Before taking the following test, answer the following questions? (Comments below)
1) Have you had a doctor actually perform tests to determine that all aspects of your body are consistently of one official sex or the other (such as chromosomes, internal reproductive anatomy, genes, hormones, etc.)?
2) Has anyone actually told you how your official sex was determined?
3) Have you always felt that your gender was in total conformity with the sex that you were assigned?
4) Do you believe that sex assignments are based on serious scientific data concerning your body?
5) Do you believe that your body determines your gender and limits your potential based on gender stereotypes prevalent in our societies?
6) Do you believe there are just two sexes?
7) Do you believe all the "scientific research" that is currently being funded which further perpetuates the idea that men and women are fundamentally different?
8) Do you believe that gender is a social construct but sex is not?
Quiz:
For those of you who were officially assigned female at birth:
1) Do you have a clitoris which is much larger than that of others?
2) Do you have much more body hair than most other "females"?
3) Do you have a very "male" body shape?
4) Do you have XY or XO chromosomes?
5) Do you have androgen levels (male hormones) much higher than most other "females"?
For those of you who were officially assigned male at birth:
1) Do you have a penis which is very small or with a urinary opening located in a place not typical for other "males"?
2) Do you have breasts much larger than other "males"?
3) Do you have undescended testicles?
4) Do you have very low testosterone levels?
5) Do you have XX, XXY, XXXY, etc. chromosomes?
If you answered "yes" to any of the questions above, you are intersex. We could make the list much longer. However, this gives you an overall idea of what intersex is - simply being of intermediate sex, somewhere between standard male or female. You might have the impression that this is unscientific. Quite the contrary. This is actually more scientific than the method used to determine your official sex within the binary. Most likely, your official sex was determined by looking at your genitalia. This is not scientific at all. It reduces all people to a very essentialist definition of what a man or a woman is based on one body part and neglecting all other parts of our sexual anatomy, while ignoring the most important aspect of our identity, which is our gender.
Comments:
1) Have you had a doctor actually perform tests to determine that all aspects of your body are consistently of one official sex or the other (such as chromosomes, internal reproductive anatomy, genes, hormones, etc.)?
Most people have not and most doctors would not even consider doing this. However, assuming you are simply female or male, and making no room for the large number of people that are of intermediate sex, can have serious consequences in the medical care we receive. Many people assigned female will not respond in a typical manner to treatments and medications prescribed by doctors for health problems they face and the same applies to those assigned male. Assuming that you are totally "female" or "male" can have a very harmful impact on your health care decisions.
2) Has anyone actually told you how your official sex was determined?
Most of us assume that the doctors were right and do not question their scientific expertise in this area. However, the basic assumption that there are only two sexes is flawed. Also, genitalia cannot be a predictable marker for one's true sex. Intersex people have proved this wrong throughout history.
3) Have you always felt that your gender was in total conformity with the sex that you were assigned?
The very fact that we have divided the human population into just two sexes will make it very difficult for many people to feel that this two-sizes fits all system applies to them. If you have felt that you are not totally male or female, you are not alone. This is part of the natural world. It is the binary myth which is pseudoscientific and sexist.
4) Do you believe that sex assignments are based on serious scientific data concerning your body?
As stated above, sex assignments are usually made by looking at your genitalia. There is nothing scientific about this. It is mere guesswork at best.
5) Do you believe that your body determines your gender and limits your potential based on gender stereotypes prevalent in our societies?
If so, this test is not for you.
6) Do you believe there are just two sexes?
Obviously, this test is not for you.
7) Do you believe all the "scientific research" that is currently being funded which further perpetuates the idea that men and women are fundamentally different?
A sexist society has a vested interest in keeping the current binary construction of sex intact. Massive amounts of funding are available to "researchers" who do "research" to prove the biological differences between men and women. We in the Organisation Intersex International believe that such research and its funding are not really for scientific purposes, but rather socio-cultural purposes. First of all, it assumes that all people, or just about all people are totally male or totally female. This is not true. Then it asks the question, "How are men and women different?" We are convinced that this question would not be very important to scientific researchers living in societies that were not profoundly sexist. It then proceeds to come up with generalities based on this binary myth and applies them to the society at large.
8) Do you believe that gender is a social construct but sex is not?
The very fact that sex is divided into just two official categories proves that it is not a natural construct but a social construct. It has been very important to continue to erase intersex in order to maintain this binary myth. In the 19th Century, intersex was erased by coming up with the following pseudo-scientific taxonomy: female pseudo-hermaphrodite, male pseudo-hermaphrodite and true hermaphrodite. What is so outrageous about this terminology, is that in humans, there are no hermaphrodites at all. Snails and other animals can be hermaphrodites, that is, they can function both as male and female sexually. This is not possible in humans. In the 19th Century, society was very concerned about sexual mores and the presence of "hermaphrodites" presented serious challenges to their concept of morality and the place of men and women in society. As more and more doctors discovered people who could not be placed easily into a male or female category, they eventually decided that the gonads (ovaries or testicles) were the true indicators of a person's sex. This was convenient because it left only people with both ovarian and testicular tissue as "true" hermaphrodites, something which is considered to be very rare. All other people were considered male pseudo-hermaphrodites if they had testicles (even if they were undescended and the person had a vagina, breasts and felt herself to be a woman) and were considered to be female pseudo-hermaphrodites if they had ovaries (even if they had beards, no breasts and no vagina).
