Chanter and Kessler

The Chanter introduction offers interesting opinions and many questions concerning transgendered individuals and the cultural norms surrounding gender. Chanter discusses the problems that many non-traditional gender-oriented persons face in todays society. Using several examples, including a Belgian film from 1997, such problems are displayed and spelled out. The summary of the film speaks of a seven year old boy struggling to be who he is, which he feels is a female.

The Kessler article discusses what it means to be an intergendered individual. Much of the article focusses on how intergendered diagnoses are made, using interviews with specialists who often have trouble forming a grammatically correct sentence (maybe it was just me...?). These specialists share experiences they have with families who bear intergendered children and how 'correction' in handled.

pseudohermaphrodite- an individual having internal reproductive organs of one sex and external sexual characteristics resembling those of the other sex or being ambiguous in nature.
gender identity- (from Kessel pg. 5) one's sense of oneself as belonging to the female or male category
gender role- (from Kessel pg. 5) cultural expectations of one's behavior as "appropriate" for a female or male
intersexual- pertaining to or having the characteristics of both sexes
transsexual- a person having a strong desire to assume the physical characteristics and gender role of the opposite sex OR a person who has undergone hormone treatment and surgery to attain the physical characteristics of the opposite sex.

Kessler-
Given that children are born NATURALLY with both reproductive organs, doesn't that nullify the argument that there are only two natural genders?

Why is it deemed a necessity that the issue of intersex be resolved? Is this purely a cultural thing?

According to page 8, "Although physicians speculate about the possible early childhood "castration" memory, there is no corresponding concern that vaginal reconstruclayed beyond the neonatal period is traumatic.", why do you think that is? Is someone only looking for male distress and spending too much time with Freud?

Is a mistaken gender diagnosis as referenced on page 9 perhaps symbolizing that intersexual children are mistakes of nature?

Chanter-

How young do you think a child can identify as transsexual? The author does not specify an age, simply says 'from a very young age'.

Does color coding children really have the huge effect that it used to in modern society? There has been so much effort neutralize everything for babies that perhaps as a society we've gone overboard...

How do we culturally differentiate sex and gender? Does Chanter have the right idea? (pg. 2)