Interesting Links for 11-02-2024

[andrewducker]

1. Intersex children often undergo damaging surgeries: "We don't have bodily autonomy as intersex kids"

(tags:gender children surgery OhForFucksSake )

2. A close look at the law and policy of holding a Northern Ireland border poll

(tags:law UK Ireland NorthernIreland )

3. Battery storage 30% cheaper than new gas peaker plants, Australian study finds

(tags:batteries electricity GoodNews viaDanielDWilliam )

Comments

[cmcmck]

1. I was born with an intersex condition and AMAB, but it's probably as well that no one noticed and I had to sort things out for myself later when 'they' realised and was able to make my own decisions. It seems that 95% of those born with PAIS (partial androgen insensitivity syndrome) which I had or CAIS (complete androgen insensitivity syndrome) choose to adjust their gender.

[andrewducker]

I'm really glad you got to.

[calimac]

1) And the "sex is purely binary" people try to deny that intersex exists (they just need to be "fixed," with results as described in the article), or if forced to admit their existence, brush them of as being of insignificant number. (On the other hand, a few transitioners who regret their transition, and it's a demand for a halt to the whole procedure.)

2) The argument that the plain meaning of the schedule* is that if it looks as if a majority in NI favor unification with the Republic then it would be unreasonable to refuse a referendum - this interests me, because it reminds me over here of the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment that DT is ineligible for office, yet the Court seems minded to be unreasonable about it.

*It's been my understanding that 'shedule' is the usual British pronunciation while 'skedule' is purely American. Is that wrong?

[andrewducker]

Yeah, it seems pretty plain to me.

I *think* I was raised with shed-ule, and the comments on the post seem to agree.

[hairyears]

Yes: the Received Pronunciation of 'shedule' is "A painfil pustule on the buttock, shaped like a garden shed".

A quick look at your Outlook Meeting Scheduler will show that it it full of useless tools.

Bodily autonomy

[bens_dad]

Ben was born with a non-integer (larger than median and mode) number of thumbs.
Were we wrong to ask surgeons to do something to make his hand fit standard gloves and mittens, not to mention remove an opportunity for his peers to tease him, rather than wait for him to be able to chose for himself ?

Re: Bodily autonomy

[andrewducker]

I don't know, What's the long term response from people who this carried out on? Are they generally satisfied?

How does this compare to the long term satisfaction of intersex people who have had surgery as children?

Edit: For information on that kind of satisfaction with early interventions see https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/call-update-standard-care-children-differences-sex-development/2021-07 - particularly the section "Evidence and Deferral"

Re: Bodily autonomy

[bens_dad]

Thanks.

I was stuck at there being no difference in principle between the two cases. Your questions give me a way of looking that allows me to see the cases differently.
I'm not very comfortable about how we made our choice, but reasured that it might have been the right choice anyway.

Re: Bodily autonomy

[andrewducker]

Parenting is hard! I'm really glad I haven't had to make that kind of choice myself.

And making it, under pressure by the medical establishment, when you've just gone through childbirth, and are very low on sleep, is definitely the worst.

And there are definitely decisions like that you can make which aren't necessarily ideal, but aren't going to cause the same level of trauma. I mean, I'd rather not have been circumcised, but I don't blame my parents for the choice they made, and I don't feel actively traumatised by it.

Re: Bodily autonomy

[bens_dad]

We definitely weren't rushed (though we were told we should either have it done before he would be aware or delay it until he would understand, and given the efforts he made to remove the bandages we may have failed to do the former) as he was a over a year old when we had the first discussion about removing the extra piece of thumb, and I don't feel we were pushed, although I would have been happier if we had been challenged.

Ben and I have both been circumcised, but for medical reasons. I wouldn't have chosen it for either of us, but in both cases not doing it didn't feel like it was an option. Unlike his thumb, I hadn't even thought of the decision in Ben's case was a choice. I had had mine in my forties, so I did have a much better idea than most people what the options meant when we gave the go ahead for his.

Re: Bodily autonomy

[andrewducker]

Sophia, aged 4 days, kept taking off the blindfold she had to wear while she had treatment for jaundice. I don't think there *is* a totally "not aware" stage. Just a "less understanding" stage.

And yeah, there are definitely sometimes good medical reasons for circumcision. Absolutely fine for people to choose that (or to have it done to children when there would otherwise be unpleasant outcomes).

Re: Bodily autonomy

[andrewducker]

Also, see the comment below mine.

Are "extra finger" children reacting like this?

[yalovetz]

Several people close to me are intersex and have harrowing stories of their medical treatment as children/young people that still scar them mentally and physically today. They are involved in intersex activism to prevent the same or similar things happening to other intersex children, and face constant push back from medical practitioners who still insist that they are providing appropriate medical care, despite all the evidence against this.

[andrewducker]

Good luck to them!