, the comparison to a demonic creature has to be the most powerful, (pg 417.) Religion was much more prevalent and held much more power in the early stages of civilization then it holds today. With that being said, the church was a very powerful place in the early times. It perhaps held as much power as any form of government at the time. If the church thought something, that meant the rest of the population felt the same way. Hermaphrodites were compared to a demonic creature that had one leg, wings on its back, and had both male and female genitalia. The sickening process that which these people were put through has touched a place in my heart. I don’t think I will ever forget or at least it will never completely leave my mind what these people were put though.
Another aspect of the piece Reis wrote that I knew little about before reading it, the genital mutilation of Intersex people. These people were basically put on display to show off their sexual organs, all the while being called “monsters.” Although monster seems to be a little bit lighter of a term then being referred to as demons, this still had a lasting effect on me. These people were put on display, whether that be pictures taken close up of their private parts, or having horrible and graphical drawings portraying what the person saw as their sexual organs. I cannot even imagine the humiliation these people must have felt while going through this process. If you would like to see the picots that I am referring to, see Reis’s piece as there are multiple pictures though out that show these gruesome acts.
This article helped me understand so much more about the group of people. As far as other articles I found interesting about the topic, the piece that Dan Littauer wrote about Intersex Awareness Day, was also extremely full of information. This piece goes into detail about a day I had no idea existed. That is basically what Littauer talks about in this piece. That is the lack of awareness that most of the planet has regarding Hermaphrodites. There is a stat that blew my mind. Its is known that between 1.7%-4% of the worlds population Interesx (Littauer,Intersex Awareness Day calls attention to an often ignored, misunderstood community.) Although that may seem like a small percentage, that is a massive number of human beings on the planet. This piece has many informative statistics. including how some things in nature can create the Intersex defect at birth. This piece can easily be related or linked to the piece that Reis wrote in many different ways. Reis has a more heart wrenching approach by showing some of the gruesome details that the Intersex group of people were put through throughout the years, while Littauer goes through some ways that Inttersex can be better understood and what steps are being made. Both of these pieces helped me understand so much more about Intersex and the people it effects. I would recommend both to anyone looking to find a better understanding of the misunderstood group.
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