Claiming an alter/headmate (in an otherwise perisex system) as intersex is appropriation. It harms our community.
*sigh* here I go saying the same old things...
Brain intersex / psychologically intersex is not a thing. If your body is not physically intersex from birth, you are not intersex. End of story.
Non-binary ≠ intersex. These concepts are not interchangeable. Perisex transgender people are not brain intersex. They are perisex individuals with gender identities that don't align with their sex assigned at birth.
Perisex systems can have alters that think they are intersex, but I won't enable this belief because I find it offensive. It supports harmful intersexist assumptions about our community, and I'm not okay with that.
The [incorrect] assumptions:
You don't need intersex traits to be intersex. You just need to feel intersex in your brain.
Bodily trauma isn't an important part of the intersex experience.
How perisex people feel is more valid and important than how intersex people feel.
Claiming an alter or headmate in an otherwise perisex system as intersex is a form of appropriation. It disregards the immense trauma that real intersex people experience as a result of having intersex bodies. Many of us experience non-consensual genital mutilation, violence, forced transition, and abuse because we are physically intersex (not because of our psychological profiles). When you argue that you don't need an intersex body to be intersex, you are engaging in an act of erasure towards that trauma. You are actively invalidating our experiences in service of your perisex experiences. You are participating in intersexism and (if you don't have lived real-world trauma) ableism.
I sympathize with DID systems who have gone through trauma. I really do (I have C-PTSD myself. I've done IFS therapy and worked with my own internal parts). But I can't support appropriation that promotes misinformation about intersex people.
It's not okay to appropriate other people's trauma as a way to manage/process/avoid/emphasize/whatever your own trauma.
I understand that you don't choose your alters, but you do choose how you talk about them. Out of respect for other people's trauma, if you are perisex, please use non-binary to refer to your alters, not intersex. Again, if your body isn't intersex, you are appropriating someone else's experience and harming us by doing so.
Since people seem to have forgotten this, I'll repeat it. Sex and gender are two separate categories. The former refers to your physical, genetic, and hormonal characteristics. Sex includes perisex male, perisex female, and intersex.
Gender is about identity, how you feel about your body and your social role. Gender has lots more categories including male, female, and non-binary identities. You can be both non-binary and intersex, but you can also be intersex and female or male identifying.
P.S. Intersex people who support this behavior are also part of the problem. Y'all need to work on your internalized intersexism. For my own mental health, I am blocking folks who actively participate in this bullshit on my feed.
