#social model of intersex

[queercripintersex]

Oh lovely, there's a perisex person going around the intersex tags who read a bunch of medical literature, a few webpages of one long-defunct intersex advocacy organization, and now thinks they have the authority to say what intersex is, that sex isn't socially constructed (sigh), and that the problems facing intersex people are that we face "misinformation about what being intersex is".

I'm honestly at a loss at how to deal with this stuff. Somebody says they spent many hours reading medical literature, doesn't seem to have read even the most basic materials from intersex studies, openly admits they don't follow any intersex people, and now feels entitled to tell us intersex people that the problems we're facing is that we're getting it all wrong? Seriously?

This sort of hyper-medicalization is actually very seriously part of the oppression that intersex people face! If you want to understand what intersex is you cannot only read biomedical sources and one old intersex advocacy website. You have to read actual works from actually intersex people on the experiences we face. You have to actually listen to a large variety of intersex voices, not just a single one that coveniently doesn’t challenge you or your beliefs.

Because if you did you'd know that being intersex isn't just about physiology, it's also about the social experience of experiencing intersexism. And the hyper-medicalization contributes to the intersexism! 

The hyper-medicalization takes the focus off of the actual social experiences of being intersex, and sets the tone of the conversation about policing categories and diagnoses rather than dealing with oppression, stigma, and isolation.

The hyper-medicalization means that intersex people don’t find the community we need, only furthering the isolation and shame felt by so many intersex people.

The hyper-medicalization means that intersex people are not given the basic respect to be authorieties on who we are, that instead it is doctors and biologists who get to decide what intersex means and that if we feel otherwise (which we so often do) that we are wrong.

[ipsogender]

The Social Model of Intersex

I recently wrote up an explanation of the social model of intersex and here I'm gonna take what I wrote the other day and expand on it.

Exposition: Some Disability 101

The social model of intersex is based on the social model of disability so first we need to know that terminology:

The medical model of disability views disability as something inherently disordered, requiring treatment/cure.

In contrast, the social model of disability sees that what is disabling about a disability is how society treats disabled people. There aren’t ramps and elevators for wheelchair users. There aren’t enough people who know signed languages or Braille. Videos don't come with quality captions and audio description. Etc.

(image from here)

The Medical and Social Models of Intersex

The medical model of intersex is analogous to the medical model of disability. Being intersex is seen as disorder that needs to be cured. The terms disorder and difference of sexual development (DSD) are sometimes used by people who think of intersex this way. This is the dominant model that most people in Western society use to think about intersex, and similar to how the disability rights movement is resistant to the medical model, intersex people as a community want our medical model to lose its dominance.

The social model of intersex is similarly analogous to the social model of disability. It sees intersex variations as natural bodily variations. What sucks about being intersex is the intersexism - the stigma, discrimination, isolation, and shame that surrounds being intersex; the fetishization of intersex bodies (usually ambiguous genitals); the medical violence/trauma that comes from being coerced into gender-conforming treatments; and so on.

Authority and Gatekeeping

The two models have different epistemic implications, i.e, whose knowledge is important and valid. The medical model places (perisex) doctors and biologists as the authorities on intersex. Being intersex is a result of medical diagnosis, and doctors are the gatekeepers.

The social model places actually intersex people as authoritative, and what emerges from intersex communities is less emphasis on diagnosis and more emphasis on how your bodily variations have affected your life experiences.

And once you get people talking about life experiences and failing to meet a perinormative standard, it becomes apparent that common diagnoses like PCOS and gynecomastia are frequently associated with the same sorts of life experiences that people with diagnoses that everybody agrees are intersex.

For intersex people, having intersex be a big tent is an advantage. We suffer from isolation so terribly. Having more people in the community helps break that isolation. And having more community means more ability to mobilize against harmful practices like IGM.

Edit to add: the social/experiential aspect of being intersex is one of many reasons why intersex people react negatively to non-binary people saying they want to "transition to intersex".

The Futures We Want

For social model folks like me, the ideal future is that intersex people are accepted, respected, given considerate medical care that respects bodily autonomy, and given access to safe and inclusive community.

In contrast, medicalists think the ideal future is that there are no intersex people, because we have all been “cured”.

This is part of why so few intersex people find out their diagnosis is an intersex variation from their doctor (if they're even lucky enough to get and be told their diagnosis). This contributes to why so many intersex people don't figure out we're intersex until adulthood. Giving patients a label to help find social support and organize politically for better conditions just isn’t something in the mental toolkit of somebody who is stuck in the medical model.

Where The TERFs Come In

The medical model encourages the intersex community to stay fractured into different diagnoses, and to view us as rare anomalies.

This is why TERFS and other transphobes love the medical model of intersex. They cannot handle the idea of intersex being common. They need it to be rare so they peddle their narrative that biological sex is simple.

Even though the biology is clear that sex is really complicated and there is no clear line between male and female, and a whole bunch of middle ground, the anti-trans lobby isn't willing to listen.

To them, there is no middle ground. There is instead two separate categories - male and female - and with each categories you have a tiny subset of "disordered males" and "disordered females".

This is why we see anti-trans posters trying to sow doubt about POCS as intersex. PCOS is common. It affects primarily women. And recognizing hyperandrogenism PCOS as intersex is a direct threat to their messaging about sex and gender.

Summary

The medical model contributes to so much of the intersexism that intersex people face, notably from the anti-trans lobby and from doctors. We suffer from seen as being broken/disordered, from coercive medical interventions, and from the isolation that comes from being told you're uniquely broken. The social model allows actually intersex people to be seen as the authorities on intersex; and for us to find community, healing, and political power.

[wreckitremy]

As Kim (2017, 27) states, “I use ‘curative violence’ to describe the exercise of force to erase differences for the putative betterment of the Other. Curative violence occurs when cure is what actually frames the presence of disability as a problem and ends up destroying the subject in the curative process.

