decompose1:
an interesting amnt of people seem to think of intersexism as a “less bad” form of oppression for…. one of the only kinds of oppression that routinely involves mutilating infants and young children. and then a lifetime of very specific and unique medical abuse. it actually makes me feel kind of insane
like. Trans bottom surgeries have to meet a pretty high standard- and that’s a very good thing! People would not be getting these bottom surgeries if they were bad. Trans bottom surgeries are almost always very good, advanced, visually “realistic” (look close to or indistinguishable from natal genitals, depending on the surgery), and prioritize very good outcomes for function and sensation- genitals that work the way genitals should, feel pleasure (if desired), and heal well.
This is not true for IGM (intersex genital mutilation) victims. When i say intersex infants and children are being mutilated, i am not disparaging bottom surgery- i mean that the intersex “"corrective”“ surgeries performed against our will do not meet the same standards. They aren’t something we choose, they’re forced on us. Victims of IGM are often left with chronic pain, issues with genital function and sensation, poor aesthetic outcomes, and scarring (which affects both the visual appearance AND can cause functional issues). These surgeries are completely unnecessary and done largely at the doctor’s discretion, often without the knowledge of parents (either because they were not told or they were fooled), and the victim is almost always deeply unhappy (and often dysphoric) as a result. Doctors get to decide to mutilate us, lie to our families, and then also mistreat and abuse us for the rest of our lives. Further, outside of the surgical procedures, growing up intersex means routinely going through violating and invasive "inspections” of your genitals by doctors. I can recall having doctors, nurses, and volunteers demand to see my genitals as a young child, touching and examining them without my consent- same for my breasts once i hit puberty. Just about every intersex person i know can say the same. It’s routine and constant medical and sexual abuse from medical professionals.
And that’s not even getting into the social impact! Finding work is difficult when you’re intersex. Dating is so much more dangerous when you’re intersex. Intimacy is so much more dangerous when you’re intersex. We have extremely high rates of childhood bullying, as well as extremely high rates of physical and sexual abuse. We’re highly fetishized, both in broader society (“herm” porn) and even pretty significantly within the queer community. I hesitate to talk about my intersexness & my body in many spaces because of how many times talking about my body has resulted in people saying creepy shit about wanting my body and thinking people like me are ~sexy~, or asking invasive & often very dehumanizing questions. It’s incredibly objectifying. It feels like i am not an equal to almost anyone, like i’m just some idea of a perfect sex toy with both parts and it feels awful. And everyone ignores it!!!! No one talks about it!!!! Everyone just brushes us off as this “lesser” issue, not as serious as things like homophobia or transphobia. We’re always “collateral damage”, “outliers”, “edge cases”, “accidental targets”. And i’m sitting here trying to tell you we ARE targets! Society at large does not love us. It wishes to mutilate, rape, and abuse us. PLEASE love your intersex siblings. We’re drowning and we need your help.
