Welcome to my blog! This is a blog focused on intersex feminist activism and discussion within the intersex community. You may recognize me as someone who has been around before, or perhaps not. Either is fine. Due to the racist harassment I experienced from my last blog from white members of the community, I will not be accepting anonymous messages and have blocked all offending parties. I will not be releasing their information as I believe people can grow and change, and I genuinely hope they will do better.
Interfeminism is about applying feminist thought and critique to intersex issues. Interfeminism is a field that I would love to see grow and believe empowers all intersex people regardless of gender. We stand stronger together!
Intersex Terminology post
Important Organizations + Info
interACT works to empower intersex youth and advance the rights of all people with innate variations in their physical sex characteristics.
The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) is devoted to systemic change to end shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries for people
Image: iStockPhoto BRO Vector
Intersex (inclusive) organizations
Sex diversity is an umbrella term for several conceptsAmong them
“You are human; you are whole. You are normal. Intersex is normal...We love you, and you are not alone.” - Former HRC Foundation Youth Ambas
About Me
I am a mixed white/native twenty-two-year-old who fluctuates between identifying as transfeminine and transfemmasc. I am genderfluid, more specifically systemfluid, as my gender depends upon which of my alters for my DID is fronting. Currently, my main host, who goes by the name Esther, will be present for the majority of the time. I am a survivor of child sex trafficking within a cult I was raised in. I have a very strong passion for topics of trans liberation, queer liberation, disabled liberation, feminism, and similar.
Interfeminism is advocating for the proper and kind treatment of all bearded ladies and women with facial hair in general. It's pushing back against the history of us being seen as freaks gawked at in circuses, and otherwise dehumanized and third gendered in various instances.
Remember the women who were treated horrifically due to intermisogynoir and other forms or intermisogyny intersecting with racism.
Krao Farini was treated horribly, her Wikipedia page is here:
Julia Pastrana was also another woman deeply impacted by the freak shows. Her conditions were used as a way to make her into a spectacle. She was a native Mexican woman and much of the stories made up about her are deeply rooted in anti-native racism.
Julia Pastrana, a woman born with unique physical characteristics, entered the harsh world of 19th-century freak shows in the 1850s. Her lif
I plan to eventually do a better deep dive on the topic. This kind of history is why it's so hard for many of us to feel safe allowing ourselves to keep our facial hair. Wether we are cis or trans- we as intersex women who have specific variations that cause more hair growth should be allowed to have facial hair without objectification and discrimination!
Intersex bloggers, MOGAI bloggers, block 'intrepidwondercrusader'. This user is posting graphic IGM in these tags, sending severe gore to users, and posting said images in reblogs. Block them and for the love of G-d don't scroll down; I have not seen the content of the images myself but I have been given numerous descriptions and it is not something you want to fuck with. Take care of yourselves.
I find it not only helpful but necessary for transfeminism to go hand in hand with interfeminism. Not only is the plight for both groups similar, but there is a large amount of overlap. I am someone who is both transfeminine and intersex. These two aspects of my identity have resulted in various instances of oppression and bigotry against me in my life.
Trans people should stand by intersex people.
Intersex people should stand by trans people.
There is no reason to be bigoted towards one another. We should discuss how we face the same struggles and pain. We should engage in an open discourse and figure out ways to protect all of us.
And reminder radfems of all kinds fuck off you don't care about women who aren't rich and/or white.
Intersex trans women and transfems are dealt the brunt of transmisogyny and intermisogyny in such an over way even within the trans community and it's genuinely painful. This isn't to say that similar or the same doesn't happen to transgender intersex men and transmascs but it's more so what I have experience with.
If you're an intersex trans woman or transfem you've probably experienced one of the following:
1) You're not actually a transfem or a trans woman you're just disgustingly hideous and repulsive to look at and you obviously are projecting onto trans women and claiming they're all ugly (Usually this is because the person subscribes to lookism and believes that all intersex women, cis and trans alike, are ugly and they personally feel threatened by being associated with so called ugly people.)
2) You have an unfair advantage in calling yourself transfem so honestly you shouldn't be allowed to use the label. (There are thousands of reasons people say this and it can be about traits that don't even make sense in context.)
3) You're not actually intersex enough and you're a "perisex" trans woman/transfem trying to speak over the entire intersex community because obviously you're basically a man.
And honestly I have in the past contributed to some of these sentiments.
It is important that you protect all intersex transfems- yes all, even those you dislike from unjustified harm and cruelty.
The intersex transfem experience is people assuming you are biologically a perisex male after you tell them that you're intersex.
It's also people assuming you are biologically a perisex female after you tell them that you're intersex.
Us intersex trans people overall get the short end of the stick no matter what with transphobes because the stick is like 0.000001 millimeters long as an analogy of how much they tend to know about intersex people.
I'm looking for any and all intersex literature. Fiction and nonfiction both. As I'm working on my own book with an intersex character with my experiences I have found my yearning to fix what I always wished I could growing.
I am also open to short stories and fanfiction written by intersex people about intersex experiences and characters!
Like not even in a sexual way, just in a "you don't need to be ashamed of this" bare minimum kinda way.
And the appreciation I DO see is always like "hey don't make fun of people for having micropenises. I'm sure they hate having a micropenis and feel dysphoria over it, so it's insensitive. I'm sure they cry themselves to sleep every night because of their affliction. I'm sure they're just as disgusted in themself as you are over their micropenis. They're the ones who have to live with such attrocities, so don't remind them of that unmentionable organ."