In the 20th Century, we have come up with a more complicated taxonomy, but one which has been equally effective in erasing intersex. Instead of calling us true or pseudo humans, we are now defective males and females, suffering from a series of medical conditions and syndromes. The medical world offers us "cures" which often are nothing more than a way of making us fit more neatly within one of the official sexes and this can be essential for our very safety in many societies, including the so-called "advanced" ones. However, such decisions should be left to the individual and not imposed. This division of intersex into countless different medical conditions and syndromes has so fragmented the intersex community that it can be very hard to organize any coherent voice for us.
The Organisation Intersex International does not accept the pseudo-scientific premise that we are defective males or defective females. We accept the fact that there is a myriad of sexes and genders within the natural world and leave it to the individual to sort through all this and determine what makes them most comfortable.
You may still think this is an unscientific way of looking at intersex. As stated in the article, this is much more scientific than the current method of assigning sex, an act which has grave consequences for the rest of one's life. The purpose of this quiz is to help you realize how arbitrary all of these categories are. If you think that intersex is not restrictive enough or that it is too restrictive in this quiz, then please reread the last paragraph. It is not the Organisation Intersex International which wants to impose sex categories on anyone. Quite the contrary, it is the medical and legal systems which require this and their method is illogical, harmful, and sexist. Their is no justification for legally or medically imposing any of these categories on anyone.
*Multiple Choice*
1. Exactly how many sexes are there?
a. Two - male and female.
b. Three - female, intersex and male.
c. Five - female, intersex female, intersex, intersex male, male
d. Seven - True male, pseudo-male, male pseudo-hermaphrodite, true hermaphrodite, female pseudo-hermaphrodite, pseudo-female, true female
e. None of the above.
2. A woman is defined as:
a. Someone who has XX chromosomes.
b. Someone born with a vagina
c. Someone who can give birth to an infant
d. Someone born with ovaries or ovarian tissue.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.
3. A man is defined as:
a. Someone who has XY chromosomes
b. Someone born with a penis
c. Someone born with testicles or testicular tissue
d. Someone who produces testosterone.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.
4. An intersex person is defined as:
a. Someone who has XXY or XXXY chromosomes.
b. Someone born with "ambiguous" genitalia
c. Someone who cannot have children
d. Someone with low testosterone levels.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.
5. What is the legal definition of a woman?
a. Someone with XX chromosomes.
b. Someone with F on her birth certificate.
c. Someone born with a vagina.
e. In most jurisdictions, a woman is simply someone who is defined by
what she is not. She is someone who is not a man.
f. There is no clear definition and different legal rulings have not clarified exactly who is a woman, since it can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
6. Intersex
a. is very rare.
b. is about 1 % of the population.
c. up to 5 % of the population.
d. up to 5 % of the population a probably more, depending on the definition.
7. Intersex people are
a. really male or female with only minor variations.
b. those who identify as intersex.
c. more likely to transition legally from one sex to another than the population at large.
d. mostly assigned female.
8. Intersex is
a. only a biological, anatomical category and not a gender.
b. a pathological condition which can be treated.
c. easily detected at birth.
d. the same as transgender.
e. none of the above.
9. Being a male is:
a. a pathological condition because the overall male population is likely to be more criminal and prone to violence and should be corrected at birth.
b. a natural occurring state which does not tell us a lot about the individual per se.
c. easy to determine by external medical exam.
d. None of the above
10. Being a female is:
a. a pathological condition because of all the illnesses associated with being female.
b. a natural occurring state which does not tell us a lot about the individual per se.
c. easy to determine by external medical exam.
d. none of the above.
*True or false*
11. Only people born intersex have intersex identities.
12. Women who were assigned male at birth are not real women.
13. Gender and sex are two completely different categories.
14. Brain sex is just a theory with no scientific proof.
15. Telling someone to raise a child as a boy or a girl is sexist.
16. Assigning someone a sex is an absolute necessity for the health of the individual.
17. There is a clear definition of what intersex is.
18. It is easy to know whether you are intersex or not.
19. Transgender people are not intersex.
20. Intergender people are not intersex.
Check your answers
*Multiple Choice*
1. Exactly how many sexes are there?
a. Two - male and female.
b. Three - female, intersex and male.
c. Five - female, intersex female, intersex, intersex male, male
d. Seven - True male, pseudo-male, male pseudohermaphrodite, true hermaphrodite, female pseudohermaphrodite, pseudo-female, true female
e. None of the above.
*Male, female and intersex are not discreet, natural categories. There could never be a system devised for determining the sex of an individual that could take all factors into account and put them into just two, three, five or seven different and exclusive sex categories. We are simply too complex and nature is too diverse.*
2. A woman is defined as:
a. Someone who has XX chromosomes.
b. Someone born with a vagina
c. Someone who can give birth to an infant
d. Someone born with ovaries or ovarian tissue.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.