- Cripping Intersex, Celeste E. Orr

[spiderbitesandvampirevenom]

lotta people seem to forget that like. until very recently "racism" didnt just mean "targeted, malicious, explicitly degrading/belittling behavior towards a racialized other." like i couldnt pinpoint a time specifically but within my lifetime ive watched the definition shift. "positive racism" exists and is, of the two, by far the more common.

so, what is positive racism? in short, its racialized othering through the promotion of the idea that someone from a given 'race' is inherently better at something than others, or that there is something inherently special about them as compared to others. (nb: i am NOT talking about acknowledging cultural differences) think about the Model Minority trope. that's positive racism.

Saying Native Americans have some intrinsic, unique and special relationship with nature because of our traditional cultural lifeways? positive racism. saying Mexicans are "harder workers than everyone else?" positive racism. the "asians are smarter" stereotype? you guessed it, positive racism.

this is absolutely translatable to other forms of bigotry, by the way. positive queerphobia is rampant in the queer community! look at how queer people treat allies, or how intersex people are talked about as "naturally nonbinary" (fucking ew. listen to yourself). and im not even gonna touch on all the positive transmisogyny that takes place, thats a whole post in itself.

check yourself. even if you're not saying something malicious, you could still be saying something racist. and thats not some sort of moral failure! its life. we all say dumb shit. what matters is whether you learn from your mistakes and grow as a person. together we can stop racism in a meaningful way. rather than police the language we use to talk about these social issues, lets untangle the webs of bullshit that perpetuate them in the first place.

[genderkoolaid]

i find this so interesting. on multiple levels. i actually agree that there are trans people who use the language of "gender is fake" while still relying on the idea that gender is not a construct. i mentioned this in another post but we have a problem with conflating our choice in labels with the experiences we use them to express. and then ofc there are people who still follow the medical model of being trans which uses shit like "brainsex."

but i find the comparison w christianity interesting because of the assumption that "full" or "true" belief is an objective measurement. there are plenty of people who identify as christian and perform as christians but don't "truly" believe. and i'm not even talking about hypocrites! there are agnostic + atheist christians who find community in christianity and/or find it valuable philosophically. same as most other religions. because, like gender, things don't have to be Scientifically Real to be worthwhile. its fully possible to acknowledge that gender is fake (so is sex btw <3) and still find value in gender identity. laws being a social construct doesn't mean there can never be value is having an agreed upon set of rules. the only thing recognizing social constructs inherently asks us imo is to interact w those constructs knowing that they are always being recreated.

anyways. transness Exists as a scientific fact. in that there is clearly a common experience had by homo sapiens. partaking in culture is not diametrically opposed to "nature" we are social animals social construction is our nature! this is why social + physical transition works for many. its just smth humans naturally experience. the best argument terfs can make with this information is that identification w sex constructs exclusively is what is the most politically useful thing we can do, but at best this obscures how much influence gender identity has over society & pressures intersex & transsexual people to put themselves in a binary that cannot accurately discuss their experiences even if they are willing to admit that sex is a construct.

[intervex]

Can I get a flag for crip? Like crip theory crip. In a pan-disability sense. I don't have any particular iconography in mind, only that it shouldn't give a vibe that this is exclusive to physical disabilities. If you can link it in some way to the Mad & Deaf pride flags that'd be nice.

Thank you!

Crip Pride Flag

This is a flag for crips and those who feel represented by/part of crip theory, crip pride, and/or general cripness. [SVG version on WC]

Crip is a term that is open to people with ALL disabilities (physical or otherwise) and also to groups who share the crip mindset. (Note different spelling from cripple.)

For folks who like details: I'm gonna explain what crip is for those who may be new to the term! Then I'll talk about the flag design how the different stripes represent different models of disability. 💜

What is even is crip?

Like how "queer" is to LGBT+, "crip" is to disabled. It's an umbrella term, a way of seeing the world. Activist reclamation of "crip" goes back to the 1970s, with disabled performance artists popularizing the term in the 1990s.

Crip theory began in the early 2000s by building on queer theory. Expanding on your [QCI's] recent post, its characteristics are:

Understanding disability as socially constructed.

Fuck capitalism: the social construction of disability as we understand it was a result of the development of capitalism.

Fuck eugenics: Ableism and racism have been entwined for hundreds of years and cannot be understood in isolation.

Fuck colonialism: which is itself debilitating. Violence disables people, and Global South activists have been clear it's important to talk about how war, landmines, etc are disabling.

Disabled people are creative. Where queer-ing refers to a way of being critical of categories, cripping tends to focus on subverting ideas of ability. Disabled people ARE the original makers/hackers.

Disabled people are experts: we know shit. It is *us* who should be the epistemic authorities on disability, *not* physicians.

Crip as a term is open to anybody experiencing the violence of eugenic thought, regardless of identification as "disabled".

Fat studies scholars have been locating themselves as within crip theory since day one. Similarly, reading Cripping Intersex by Orr has made clear to me that intersex has always been crip.

Again, drawing a parallel to queer & LGBT: kink and polyamory may not be LGBT but they are Queer. 🌈

Flag details

The design is based on @capricorn-0mnikorn's Disability Pride Flag. In line with newer meanings for the Disability Pride flag, the stripes represent different models of disability associated with crip theory:

Purple represents the social construction of disability and the influence of queer theory. #82609b is from the Mad Pride flag.

Red represents postcolonial understandings of disability such as debility. Understanding that which chronic illnesses receive care and research is *political*. The choice of #CF7280 is a nod to the AIDS flag. I took the red from the disability pride flag and shifted the hue (but not chroma & lightness) to that of the AIDS flag.

Yellow represents the affirmative and identity models of disability. The opposite of the tragedy model. Many disabilities can actually be beneficial! The choice of #f4db75 is a nod to the intersex flag.

White represents how crip pride and crip theory are pan-disability. It stands for models of disabilities not otherwise represented here. The #E8E8E8 white is also a nod to the neurodiversity flag.

Blue represents the social model of disability, the intellectual progenitor of the social construction model (and crip theory in turn). The choice of #83bfe5 is a nod to the Deaf flag.

