#intersex media

[celluloidrainbow]

性別が、ない！インターセックス漫画家のクィアな日々 | NO GENDER! THE QUEER LIFE OF AN INTERSEX MANGA ARTIST (2018) dir. Shôgo Watanabe Up to the age 30, Sho Arai lived as a woman, but was found to be intersex after chromosome testing. Sho now lives as neither man nor woman, and creates essay manga based on the changes their body has undergone. Sho has been dispatching messages on how to live to young readers who are also struggling with their gender identity. Sho lives with their assistant, Koh, a young gay man who they met 10 years ago at a vocational school where they teaches manga. Koh has himself debuted as a manga artist and come out publicly. When Sho reveals the inner state of their mind on camera, their relationship moves in an unexpected direction. (link in title)

[renthony]

How would one go about making an intersex character

That's a big question, and I want to emphasize that I'm only one person, and I can only speak for my own personal experiences. There is no one-size-fits-all guide to this sort of thing.

My advice is therefore the same as it would be for writing any character whose identity you don't share:

Understand that you might fuck it up, but don't let it stop you from trying. No group is a monolith, and what resonates with one member of a group might be considered shitty representation by another member of that group. You're never going to make everyone happy, so instead of trying to make the "perfect representation," try to approach things with the mindset that nothing will ever be perfect. The goal is to have a wide variety of respectful representation, not create the Perfect Rep.

Engage with media created by people who share the identity you want to represent. You can't write a respectful piece of representation if you don't know how anyone in that group is representing themself.

Research activism connected to the identity you want to represent. What are the offensive stereotypes you should avoid? What kinds of sociopolitical issues affect this group of people? Are there any organizations dedicated to activism and support for this group, and have those organizations made any resources for allies?

Work with a sensitivity consultant, and preferably more than one if you can. Many people do this as a paid service, but there are plenty of people who are willing to arrange some kind of trade if financial hardship is an issue. If you absolutely cannot manage to get a consultant for whatever reason, doing your own research becomes even more important.

Since you asked about intersex representation specifically, let me help you get started with some relevant links:

InterAct's Intersex FAQ

InterAct's collection of informative brochures & guides

Intersex Human Rights Australia: Celebrating Intersex Firsts on TV

JSTOR: Intersex Narratives: Shifts in the Representation of Intersex Lives in North American Literature and Popular Culture, by Viola Amato

Human Rights Campaign: Understanding the Intersex Community

GLAAD Media Reference Guide: Intersex People

[theenbyroiderer]

Repost because original post is just gone for whatever reason.

Biology has never been binary, and gender even less so. Intersex people exist. And nonbinary people too.

[james-p-sullivan]

[gayhenrycreel]

gotta say, theres something really weird about how online queer spaces pretend that intersex people dont exist. even american queer rights orgs seem to ignore us. and then i see kiwi sites on queer communities and theres comparatively a lot of intersex stuff. i go to a local nurses office and intersex people are included in a pamphlet on representation in books. every queer rights org has a link to to sites for intersex rights. am i crazy or is america falling behind? its quite... concerning

[swivelbot]

Oh fuck pride months over…

What am I gonna do now?

[cepheusgalaxy]

(You don't know for how long I've been thinking on doing this)

LGBTQIA+ representation on media be like:

ID: The meme with an adult holding up one child in a pool while the other drowns, and underwater is a skeleton. The adult is labeled "LGBTQIA+ "representation" in media." The kid being held up is labeled "gays" with an asterisk of "sometimes, lesbians and bi people." The drowning child is labeled "Transgender and other sexualities/romantic orientations." The skeleton is labeled "Intersex people." /end ID.

(Edit: id by @aromanticsky)

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Why the fight for queer rights isn't over (it should be obvious, but to some people it isn't)

TW: transphobia and homophobia

Hi, Tumblr, this is Asmi. If you know me, it's probably as the Good Omens Mascot, which is flattering. I've found so much love and queer positivity in the good omens fandom, and the beautiful thing is how it's canon. Many people outside the queer community don't realise how crucial media and communities like this are. Right now since I'm on break from education, I'm on tumblr for most of the time I'm awake (which is not a lot, I nap more than Crowley). It's wild how different it is from the real world, that I live in at least.

I'm sure a lot of you might have had a similar experience to this: Basically, two people in my life, my bio father and my ex, both told me to my face that queer people needed to stop calling themselves oppressed and how now it's queer people who hold all the power and are oppressing other people. With all due respect, what the fuck.