*There are women with XY chromosomes, only one X, XXY, etc. There are women born without vaginas. There are women who cannot have children. There are women born with testicular tissue or without ovaries.*
3. A man is defined as:
a. Someone who has XY chromosomes
b. Someone born with a penis
c. Someone born with testicles or testicular tissue
d. Someone who produces testosterone.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.
*There are men born with XX chromosomes, XXY, XXXY etc. There are men born without penises or with genitalia that doctors call enlarged clitorises. There are men born with no testicles or with ovo-testes or with ovaries or ovarian tissue. Some men produce almost no testosterone and most women do produce testosterone.*
4. An intersex person is defined as:
a. Someone who has XXY or XXXY chromosomes.
b. Someone born with "ambiguous" genitalia
c. Someone who cannot have children
d. Someone with low testosterone levels.
e. None of the above.
f. All of the above.
*Most intersex people have XX or XY chromosomes and are not born with atypical genitalia. Many intersex people can have children and many intersex women produce higher levels of testosterone than intersex men.*
5. What is the legal definition of a woman?
a. Someone with XX chromosomes.
b. Someone with F on her birth certificate.
c. Someone born with a vagina.
e. In most jurisdictions, a woman is simply someone who is defined by what she is not. She is someone who is not a man.
f. There is no clear definition and different legal rulings have not clarified exactly who is a woman, since it can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
*This is the current situation in the **United States**.*
6. Intersex
a. is very rare.
b. is about 1 % of the population.
c. is up to 5 % of the population.
d. is up to 5 % of the population and probably more, depending on the definition.
*As time goes on we find more an more ways of being intersex.*
7. Intersex people are
a. really male or female with only minor variations.
b. those who identify as intersex.
c. more likely to transition legally from one sex to another than the population at large.
d. mostly assigned female.
*The statistics prove that intersex adults are more likely to transition. Answer b is wrong because many intersex people do not identify as intersex. Answer d is wrong because many intersex people are not born with atypical genitalia and are raised as male. We simply don't know if most people who are intersex are assigned female or not.*
8. Intersex is
a. only a biological, anatomical category and not a gender.
b. a pathological condition which can be treated.
c. easily detected at birth.
d. the same as transgender.
e. none of the above.
*Intersex definitely is a gender. Many people are intergender.*
9. Being a male is:
a. a pathological condition because the overall male population is likely to be more criminal and prone to violence and should be corrected at birth.
b. a natural occurring state which does not tell us a lot about the individual per se.
c. easy to determine by external medical exam.
d. None of the above
10. Being a female is:
a. a pathological condition because of all the illnesses associated with being female.
b. a natural occurring state which does not tell us a lot about the individual per se.
c. easy to determine by external medical exam.
d. none of the above.
*True or false*
11. Only people born intersex have intersex identities.
*False. Many people have intersex identities.*
12. Women who were assigned male at birth are not real women.
*False. The whole notion is Neanderthal binarianism, a serious disease, which should be treated.*
13. Gender and sex are two completely different categories.
*False. More and more we are finding biological components of gender. However, the problem is that we do not know how these biological components or factors would be perceived and categorized if we lived in a different social context and we also do not know the degree that environmental factors actually induce biological reactions within the body. We don't live in a vacuum. Sex, gender and orientation are constructs which society and “science” has artificially dichotomized. The whole need to assume there is such as difference between sex, gender and orientation is precisely because the binary construct imposed on us in not functional otherwise.*
14. Brain sex is just a theory with no scientific proof.
*False. There is some scientific proof for the theory. However, just like all other parts of the body, the fact that your brain has been virilzed or not will not necessarily determine your gender identity. The final determiner of one’s true sex should be the individual and not one particular body part, including the brain. Also, we know that social and other environmental factors can affect the brain.*
15. Telling someone to raise a child as a boy or a girl is sexist.
*True. Whether a child is intersex or not, her/his identity should be respected. S/he will be able to sort this out. What does it really mean to tell someone to raise a child as a boy or a girl, other than what toys to play with, which careers to choose and which sex to love, etc, etc.*
16. Assigning someone a sex is an absolute necessity for the health of the individual.
*False. Why? People can have perfectly well-adjusted intersex identities or identities in conflict with their assignment.*
17. There is a clear definition of what intersex is.
*False. Just like the categories of male and female, there is no clear definition because these are not natural categories. They are categories we have constructed, using people, especially hermaphrodites, to come up with the categories as they exist.*
18. It is easy to know whether you are intersex or not.
*False. Many people never find this out until later in life or when they want to have children and can't.*
19. Transgender people are not intersex.
*False. Many transgender people are intersex.*
20. Intergender people are not intersex.
*False. And just how are we going to know this? To reduce people to mere biological essentialist definitions is dehumanizing. Just as many intersex people are women or men. Other people are free to identify as intersex because it is NOT a natural, discreet category any more than male or female*
Organisation Intersex International
Am I Intersexed?
