Trans Intersexism - Tumblr Posts
"Why can't I transition to be intersex?"
This is a sentiment I see a lot in the trans community, and I believe it is because of the fundamental misunderstanding of how the term intersex is seen. Most people, even those in the queer community, see intersex as a rare third sex where you are born with both genitalia. This is inaccurate, and perpetuates a harmful stereotype!
If you want to transition to be 'a rare third sex with both genitalia', by all means, go ahead! But do not call this transitioning to intersex, do not say you want an intersex body, do not involve intersex people in it!
There are plenty of words for this, bigenital, transneutral, altersex, salmacian, etc! These words actually portray YOUR EXPERIENCE transitioning to this state, unlike co-opting the term intersex.
Intersex is defined as being born with and/or naturally developing anatomy, sex characteristics, hormones, or chromosomes that do not fit the typical definitions of male or female - in short, there are a LOT of ways one can be intersex, not all of these ways are obvious. We are not a third sex but rather an in-between state that cannot be neatly categorized into either of the two modes (male or female) of the bimodal sex distribution.
The operative word here in defining intersex is that you are born with these traits, or they naturally develop later in life, such as during natal puberty, with no medical interventions to cause them. This is what intersex refers to. You cannot transition (medically alter the body), to be intersex (a non-medically-achieved state). It doesn't work like that.
On the flip side of this, an intersex person cannot transition to be perisex, as perisex is a non-medically achieved state referring to the state of your body in the absence of medical intervention. This means that nothing the medical industry can do to us will ever make us perisex, no matter how badly they want to. If you can transition to be intersex, does that mean those of us who have experienced medical violence to "fix" our bodies have been successfully made perisex? Because that is what you are insisting when you insist you can transition into being intersex or perisex via medical intervention.
Intersex people are a violently erased group with very few people who are open and advocating for our visibility and right to bodily autonomy, compared to the trans community. By using this label when you do not have this lived experience with an intersex body, you are playing a part in our further erasure.
It comes from the reality disconnected assumption that intersex people 'have it better' than perisex trans people, especially when we're cis. The ignorance is so bizarre and a lot of the time these people refuse to be educated.
I do wonder if the queer intersexists just think that intersex people are never assigned male or female at birth. That we freely get something like an X marker on our birth certificates every time and our intersex status is always known from birth. Do these people legitimately think a medical industry that sees sex as binary makes an exception for intersex people that is always correct? It just seems so disconnected from the real world.