I woke up this morning and saw this article on a friends
Facebook page, and as someone who has Turner Syndrome, I found it to be
extremely insensitive. For those of you who don’t know, Turner’s is a genetic
condition that affects the female reproductive system, and basically causes the
ovaries not to work. This means that sufferers can’t get pregnant.
The article is about a 66 year old man in Hong
Kong who went to hospital with abdominal pain and discovered he
had two conditions: Turner Syndrome and “congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH),
which boosted the male hormones and made the patient look like a man.” The
writer goes on to say that sufferers of Turner’s ‘usually look like women’.
Excuse me?!? We are not some alien inhabitants in the guise of women here on
Earth. We ARE women!! There is a lot of media attention surrounding Angelina
Jolie at the moment with her deciding to get a double mastectomy and will later
get her ovaries removed, to reduce her risk of getting of getting cancer.
Mostly the media attention has been positive, this brave move seen as
empowering for women. Does it make her any less of a woman? Hell no. And having
Turner’s doesn’t make me less of a woman either. But the big difference here is
that she made this choice, whereas I don’t.
Another issue I have is with the end of the article:
“Private gynaecologist Dr Kun Ka-yan said Turner syndrome was rarer now as most
sufferers were identified in prenatal tests. Women would usually choose an
abortion as the disease can bring other health problems, including mental
disability.” Okay, abortion is a completely separate debate here, but I am
proof that Turner’s doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of health problems. I am in
perfect health and I am lucky enough not to have any related health problems or
any of the physical attributes (except for my shortnss!). I didn’t even find out I had it until I was fifteen. While it's not really a secret that I have it, I don't go around broadcasting it either. To me, it’s just a
condition I have, but it doesn’t define who I am.
I think the bigger issue
here is that in society, you are either male or female, and for most of us, we
live our lives in that gender role. But for a lot of people, like this man in
the article, it isn’t as black and white as that, and as a result, these people
are seen as outcasts, not normal. People are confused if you are not like them,
but most of the time, these people are more confused and scared about their own
identity than you are.