Green represents eco-crip theory, the eco-social model of disability, and other crip engagements with environmentalism. The choice of #48af75 is a nod to the nonhuman flag. Because being a cyborg (alterhuman) is a proud tradition of crip theory.

The repetition of purple serves to show crip pride & theory exist within a social construction framework. Also it widens the amount of the flag which is stripes, reflecting how crip includes groups not consistently understood as disabled (e.g. fat, intersex).

As with the disability pride flag, the dark grey (#595959) represents the lives lost to ableism and our collective grief.

Tagging @radiomogai @mad-pride @liom-archive for archival. And I wanna acknowledge @scifimagpie for giving me feedback on dozens of prototypes. 💛

Finally: I release this flag design as public domain! 💜

[the-mad-starker]

Starkercest Smut: Quick Tips For Satisfying An Alpha (1/3)

For TSToT and Starker Battleship!!

Figured I'd post this in and I'ma try to finish chapter 2 so I can attack Spidey team over at @starker-battleship !! Not gonna reveal my prompts just yet but they're very typical of me haha 😮

Notes: Omegaverse, starkercest, alpha tony, omega Peter, intersex Omegas, Size Kink, ambiguous age but underaged, tags to be updated

Rating: E

WC: 2606 (AO3 Link)

💗💗💗

When Peter Stark walked into Omega Ed., he wasn't sure what to expect but it surely hadn't been this.

The sex ed class for omegas that he'd been required to attend was just so dry. He hadn't had any real expectations though. If anything, he thought he'd end up leaving with a bright red face because learning about those things with his peers just seemed… embarrassing?

But no. Whatever Peter had expected, it was worse because it was boring. The omega instructor was a stickler for facts, which, yeah, those were super important, but Peter wanted to know stuff beyond what he could find in textbooks.

For the first week, they had to study the anatomy of all sub-genders. Peter learned a lot, for sure. He learned just how knotting happened, how female alphas’ pensies were different from males, and that male omegas had two internal erogenous spots compared to female omegas who only had one. That kind of information was an eye opener, but even then, it was all… very scientific and therefore, not at all what he thought sex ed would be like.

He'd been raised by a very sex-positive parent so it wasn't surprising that Peter had questions. Unfortunately, Peter realized pretty early on that what he had wanted from the class was guidance and a more real life approach than the in-depth diagrams and plastic models that his instructor showed them.

Like Peter now knew about the prostate and g-spot for omegas, but how do you stimulate them? What did that even feel like? He read somewhere that prostate stimulation for some males was uncomfortable but was that across all males? Or were omegas an exception? Or maybe just alphas? Beta males?

He had so many questions but the instructor didn't seem inclined to answer them. It was always a gentle but firm decision to turn back to the books and a dismissive answer that wasn't an answer at all.

It was great, then, that Peter had such an accommodating parent. His dad had never held back on giving him the truth, at least not since he was maybe five years old and had accidentally tugged Santa’s beard off only to be met with his dad’s chagrined face.

His dad wouldn't sugarcoat things for him and he’d finally get the answers he wanted.

Peter set his plan into motion on a nice Saturday morning. The freshly ground coffee beans were brewing and just as expected, the smell of it lured his alpha father out of his room.

Peter watched as his dad went straight for the coffee pot, eyes assessing the alpha over the rim of his cup of orange juice.

His father was the epitome of what an alpha should be, Peter recalled all the social media claiming. His classmates often teased him for having a hunk of an alpha as a father. Add to the fact that his dad was also single… and his father didn't discriminate between genders… and he was rich and handsome…

Peter frowned and took a sip of his OJ.

He tried to look at his dad like his classmates did. Look beyond his quirky lovable father to see the alpha that teens his age drooled after.

Surprisingly, it wasn't hard because as he already acknowledged… His dad really was the perfect alpha.

Alpha genes really were something. Alphas were just naturally taller, broader, and stronger. Put an alpha next to an omega, and these physical attributes were even more exaggerated. Alphas had a more muscular physique compared to an omega’s softer, leaner body.

And that was just the genes influencing an alpha. Of course, like any normal person, if they didn't take advantage of it, an alpha can squander those built in boosts and end up as unhealthy as any other. Not even superior alpha genes could help someone if they didn't take care of themselves.

But Tony Stark didn't have that problem. Peter’s gaze lingered over his lightly muscled arms, his broad shoulders, and the defined muscles of his back through his thin white undershirt. His dad, courtesy of Peter’s insistence, ate healthy and, despite his grumbling, worked out regularly.

“Morning, kid,” his dad's voice rumbled, rough from sleep. It sent something foreign but exciting shooting through Peter's body.

He stood up, setting his OJ aside, and like many sleepy mornings before, he hugged his dad from behind as Tony readied his coffee.

With his face pressed against his dad’s back, Peter breathed in the comforting scent of his alpha. This close, he could smell his own scent mixed in, and before he knew it, a purr rumbled in his chest.

His dad had never been able to resist Peter’s purring and it said a lot that his attention immediately went from his precious coffee to his even more precious son.

Tony turned and gathered Peter in his arms and the omega melted right into his embrace.

As a male omega, Peter stood at a respectable 5’7 height, but in his daddy’s arms, he felt so small and precious. He rested his cheek on his dad’s chest, the firm muscle of his pecs a perfect cushion. Their eyes met and Peter’s purr grew louder which only made the fond smile on Tony’s face grow wider.

“Alright, Pete, what is it?” Tony laughed, hugging him tight. “You've ambushed me before my coffee and you're purring up a storm so you're up to something. Give your old man a break and out with it.”

Peter pouted but he let his purring taper off before it stopped completely.

“First off, you're not old, Dad,” Peter had to protest.

Yeah, his dad had some silvers and grays in his hair and beard, but he was far from old. He was still in the prime of his life as far as Peter was concerned.

“Mhmm.”

Tony wouldn't be so easily distracted so Peter adopted his best puppy eyes look. Wide round honey brown eyes and just the slightest downturn of his lips completed the pouty look.

