Gender Identity

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1252857/man-66-goes-doctor-and-finds-hes-woman

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.