by Curtis E. Hinkle
It is obvious from reading Alice Dreger's recent articles both in the Johns Hopkins publication she edited and her article in defense of J Michael Bailey that she is working to undermine what she calls the "feminine essence narrative". In other words, she is against using gender identity as a valid construct for explaining why transsexuals reject their assigned sex.
However, this same "ethicist" insists on using this same gender identity construct as a justification for violently erasing intersex children's own identities and rightful place in society.
In the DSD Guidelines which she authored, she writes: "And when we talk about a person's "gender identity," we are talking about that person's inner feeling of being a boy, girl, man, or woman." She also writes: "And, when we do use the phrase "he or she," we do not mean to suggest that your child does not have a clear gender."
If an intersex child has a clear gender identity and many do, how could that possibly be any different from a “feminine or masculine essence narrative”? If someone is not “clearly” male or female as in the case of an intersexed child, then is it not illogical to assume that their gender identity can be clear without it also being a “narrative” of what that child essentially FEELS?
She insists that intersexed children must be assigned a GENDER identity (a sex often cannot be assigned because the sex is not categorizable as clearly male or female) and she further insists that this is to be done as early as possible without any input from the child. In essence, Alice Dreger is in favor of imposing a “feminine essence narrative” on many intersex children without any essential input from the children themselves.
However, in the case of transsexuals, she has closely aligned herself with a school of thought which debunks the very idea of a “feminine essence narrative” and which theorizes that the reasons that motivate transsexuals to reject their sex assignment are not based on their gender identity or “feminine essence narrative” but for sexual reasons.
This is the violent and very dangerous logic of Alice Dreger who is not being ethical in her medical views about gender identity.
If an adult states that they know what their identity is, then they can be labeled as liars because that is exactly what the Bailey transsexual taxonomy states: that most MTF transsexuals are lying about their motivations for rejecting their sex assignment and that the real reasons are sexual orientation issues and paraphilias and NOT their "feminine essence narrative" or "gender identity".
However, these same specialists are insisting that a person who cannot speak for themselves (intersexed infants) should have a "gender identity" or "feminine essence narrative" imposed on them (in other cases a "masculine essence narrative".)
This is unethical. It is violent and sanctioning this hoax only further mutilates the whole intersex movement and renders it obsolete and irrelevant.
This abusive gender policing is both unethical and dangerous.
The following are quotes of Alice Dreger’s recent writings. The first are from her statements about intersex children from the DSD Guidelines followed by statements about transsexuals from her article in defense of J. Michael Bailey.
“After we have back the information we are collecting, we will talk with you more specifically about choosing a gender assignment. We suggest you choose the gender assignment your baby is most likely to identify with as your baby grows up and becomes his or her own person. We can’t guarantee we’ll get it right.”
DSD Guidelines
Chapter 4 SCRIPTS FOR TALKING WITH PARENTS
http://www.dsdguidelines.org/htdocs/clinical/scripts.html
“Thus, initial gender assignment (boy or girl) is made by the parents after the parents have been fully informed about the results of tests and what is known about gender identity development in patients with similar conditions. Because the parents will be the primary care givers for the child, and because they are the legal decision-makers for the child, it is critical that their sense of the situation be taken seriously and that they actively participate in the initial gender assignment.”
DSD Guidelines
Chapter 3 BACKGROUND AND ELABORATION
GENDER ASSIGNMENT
http://www.dsdguidelines.org/htdocs/clinical/background.html
“On rare occasions, a child with a DSD may approach puberty without having clearly expressed a gender identity. Consider, for example, a child with histologically normal testes, 46,XY, and partial virilization who is being raised as a girl but who is approaching puberty without a clearly expressed gender identity.”
DSD Guidelines
Chapter 3 BACKGROUND AND ELABORATION
GENDER ASSIGNMENT
http://www.dsdguidelines.org/htdocs/clinical/background.html
“The truth is, even though scientists have attempted to find out why people end up with the gender identities and sexual orientations they do, the origins of gender identity and sexual orientation remain somewhat of a mystery for all of us.”
DSD Guidelines
KEY BACKGROUND POINTS
http://www.dsdguidelines.org/htdocs/parents/background_points.html
“TMWWBQ’s title and cover explicitly contrasted with those books on transgenderism which adhered to the “woman trapped in a man’s body” narrative of transgender identity, or what I will call hereafter the “feminine essence” narrative.
Dreger, Alice. “The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age”. Archives of Sexual Behavior, in press. © 2007
Page 14
Interestingly, a close reading of Bailey’s book reveals the author’s persistent skepticism about many scientists’ and clinicians’ conception of gender identity, and an especially strong skepticism about the idea of an innate gender identity: “‘Gender identity’ [in the psychological literature] refers to the subjective internal feeling that one is male or female” (p. 22). But, Bailey insists, “most of us rarely, if ever, think about our gender identities” (p. 22).
Dreger, Alice. “The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age”. Archives of Sexual Behavior, in press. © 2007
Page 15
“Ultimately Bailey concludes that “scientists have not fully appreciated how complicated a trait gender identity likely is, or how little we know about it. One expert told me, bluntly: ‘Gender identity is defined as “the inner sense of oneself as male or female.” What the hell does that mean?’” (p. 50) It makes more sense to him that children naturally exhibit “feminine” and “masculine” behaviors and interests, and that those are then categorized as feminine and masculine in such a way that children get the idea that they count as girlish or boyish.”
Dreger, Alice. “The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age”. Archives of Sexual Behavior, in press. © 2007
Page 15
“So his doubt about the commonly held concept of a core gender identity is one reason Bailey remains dubious about claims by transsexuals that they change sex because they have always had a core gender identity that conflicted with their anatomical sex.”
Dreger, Alice. “The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age”. Archives of Sexual Behavior, in press. © 2007
Page 15