“Ouch, pulling out the big guns,” his dad dramatically sighed.

“Dad… You know they put me in omega ed this year, right?” Peter started.

“Mhmm, I had to sign off on it 'cause you know how some parents get about that stuff,” Tony said then raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Do you want out or something?”

Peter paused but then shook his head.

“No, not really,” Peter decided, “I'm learning some stuff but it's…” How could he explain that it wasn't giving him what he wanted?

“Not what you expected, huh?” His dad hummed in understanding.

Peter instantly lit up, pleased that his father just understood him right off the bat.

“Yeah! I mean, I've tried asking questions but it always goes back to–” Here, Peter pitched his voice to a soft almost condescending tone, “This is not that type of class, Peter. I don't think your parents would appreciate it if I indulged in those kinds of questions, Peter. This class is just to help you get a better understanding of how your body works.”

Peter huffed by the end of his mini rant and immediately, his dad soothed him with a few strokes to his hair.

“Yeah, I get it,” His dad indulged him, “So what can I do, hmm? The classes that’ll scratch that itch in your brain are probably college courses. Psych classes if you're interested in the bonding aspect or maybe those general Alpha-Beta-Omega classes… We can look into some AP classes or some online classes…?”

Peter briefly thought about it but then shook his head.

“I don't think my interest is that deep,” he explained to his dad. “At least not yet? I just want… something more informative or uhh… something more real life than diagrams and stuff…”

Throughout the entire exchange, Tony maintained eye contact with him, probably to show he took Peter’s concerns seriously. Peter loved that about his dad but for the first time, the young omega hesitated. He didn't think it was weird for him to ask his dad but maybe it was weird in general?

They had a strong bond but surely, there were limits and lines between father and son that couldn't– shouldn't be crossed.

He's already gotten this far, though, and with his dad now alerted to a problem, Tony definitely wouldn't let it go unless Peter begged him to drop it.

But the thing is… Peter didn't want to drop the subject. This was his life, his future, and his understanding of what being an omega meant. He trusted that his dad would always have his best interest at heart, that he loved him no matter what and no matter what questions Peter asked.

There was no one he trusted more so Peter took the jump.

“I thought maybe… you can help me?”

There, it was out there in the open.

There was a moment of silence where Peter felt blood rush up to his cheeks and flush down his neck. This was probably the craziest thing he'd ask from his dad.

“You… want me to talk about my, uh, dating…. life…?” Tony asked, puzzled.

With that, Peter instantly relaxed but he did make a sour face at the question itself. He didn't want to know anything about the many alphas, betas, or omegas that had caught his father’s interest in the past. He didn't even try to parse the fact that it was other people getting intimate with his dad that bothered him, not the fact that it was his dad at all.

“Nooo thank you,” Peter denied very quickly. Rando strangers getting their grubby hands all over his amazing father? Gross.

“Not like I have much of one,” Tony sighed then ruffled Peter’s hair again, this time a little roughly, “Too busy with this little troublemaker here.”

Peter grabbed his dad’s wrist and set his teeth to the skin there in a playful bite. And like the good daddy he was, Tony pretended to be seriously injured.

“Oww, what a feral feisty omega I've raised,” Tony bemoaned as he tested the hold that Peter’s teeth on him.

Peter let go but still held onto his dad’s hand. The embarrassment had died down with their interaction. His dad always knew how to make Peter feel better.

“I don't wanna know about your past flings,” Peter told Tony seriously. “But I wanna know things about… alphas… And I've looked into some stuff but none of them were…” Just thinking about all the ridiculous porn he’d stumbled across in his research made him feel hot all over.

“...Credible…” Peter coughed.

His alpha gave him a look, no doubt realizing what his sources were.

“So what… you want like… tips?” Tony asked hesitatingly. “About alphas?”

“Maybe?” Peter answered, also a bit doubtful. He wasn't sure tips was the right word because he wanted something more than that. “...Would it be too much to like…”

Why was this so hard! Peter wanted nothing more than to bite his dad’s hand again, just so the words wouldn't come out. But he was a Stark and even though they were bonafide geniuses, they were also idiots with idiot planning at times.

Maybe he should've put more thought into this. His dad would never do anything to hurt him or make fun of him for his questions. The worst that could happen would be his father saying no and setting up some online learning and getting actual credible sources… But this was what Peter wanted.

He just wanted his emotional support alpha, who happened to be his dad, to hold his hand through all of it.

That was what he wanted. If he could have it. But first, he'd have to ask.

Peter firmed his resolve and then looked up from where he’d been staring at their clasped hands.

“I think I do want tips and… maybe some… hands-on experience…?” Peter tacked on the last bit, unsure of what his dad’s response would be.

Tony’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

“Oh,” was his dad’s response. The request was definitely a surprise, but it wasn't a no.

Peter looked at his dad, hopeful and uncertain. Terrified but excited.

Maybe… maybe…??

His daddy took in his puppy eyes and Peter could see the second he gave in.

“Ohh, boy,” his dad groaned, “you're so vicious, Pete. At least let me have my coffee before you throw something like this at your old man. I can't believe my baby boy would pop this question before I've even had a sip to wake up.”

That sounded like a yes! Well, not a definite yes, but Peter knew his dad and that was a yes for sure.

He pecked a kiss on Tony’s cheek, his face making some weird expression because he was trying not to smile.

Peter quickly retreated back to his OJ, leaving his father to his coffee. He did have a bounce in his step.

He watched eagerly as Tony poured way too much sugar into his coffee. He didn't even make a peep as his dad stirred for a bit before taking his first sip.

He waited patiently and when his dad finally looked at him, their eyes met over the rim of their cups. It felt like something seemed to sizzle between them, some irreversible change that Peter didn't understand.

“Alright,” his dad said once he'd gathered his thoughts. “So my baby boy wants his daddy to teach him about being an omega and what to expect from alphas. Is that it?”

Peter’s breath hitched as he saw the look in his father's eyes. Dark and calculating. The mood was entirely different now and Peter’s heart fluttered as anticipation took over.

