- 13 Mar 2017 11:26
#14785276
IF I HAD UNDERSTOOD THE SITUATION A BIT BETTER I SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY JOINED THE ANARCHISTSGeorge Orwell
We live in a Brave New World. Without a doubt.
From the National Geographic magazine above.
On the group photo cover, why is there no cisgender female?
Why did you call intersex a disorder?
Is being transgender a mental illness?
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magaz ... ments-faq/
From the National Geographic magazine above.
On the group photo cover, why is there no cisgender female?
Why did you call intersex a disorder?
Is being transgender a mental illness?
Although there is not a cisgender female, roughly two-thirds of the content in the issue focuses on females, including two full-length features stories—one on the challenges of growing up female in America and the other on the dangerous lives of girls in the developing world. In addition, there is a great deal of data about the status of women and girls, as well as interviews with Gloria Steinem and Sheryl Sandberg, and an essay by Anne Marie Slaughter.
Why did you call intersex a disorder?
We consulted numerous experts to be both sensitive and accurate on this point. Many readers think we still got it wrong. "This definition is opposed by intersex advocates across the globe for the simple reason that it pathologizes us, thereby promoting the erroneous, stigmatizing view that intersex people require ‘fixing,’” wrote Hida Viloria, executive director of the Intersex Campaign for Equality. Kimberly Zieselman, executive director of InterACT, an intersex youth advocacy organization, wrote that our definition is "highly offensive to many in our community...and will actually be harmful if printed."
In recognition of these concerns, we have removed references to a “disorder” from our online editions and have amended the definition of intersex to be, “An umbrella term that describes a person with a genetic, genital, reproductive, or hormonal configuration that does not fit typical binary notions of a male or female body.” For the sake of familiarity, we also noted that an alternate term for intersex, “hermaphrodite,” is considered outdated and offensive.
Is being transgender a mental illness?
No. According to the numerous experts we consulted for our coverage, transgender is a gender identity. Some transgender people may experience mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, or other issues. One recent study found that "it is actually the social rejection and violence that transgender people commonly experience that appears to be the primary source of mental distress, as opposed to the distress being solely the result of being transgender."
In the United States, Gender Dysphoria is a diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM 5), used by psychologists and physicians to indicate that a person meets the diagnostic criteria to engage in medical transition. In other words, this is the medical diagnosis for being transgender. The inclusion of Gender Dysphoria as a diagnosis in the DSM 5 is controversial within transgender communities.
Internationally, the designation of transgender identity as a mental illness varies from country to country, but the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the World Health Organization offer resources for transgender people and health professionals regarding health care. WHO has indicated that it will likely remove its decades-old classification of transgender identity from the mental health disorders section in the scheduled 2018 revision of its International Classification of Diseases code book.
Two researchers and educators who contributed to our issue—Luca Maurer of Ithaca College and Eli Green of Widener University—have written a book that delves further into this question, called The Teaching Transgender Toolkit.
What are hormone blockers and what are the long-term effects of using them?
One of the feature stories from our issue helps answer this question. From the story:
Biology has a habit of declaring itself. Sometimes, though, biology can be put on hold for a while with puberty-blocking drugs that can buy time for gender-questioning children. If the child reaches age 16 and decides he or she is not transgender after all, the effects of puberty suppression are thought to be reversible: The child stops taking the blockers and matures in the birth sex. But for children who do want to transition at 16, having been on blockers might make it easier. They can start taking cross-sex hormones and go through puberty in the preferred gender—without having developed the secondary sex characteristics, such as breasts, body hair, or deep voices, that can be difficult to undo.
The Endocrine Society recommends blockers for adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Nonetheless, the blockers' long-term impact on psychological development, brain growth, and bone mineral density are unknown—leading to some lively disagreement about using them on physically healthy teens.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magaz ... ments-faq/
IF I HAD UNDERSTOOD THE SITUATION A BIT BETTER I SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY JOINED THE ANARCHISTSGeorge Orwell