I live in India, and being a trans guy who is bi and aspec, it's a cesspit. While I'm gendered correctly on Tumblr, and people are so loving and supportive, in real life even my friends who say they support me misgender me 90% of the time. Same with my family. In my previous college which I had to leave because of bullying by both the students and admin, even the queer students would misgender me (I told them I used they/them pronouns, because he/him would have been too unsafe, but even that they didn't manage). In the college I'll join next, it won't be safe for me to be out at all, at risk of losing opportunities and safety. Gay marriage is still illegal. Homophobia and transphobia is the norm. This doesn't even cover all the daily indignities like queerphobic jokes, casual discourse on whether or not we deserve rights, etc. Discrimination against aroace-spec people is rampant even within the queer community, worldwide.

And I live in an urban area, one of the largest cities in India known for its progressiveness and for being relatively safe for queer people. I am privileged compared to other queer people here. The story in other cities, in rural areas which make up most of the country, is far more horrifying. I'm unqualified to speak about anything other than my own experience, but if you can (if you are in a stable and calm enough mental state to handle the information, please put your mental health first) I'm sure there are first person accounts on the many forums.

The fight for equality is not over. It doesn't end with laws riddled with loopholes, it doesn't end even with laws that genuinely help the queer community. Aside from the huge problems of living safely and with access to equal opportunities and resources for people, we deserve dignity, peace, and the right to feel accepted and that we're not an abnormality. And so much more.

I haven't said anything that hasn't been said before, but it can't be said enough. To the queer people reading this, take all my love. We need to stand together, eliminate discourse over who is queer enough to be queer, and be the safe space that the world will not provide for us.

It's not over, and it hasn't been won by a long shot, but what matters is that we're fighting. Even existing as ourselves in a world that tells us it is a crime, is defiance and a step towards making this right.

[trans-axolotl]

i cannot deal with the amount of intersexism/interphobia all over social media today this shit is horrific. the amount of targeted racist and interphobic comments i've seen today directed towards Imane Khelif is so fucked up. truly wish her the best, she absolutely does not deserve worldwide harassment and people debating her intersex status like this. it's so fucked

[franknfurterstriangulardinosaur]

stop using disabled body as your idea of body horror. stop using us to be your villains. stop making us ghastly beings. stop making disabilities seem ugly and making ugly disabilities seem like a reason to disrespect them. stop treating disabled people as repulsive subhumans. stop using other people’s lives to make fantasy when that fantasy is simply stigmatising them. stop profiting over disabled hate. we are people. similarly, stop using intersex people as body horror as well. stop using us as this big horror in erotic art and other types of fiction. you have no right to demonise our bodies. respect people.

[celluloidrainbow]

MANI'S STORY (2002) dir. John Keir The life of intersex activist Mani Bruce Mitchell. Assigned male at birth, at the age of one they were taken off to specialists who reassigned them as female. Renamed Margaret, the rural New Zealand community where they lived held a meeting to discuss the decision and to encourage everyone to keep the family's secret. At eight, without explanation, they were given the surgery that "feminised" them. This documentary charts their discovery of the truth, choosing to own their sense of self as neither male nor female, and follows their journey to Milwaukee to present a paper with fellow activist David Vandertie. (link in title)

[blusical]

Idk how to properly explain it, but the amount of attacks against Imane Khelif aren't only misogynistic, racist and transphobic, but they also *reek* of intersexism. (Also, comparing a woman with high testosterone levels throwing a punch in boxing to literal domestic abuse is fucking weirdo behavior)

[seraphim777s]

no matter what happens,

please live

[chronicbeans]

New Headcanon, based on the fact that I've seen two other depictions of Lucifer/The Devil as intersex: Lucifer is intersex, but with his ability to shape shift, he's able to hide his more feminine features a little. Also, I headcanon that many of the archangels are probably intersex, too. That comes from my idea that while God created Adam, Eve, and Lilith in His own image, He created the archangels in a version of His image He felt humans would not understand. He didn't believe they'd understand, since when He created humanity, they didn't have free will or knowledge. After they ate the forbidden fruit, though, humanity began to gain the knowledge to understand what being intersex is, so He began to create intersex humans.

Lol excuse my long tangent. I just wanted to drop this thought before I forgot it. My brain is a bit loopy rn lol.

[thembones07]

i just watched it and I can't believe the 1985 movie Enemy Mine isn't more popular on Tumblr. it's what you freaks live for.

it seems like a normal alien movie at first but it gets wild. it's about a human and a member of the alien species humans are at war with getting stranded together on a deserted planet and overcoming their differences.

it's also contains...

an enemies to friends to partners storyline

intersex and nonbinary aliens, as well as other cool alien life

feral single fathers

commentary on discrimination (especially ethnic and racial) and colonisation

mikey mouse as humanity's supreme scholar

and last but DEFINITELY not least...

canon mpreg

please go watch it. now. it is for the queers and the monsterfuckers and we need to revive it. the gay stuff is technically not canonical but it is sure close to it.

PLEASE I BEG YOU