“Y-yeah, I mean, yes, Daddy,” Peter tried to sound so confident like a strong omega who knows what he wanted but the words came out coquettish and shy.

That only made his dad hum thoughtfully.

“Alright, Pete,” Tony affirmed, “This… Whatever this is… You gotta be sure, kid, that this is what you want. I’ll always stop if you want me to or you decide to call it off– but some things you can't pretend never happened once you've done ‘em. If you know what I mean.”

Peter did know. Theoretically. Or at least he’d thought about it briefly. Even now, he was sure this was what he wanted.

“I'm sure,” Peter said with all the confidence of a teen who only had a tiny inkling of what he was getting into.

“Good,” his dad said and Peter sighed in relief at the acceptance. He smiled at his father, only for his breath to catch because…

For the very first time, the person looking at him wasn't his patient loving father, but an alpha assessing a potential omega.

Oh…

His dad was already starting without realizing it. With just that one look, Peter was already learning what it meant for an alpha to look at an omega like that. It made him feel… he wasn't sure what but he liked it.

His gaze dropped but then flirted back up. His dad smirked at him, knowingly, and Peter agonized over what that smirk meant. His dad always seemed to know what was on his mind, did he know what he was doing to his own son, even now?

Peter’s hands tightened on his drink, cheeks flushed like he'd been drinking wine instead of juice. Was this how omegas felt when alphas gave them attention…?

If so… Peter liked it. He liked it a lot.

The omega squirmed in his seat, surprised but excited by the indescribable look in his father's eyes.

He couldn't wait to learn what it meant.

[masked-tornado]

All about Allen Alagona

Overview:

Basics

Allen's backstory

Allen's personality

Allen's relationships

Allen's relationship with Deuce

Allen & blot

Allen's previous life

Allen's magic

Fun facts

OFFICIAL ALLEN X DEUCE POSTS:

1 // 2 // 3

1. Basics

Allen is a Ramshackle freshman who comes from another world (¾ Italian, ¼ Japanese) and "has no magic".

He's an aspiring illustrator and musician who doesn't seem to have success no matter how hard he tries. Whenever he attempted to gain attention on the internet before, all he ever received was ignorance and hate. Nowadays, he's too scared to try again.

2. Allen's backstory

Allen is an intersex boy and was born with lower testosterone levels as well as a mostly "female" outward anatomy.

Having suffered from a genetic anxiety disorder since his childhood, Allen was never really able to enjoy things. Once he got into school, he was mostly used for his good grades and ignored otherwise.

However, things got much worse when puberty started: Allen's body was feminine and muscular at the same time, and he towered over his classmates. His resting bitch face didn't help with people finding him intimidating and scary... and soon, he was not only ignored, but actively avoided and made fun of. He got pushed around, insulted, and told that "a freak like him" could never be loved. Nobody invited him to hang out, people pretended to have crushes on him in order to fool him, and all the "friends" he ever had badmouthed him behind his back.

Allen couldn't tell anyone about how hurt he was — boys weren't supposed to cry and act all whiny, and he would prove that he was indeed a boy by being all tough.

Trying to escape from the bullying at school, Allen put all of his feelings into art instead — a thing he was told he was "gifted" at — and started sharing it on social media. However, as he watched other artists blow up and build entire fanbases, absolutely nothing happened to him; he was either ignored or insulted for his art, seemingly never being good enough to earn compliments. Combined with the fact that Allen compared himself with other artists a lot, he slowly started losing confidence in the one thing he enjoyed and thought he was skilled at.

That wasn't the only thing Allen "wasn't good enough" for. As he got older, the topics at school progressively got harder, and the model student started struggling with them a little. His grades dropped from As to As and Bs, and that was somehow already enough for his teachers to blame him. "What's wrong?", "I expected better from you" and "stop slacking" were just some of the things Allen had to hear from them. He began studying even more in an attempt to satisfy them and prove his worth to himself, but nothing seemed to work out, and instead, it all led to Allen having a burnout.

At this point, Allen started believing that he was possessed. How could one single person have so much bad luck and be hated this much solely for trying to live his life...?

...and why was he even trying when he was never good enough for anyone anyway?

It was then that Allen decided to give up on everything. His grades never satisfied his teachers no matter how well he did, so why should he work for them at all? His gentle personality was never appreciated, so why should he be kind? Fights hurt him, so why shouldn't he fight back?

Allen slowly became a delinquent. He started skipping class almost every day, finally dared to cuss, and got into lots of verbal fights with the people who formerly bullied him. Those who already feared Allen before were now absolutely terrified of him, and soon, rumors about an actual possession started spreading.

The headmaster couldn't stand watching the process of one of her most valuable honor students turning into a delinquent and eventually kicked Allen out of school for his shenanigans.

Allen knew he wouldn't attend a school ever again due to what it had done to his health, but at the same time, he was in desperate need of that graduation if he ever wanted to have a proper job. He tried to blackmail the headmaster into giving him his graduation by threatening to expose the school for how they covered bullying and even allowed teachers to be bullies, but ultimately, Allen got nothing out of it.

He had nothing but his parents now. He had no friends, no confidence, no future. He was likely possessed, doomed by the universe.

Allen lost the sparkle in his eye; he wanted nothing more than to disappear. But the thought of his parents' grief forced him to stay alive. Every day was torture and reminded Allen of how much of a failure he was, and he progressively grew angrier...

...until he started imagining himself in music videos every time he listened to songs.

That was when Allen had an idea. He couldn't be violent, so why not channel all of his hatred and wrath into lyrics and make his own music? This time, he wouldn't post anything online in a long time, instead taking things slow.

Things slowly got a little better — Allen was able to start a hormone therapy, dyed his hair, changed his overall appearance, disassociated himself from his old self, and learned to control his anger through writing and other methods he figured out for himself. However, the emptiness, anxiety and hopelessness remained, and Allen was stuck with depression.

Just the day when Allen wanted to finally buy a software to produce music with, he woke up in a coffin in a strange world...