And like, what!? I like mine actually!
Dear Everyone out there with a micropenis: you are not alone!! I got a vulva down there as well, but my micropenis is my favorite part, come on!!! Not everyone has to hate their micropenis!!!! Wtf!!!!
Intersex joy is finding out you're intersex and finally FINALLY understanding why you never felt like a "normal" female and why your junk isn't like "a normal females". DUH SILLY CUZ UR A NORMAL INTERSEX PERSON, NOT A NORMAL FEMALE! >∆< For once in my life I genuinely just feel... normal and it's such a weight off my shoulders. 🥹
There are a lot of terms that are used online in intersex activism and I have decided to make a list of some of the various terms that are often seen on here. This will be continuously updated as I continue to use this account.
General Terms
Intersex
An individual with a unique variation of sex characteristics. These variations from the "standard" body as commonly described in society can be either internal or external within the body.
Intersex Variations
There are a variety of variations that someone who is intersex may have. This could be found in chromosomes, internal organs, or external characteristics such as genitalia.
Perisex/Dyadic/Endosex
An individual who is not intersex.
Altersex
Individuals who wish to have anatomy and sex characteristics outside of the binary view of pericis "man" and "woman." For example, a trans woman may get penile preserving vaginoplasty. It also describes those whose ideal body would take on sexual characteristics that are inhuman.
Extersex/Inter-questioning
An individual who is uncertain whether or not they are intersex. There are many reasons someone may suspect they could be intersex. As many people are unaware of intersexuality in general, it is easy to be uncertain if your experience falls under the umbrella.
Varsex
This is a term that includes all people whose sex characteristics do not align with the percis normative "man" and "woman". This includes people who are intersex, trans, altersex, or have experienced illnesses/injuries that have affected their characteristics.
Activism
Interfeminism
Interfeminism is the intersection between Intersex Liberation and Feminism. There are numerous ways this can manifest and various ideas present in circles where this is a common topic of discussion. As of now (to my knowledge), there is no proper definition nor well known theory on this topic.
Intersex Liberation
Intersex Liberation is the fight to end the discrimination, oppression, and over-medicalization of intersex people and our bodies. This usually includes rejection of the idea that our bodies are inherently disordered or ill.
Oppression
Intermisogyny
The intersection of Intersexism and Misogyny is Intermisogyny. This is something that affects all intersex people regardless of gender due to the way that our traits are often viewed by broader society, regardless of variation.
Intersexism
Intersexism is the sexist discrimination against anyone who falls into the category of intersex, as well as the systemic discrimination intersex people face.
Genitalism
The fixation on the connection of genitals to one's sex or gender. This often leads to forced labels and the fetishization of many forms of intersex bodies.
Perinormativity
The way that society expects everyone to always be Perisex and makes no room for Intersex people and our experiences. The world assumes that Perisexuality is normal and everything else is an exception. This often goes hand in hand with cisnormativity and limits gender expression outside of the gender people assume you are "supposed" to be.
Intermedicalism
Much like how transmedicalists are to the trans community, intermedicalists view their bodies as inherently a medical condition. Often, they refer to themselves as being "DSD". They believe that intersex is not a meaningful minority group and that activism is normalizing a disorder.
Gender Enforcement
Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM)
Medical abuse that occurs often to newborns, where doctors will arbitarily decide to operate on a child who has atypical genitalia and make their body have a crude approximation to the standard idea of "boy" or "girl."
Socially Imposed Gender (SIG)
The gendered box that someone is shoved into by society at large. This gender may or may not match what you were assigned at birth and may or may not match what you identify as.
Inconsistent Socially Imposed Gender (ISIG)
When SIG is applied inconsistently, an individual is expected to be of different genders at different points. For example, you may grow up as a boy, reach puberty and develop breasts, and be forced into the identity of a woman/girl afterwards.
Consistent Socially Imposed Gender (CSIG)
When your SIG is consistent, your expectations of what gender you should be in the eyes of society stay the same.
Assigned {Gender} At Birth
Things like AMAB/AFAB or AXAB or even AIAB are ways of referring to the event in which, at birth, you are sorted into a box of what the doctors assume your sex or gender might be.
Forcibly Assigned {Gender} At Birth
This is often seen in acronyms such as FAFAB/FAMAB. People who are forcibly assigned are those who experienced IGM as part of their gender/sex assignment at birth.
Close To {Gender/Sex}
CTF, CTM, CTA, and CTN are all examples of acronyms used to describe self-identifying as being close to a specific sex.
Harmful Terms
Differences/Disorders Of Sex Development (DSD)
DSD is a term used by those who medicalize intersex experiences. It is commonly used in medical settings and is a common self-identifying term for intermedicalists. DSD is also often used online as an insult to intersex people and activists as a way to shut us up, and many of us consider it tantamount to a slur.
Hermaphrodite
This is an outdated term for intersex people with ovotestes or a presentation of a penis and a vaginal opening. It has long been used as a slur. It's used as a term to fetishize our bodies, medicalize our bodies, and insult our bodies.
Main sources:
This glossary is intended to give an overview of common terms used within the intersex community.
Intersex Definitions - We are raising intersex visibility, empowering young intersex advocates and promoting laws and policies that protect
