Intersex People Deserve Spaces That Don't Just Tolerate Their Existance, But Celebrate It.

reasons to care about trans men & mascs

we're people

Perisex allies: stop this shit

CW: intersexism

Came across this infographic during some google image searching and I'm still kind of a state of despair about it because it's not just offensively wrong about what intersex is, it was used to teach university students about queer issues:

Alt text: LGBTQIA+ are defined one by one. Intersex is defined erroneously as "These are people who were born with genital organs of both sexes (male and female). It is a genetic condition."

It's one thing for your rando perisex person to be getting this wrong on social media. It's another thing entirely when it's professionals getting this wrong in an educational setting. 😩 And that this infographic appears in a peer-reviewed publication. 😩

It's even worse to know the students that were taught with this infographic were medical students, who will be the ones traumatizing intersex people for decades to come 😩

It's so wrong in so many different ways:

Intersex is not limited to people with genital differences. Most intersex people have intersex variations that are not apparent at birth, with puberty being the most common time of life for variations to present. Many people find out in adulthood having no outward physical differences.

Of the intersex people with genital differences, they do not have two sets of genitals. Most genital differences are still recognizably female or male (e.g. spadias), and those who have ambiguous genitals have one set.

Intersex is not "male parts + female parts" or even "intermediate male/female parts", it is an umbrella term for anybody whose primary/secondary sex characteristics don't line up with what is expected for male and female bodies. Some intersex variations make women look more feminine, or make men look more masculine.

Defining intersex by genital differences doesn't just exclude most intersex people, it also sets the tone that we are defined by our genitals. To be publicly intersex is to have non-stop DMs about your genitals. This sort of framing sets up openly intersex people for invasive questions and harassment, and it keeps large numbers of intersex people from coming out.

Many intersex variations do not have a known genetic basis. Many intersex variations are caused by exposure to certain hormonal levels in the womb. Certain medications when taken during pregnancy can trigger intersex variations.

While bodily variation is necessary for being intersex, the social experience of stigma, discrimination, isolation, hyper-medicalization, and hyper-sexualization are all just as much a part of being intersex.

📣 Perisex allies: this is shit you can stop. When you see other perisex people parrot this sort of misinformation, correct them. Direct them to look up resources written by actually intersex people.

Here are some starter resources to give:

Intersex explained by Hans Lindahl

Media and style guide by IHRA

FAQ by intersex-support

A recent post I did compiling information for trans people who want to be better intersex allies

Just wanna say that i absolutely adore your pfp lmao

Thank youuuu!!! [Lesboy sampo always live in my mind]

Normalize not liking things for no reason or for stupid reasons.

Normalize disliking things others like and still treating them (the person and the thing in question) with respect.

Normalize not having an opinion on things.

Normalize not knowing things and asking others about them.

Normalize doing research.

Normalize disagreeing with your friends' tastes.

Normalize having mixed feelings about things.

Normalize being proud and loud about things you're into.

Normalize trying to emphasize with those you have opposing views with.

If something doesn't HURT anyone

It's okay.

We're only human!

We are not perfect and nobody should expect us to be.

Allow yourself to be you and to let others be themselves.

Trans people with detrans and misgendering kinks please realize you can have standards you do not have to engage with actual transphobes to participate in these kinks you are allowed to have boundaries and limits

Hey, I get that you don't like that person's stance, but they don't deserve to die or to relive their own trauma because of it. Don't dehumanize your enemies.

If you're at the point where the most substantial thing you could say to somebody is a threat, just silently wish the best for them.

Wish that someday they'll stop being an enemy. Wish for character growth.

(Note: This is not asking you to "fix them." That's not your job, and helping people with the mindset of "fixing them" is not actually that helpful. If they ask for civil discussion-- and are genuine-- then it's your choice whether you permit it or not, but don't try to force your point without listening to them. Don't "fix them." It very likely is not going to work, and will very likely instead give them a bad/worse taste in their mouth about you and what you represent. Sometimes it is best to leave people be, in all honesty. You don't have to save the world, doing what you can is perfectly acceptable. Promoting good-will and stability in your own space is just as-- if not more-- important as stepping outside of said space.)

Made the playlist [it's still wip because I'm trying to find more songs that fit them]

trying to make a playlist for tang428 [that's the ship name I came up with lol] and I'm wondering what song fits their relationship better in term of development

Because on one hand you can think of

As the start of their relationship [especially with how tang's blood helped 428 grow and become stronger although I disagree with the song after the infection arc because their relationship becomes much more closure than "blood vessel" and a "mushroom"]

And I do think that say it by The Crane Wives fit their relationship in the sense of the description in novel.update how tang left the game and that means he left behind 428 [although I did not read the full mtl because I hate Reading them and would rather read a fully translated novel but that's just me lol]

I do need other songs for them!!

Anyone can recommend anything tbh as long as it fits the vibe of RLM!! [Also read these lyrics with 428 in mind btw]

a comic about my weird irreverence for canon

go write a bad ending AU! ship your self-insert oc with your favourite villain!! the world's your oyster!!!

Need black forest cookie to be drawn similar to the sherk 4 poster

trying to make a playlist for tang428 [that's the ship name I came up with lol] and I'm wondering what song fits their relationship better in term of development

Because on one hand you can think of

As the start of their relationship [especially with how tang's blood helped 428 grow and become stronger although I disagree with the song after the infection arc because their relationship becomes much more closure than "blood vessel" and a "mushroom"]

And I do think that say it by The Crane Wives fit their relationship in the sense of the description in novel.update how tang left the game and that means he left behind 428 [although I did not read the full mtl because I hate Reading them and would rather read a fully translated novel but that's just me lol]

I do need other songs for them!!

Anyone can recommend anything tbh as long as it fits the vibe of RLM!! [Also read these lyrics with 428 in mind btw]