3. Allen's personality

Allen is widely known to be friendly, lowkey, mature, calm and helpful. People admire him for his good looks and determination, and some even consider him to be perfect due to the fact that he is additionally "good at everything". He also avoids fights and more heated discussions and instead serves as a mediator most of the time, earning him a fair amount of respect at NRC.

Allen has an easy time getting along with people and, while he rarely engages in deep conversations, generally enjoys talking and spending time with others, even if he's not close to them.

The truth: this is a mask.

Allen is an extremely flawed person but skilled at hiding it. He doesn't do anything he's bad at in public, only voices reasonable opinions, uses white lies in order to not accidentally hurt people, and hides all of his mental struggles as much as possible.

Not only does the real Allen envy everyone who is in some way more successful or "better" at something than him, but he has also developed a superiority complex to cope with his insecurities. He even feels this way towards some of his friends, yet doesn't dare to speak up on it out of fear of ending up all alone again.

The real Allen writes aggressive songs, has violent thoughts, and hates himself with a burning passion. His trauma and insecurities always get the better of him, and Allen still believes that he's ugly, worthless and not deserving of love despite being one of the most popular people at NRC.

The real Allen also doesn't care about the problems of people and gets impatient extremely quickly (Deuce is an exception — Allen cares about him a lot and is patient with him — as well as other people who have genuinely earned Allen's trust). His primary motivation for helping with bigger issues around the school is to draw attention to himself and finally receive praise.

Allen's biggest fear is to be lonely, abandoned and ignored, which is why he does his best to hide all of his flaws and true opinions on people — he doesn't want to risk being disliked now that he's finally appreciated somewhere.

The only person who knows the real Allen (and who he is 100% honest to) is Deuce, who doesn't judge him at all and instead understands him.

4. Allen's relationships

5. Allen's relationship with Deuce

Ever since day one, they've been best friends who always know what the other is thinking/feeling and do almost everything together.

Having the same experiences in a mirrored way, Allen and Deuce are able to understand each other better than anyone else could and naturally help each other because of it. Allen is able to assist Deuce with studying while making sure that he doesn't overwork himself and provides him with healthy outlets for his delinquent tendencies, which helps Deuce mature and grow calmer. Instead of trying to change Deuce, Allen helps him see the good in his flaws and use them to Deuce's advantage while fully supporting his goals and making sure that Deuce doesn't lose himself. Deuce, on the other hand, simply loves and admires Allen the way he is, which helps Allen slowly accept himself more. Being around someone who's so similar to himself and genuinely supports, understands and adores him also manages to fill the void in Allen's heart at least a bit.

Due to Allen's tough vibes, determined personality, intelligence and pretty appearance, Deuce fell for him extremely quickly (it was basically love at first sight for him). Allen fell for Deuce during book 4 when he realized just how much he missed the boy. After hesitating with a confession for a long time due to how it could possibly affect their friendship, Allen and Deuce eventually start dating some time after book 7.

Before I go on an eternal ramble about these two, here are some posts from my Deuce x Allen blog explaining their relationship further:

How they help each other

Why I ship them

Relationship timeline

Facts about them

6. Allen & blot

Allen feels his body get weaker and is somewhat out of touch with it in Twisted Wonderland. At first, he isn't aware of what the reason might be, but things resolve themselves... in the worst way possible.

During every breakdown occuring after these symptoms, a part of Allen's body changes. At first, he merely cries black tears, but then his hair turns another color, followed by another body part every time... until Allen is fully convinced that his demon is slowly taking over.

These occurrences are, in fact, mini overblots building up to Allen's first proper overblot, in which he assumes the form of a demon prince with fire-based magic and massive claws.

Due to his overall physical and mental weakness as well as the fact that he's not from Twisted Wonderland, blot affects Allen extremely easily and in a different way than with mages.

But why can he accumulate blot if he's not a mage himself? Well...

7. Allen's previous life

Unbeknownst to everyone, Allen is the reincarnation of Asterope, an infamous mage from Twisted Wonderland.

Asterope was an exceptional mage said to have been blessed who had weather-based powers but couldn't fully control them due to his impulsive personality. As a result, he accidentally slaughtered a village through a tornado in a fit of rage caused by being excluded and bullied, and became a wanted criminal as a result. He ran away, assumed the identity of "Alan" and joined the Silver Owls, only to be caught when he found out about his sole friend's death and accidentally caused another tornado. Asterope then got executed, and to this day, he's known as nothing but a villain.

Nobody is aware that Allen is Asterope's reincarnation and supposed to fix his legacy until Allen dies after being stabbed during a friend's overblot. A storm is raging outside the school during the entirety of Allen being in a critical state and eventually dying. While his body is already dead, Allen's mind intensely relives the moments from both his current life and the one he had as Asterope. Ironically, his strong blot accumulation and Asterope's desire for wanting his legacy to be fixed through his "successor" eventually bring Allen back to life, leaving him with mere permanent tattoos... and the ability to use magic.

Shortly before Allen awakens, Asterope speaks through him, talking about his legacy. Later on, Allen and his friends do their best to figure out what exactly happened.

8. Allen's magic

Allen has fairly little control over his everyday magic due to both his mood swings and the fact that he's entirely new to this kind of thing. However, he is eager to learn and improve so he can hopefully reach an average skill level.

On the other hand, Allen's Unique Magic is incredibly powerful and can only be countered by the strongest of mages when they're concentrated. "The Calm Before the Storm" traps a being in a tornado that drains them of all their physical and mental energy, often causing the person in question to pass out. It can be used on living creatures from all worlds.

Fun fact: Allen discovers his Unique Magic before he can use normal magic at all.

9. Fun facts

Allen is three days older than Ace.

Allen is good with animals and children.

Allen's natural hair color is black.

Allen is considered to be one of the prettiest people at NRC, but isn't aware of this.

Allen collects plushies and Deuce gifts them to him regularly.

Allen loves Shiba Inus.

Allen likes motorcycles and blastcycles.

Allen is an only child.

Allen loves his parents but is distant from the rest of his family.

Allen has photographic memory.

Allen eats instant noodles a lot.

Allen can't cook, but is willing to learn how to cook egg dishes for Deuce.

Allen doesn't have a lot of stamina.

Allen has problems falling asleep.

Allen is generally bad at sports, but can run fastly and dance very well. He does, however, suck at ballroom dance.

Allen is often called a twink, and he's very curvy for a skinny guy.

Allen has long eyelashes.

Allen received chest surgery during book 5 and now has scars.

Allen prefers coffee over tea.

Allen dislikes pastries.

[pocket-deer-boy]

at a certain point, someone's bigotry towards trans people becomes some kind of science denialism where they have to pretend trans people aren't real for their idea of the world to work. like, have a gander at this infographic

Beyond having no idea who the target audience of this infographic is (this reads as a bit too toony and colorful for the more serious sex ed tone of high school biology classes but is far too textually dense and visually noisy and cluttered for younger kids, so really it just feels like it's made or adults to pass around and nod along to work that tells them exactly what they already believe) It's also full of blatant medical misinformation, and states facts in a way that feels completely angry and bitter towards anyone who believes anything else. Like, no, transphobic lion gender infographic. Men CAN lectate even without any hormonal treatments or being trans. I've seen it personally.

It's also interesting to me how it explains sexuality (among other things) as being these incredibly rigid and inflexible categories. Like oh really, asexuals can't have sex? We can't go into nuances of sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure and social expectations to perform sex. Like if you're ace and you did sex and weren't enthusiastic about it and never tried it again i guess you're not ace. The harry potter houses model of sexuality: you are one thing, you fit into this one thing, it prescribes how you're supposed to act instead of using it to describe how you actually exist.

This rigidity also becomes obvious when it talks about intersex people as being these exceptions to the rule that don't have to be counted for how gender and sexuality works. And of course, we have to force intersex people into these binary categories instead of, you know, letting them decide for themselves? And of course it ignores any kind of intersex person with any kind of features that can't be written off as an anomaly and an aberration from the norm. Here we start doing science denialism. Here we start pretending certain people's body features aren't worth discussing for the sake of public knowledge. They're only worth bringing up as anomalies, and not as like, people.

I can't fucking get over how jarring the whole image is actually. Like, the really cheerful cartoon furry lions next to this piece of text prescribing the rigidity of existence. Yeah baby, I love being a strong cool lion boy, I love being told everything I'm not allowed to do or be for the sanctity of my gender!

yeah roar!!!

Here's a little section i wanna do more of a deep dive on

Women have two eggs?? what??? the egg-shapd things in the uterus are not the eggs!!!!! what the fuck are you talking about

This particular part stands out to me. Like, obviously the purpose of this infographic is not to tell you how bodies work, but to insist that there's a correct and an incorrect way for bodies to work, and that people outside of what it describes do not exist. It's obvious because it won't even show you what a uterus, what a vagina, or what boobs usually look like, like any decent diagram whose purpose is science education would. It's obvious because it straight up lies to you about how periods work, and tells you that having a period is somehow intrinsically tied to being a woman.

Like, no. Obviously. Trans can men experience menstruation at any point in transition, and trans women can experience other common parts of periods if they've been on hrt for long enough. Periods are not some kind of woman exclusive thing, it's not purely reliant on having a uterus or having certain hormones. It's not gender dependent. It depends on multiple features of one's body. It's a very basic fact of transition, hormones change how your biology works no matter what features you have. To imply none of this is true is denying very very basic facts about how a lot of people's bodies work, simply based on some insistence that those people aren't real and if we simply look away we can all pretend trans women aren't real. It's digging your head in the sand, it's having lived looking at the shadows on the wall your whole life, being told something new, and going right back into your cave and angrily shouting at everyone that the shadows are real, the shadows are ALL that is real, and though I may have glimpsed things that lie outside of it, those things aren't real because I personally can safely ignore facts about how the world works and go about my day.

[fatmasc]

Just saw your post dunking on "how to look androgynous" skinny people posts. I love it and I fully agree, but I'm wondering then if you have any tips on how to be fat and androgynous?

(id in alt) okay. so. i feel the need to preface this w the fact that by white western standards i generally am considered androgynous, partially thanks to the fact that I'm intersex. I have "passed" as a cis man, trans man, cis woman, and trans woman before. Things that work for me may not work for you. Things that give me gender euphoria may not have that result for you. This is what I have to offer:

is there a fat actor, singer, model, comedian, instagram influencer, etc that you like? someone who looks the way you want to, has fashion you love, or shares your body type? take fashion inspo from them. huge sources of inspiration for me are: jack black, harvey guillen, and lou wilson.

whats a part of your body you want to accentuate? i love my height and my broad shoulders, so i like platform shoes and boxy cuts of shirts and jackets

is there a fashion style you love? it can be hard to find fat people within those styles online, but they exist. I am active in goth, punk, and metal music subcultures, so i look towards those fashions.

what does androgyny mean to you? to me, it means accessing my femininity through my masculinity. i put a fem spin on my masc outfits. i put a fem spin on my masc mannerisms. i learn to love femininity through my masculinity. androgyny is a social construct, because its based in gender. androgyny to you may mean something completely different than it does to me. hell, even i have different meanings of it when im in jewish spaces vs secular/goyische spaces. ask yourself what you really mean by androgyny, and that will more easily lead you to the fashion youre trying to access

as for where to find good fat fashion inspo, it's fucking hard. sometimes you have to create your own. dedicating some time to finding people on social media and curating your pinterest algorithm (<- hell sentence) will help, and make it easier for you to find in the future. even just browsing plus size sections of online retailers can be helpful for me, because i can see plus size models in lots of different clothes and think of how to style them. its a process!

hope this helps, and I welcome any additional advice that is not of the "hide your body, androgyny is looking mostly masc" flavor

[intersex-support]

would you consider a microperforate hymen intersex, every argument i have seen about it has come across very dsd-adjacent language (so tired this ask might not make sense)

Hi anon!

So standard disclaimer that I am not the authority on who counts as intersex. I'm happy to share my opinions and explain what I think, but there are probably people out there with different opinions than me and that's okay. Part of this is also going to be about your perspective and how you view your own experiences.

When I think about the definition of intersex, the three main parts of the definition of intersex are:

a variation in chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, genitals, or hormones

This variation of sex traits lies outside of what is typically considered "male" or "female", and is impacted by intersex oppression/compulsory dyadism.

This variation of sex traits is lifelong, either present from birth or develops later in life, and is not caused as the side effect to a medication or by another temporary cause.

Intersex is a social/political identity that developed as an umbrella term to allow for people with similar experiences to connect and organize together because of the way that society categorized and treated our different variations. It's not a static definition with clear boundaries--it's a definition that shifts depending on context, new discoveries, and different societal dynamics. (if people are familiar with disability theory/models of disability, i think about it pretty similarly to those discussions about the definitions of disability.) It's an expanding definition that looks to be inclusive, so my definition of "who counts as intersex" is a LOT broader than most doctors. At the same time, it's also clear that not everyone is intersex--obviously most people are perisex, and at some point there has to be a line. Where it gets complicated is that that perisex/dyadic people also have a lot of variation in sex characteristics as well as various hormonal and reproductive disabilities. It's not like every perisex person has identical bodies and sex traits, and it's clear that there are some cases where reproductive health conditions can cause it to feel more borderline.

There are a lot of examples of variations in sex traits that do not meet the definition of intersex. Here are some examples:

people have all different penis sizes.

people have different amounts of body hair.

people have different levels of hormones even within the "typical" range.

people have different breast sizes.

some people are circumcised while others are uncircumcised.

There are also lots of examples of hormonal and reproductive diagnoses that are not intersex variations, even though they impact things like internal reproductive organs or hormones. Here are some examples:

diabetes is a hormonal condition, but insulin isn't a sex hormone and it doesn't impact sex traits.

Endometriosis impacts periods, uterine tissue, etc, but doesn't cause a variation of sex traits outside of the sex binary in a way that's impacted by interphobia.

Menopause causes hormonal changes, but those are not intersex, because those are considered a "typical" change within the sex binary.

Infertility is caused by lots of different diagnoses and impacts reproductive function, but doesn't cause a variation of sex traits outside of the sex binary in a way that is impacted by interphobia.

Some people with these kind of hormonal or reproductive diagnoses might have some overlapping experiences with intersex people that can be a really beautiful example of solidarity. People with diabetes also have to go to endocrinologists, and we might have similar complaints with endocrinology and our rights as patients. People with endometriosis might share tips with intersex people about how to deal with our painful and atypical periods. Intersex people might also be infertile, and we might be able to provide each other meaningful support in that way. I know some people with certain diagnoses that describe their diagnoses as "intersex adjacent" because of the amount of experiences that are similar, even if they don't face the same type of intersex oppression and don't identify as intersex.

So, how does microperforate hymen fit into all of this? To me, it seems like microperforate hymen more closely fits into the category of general reproductive health conditions, rather than an intersex variation. When we look at the three parts of the intersex definition, microperforate hymen is congenital and is a variation in genitalia, but it isn't a variation in genitalia that lies outside the sex binary and that is impacted by intersex oppression. That doesn't mean that you can't face challenges, that you can't face difficulties with doctors, society, ableism, judgement, etc. It just means that it seems like microperforate hymen is more understood as a reproductive variation that still is considered within the "typical" range of non intersex experiences.

With all that being said, I still think that if there are intersex resources that make you feel seen or provide you with the kind of support that's helpful for you, you should absolutely still feel free to access those resources and participate. I know several people with "intersex adjacent" diagnoses that sometimes participate in intersex spaces, we share resources with each other, and just overall have some really beautiful solidarity. I absolutely don't want to invalidate your experience or make you feel like you're wrong for wondering this, because I think there's nothing wrong with wondering what counts as intersex or seeking for support and community with intersex community.

The way I think about defining intersex is really shaped by my understanding of intersex as a community term that allows us to connect with each other and organize with each other, and also allows us to identify the particular ways that we are made vulnerable and oppressed. This can be really vital, especially for a community that is forcibly isolated in so many ways and who has been so often denied the ability to build an identity at all, when we're just told that we have to use DSD terminology and can't live as intersex.

I think that if the current sex binary wasn't so strict, if intersex oppression wasn't so violent, if we got to a point in society where we had abolished the sex binary, if there was more education, if there was actual intersex liberation--the line between intersex and perisex would continue to blur and maybe even disappear altogether. There would just be an understanding that literally everyone has a certain degree of variation in our sex characteristics, and that the sex binary and "biological sex" is a myth. But we don't live in that world yet, and there is still a society based on the sex binary that tries to eradicate the group of people who fall outside of that. So intersex still exists as a coherent and useful term for that group of people.

It's really important to me that we talk about and use the term "intersex" in an inclusive and expansive way that embraces self diagnosis, understands there are unlabeled intersex variations, doesn't just go off medical lists of "DSDs" and leaves room for people to self identify as intersex. If someone tells me that they are intersex, I will never interrogate them, ask them to prove it, or challenge them about it, even if they have a variation that other people generally categorize as another type of hormonal/reproductive disability rather than as intersex.

I hope my thoughts on this make sense. Other intersex people, feel free to add on your perspectives--my way of thinking about it is only one perspective! And anon, please still feel free to come to this blog with other questions or if you need resources, regardless of how you identify, we're here for you.

[familyabolisher]

We often frame the medicalization of intersex children, as Preves puts it, as based in an “impetus to control intersexual ‘deviance’ [that] stems from cultural tendencies towards gender binarism, homophobia, and fear of difference.” Yet the clinical history of the Harriet Lane Home leads to a different argument. Wilkins’s labored attempts to reconcile electrolyte metabolism and its sexual version through the technologies of hormones, salt, and patient charts describe a scenario where “control” is at most a perpetually deferred horizon, not an outcome. Cortisone therapy is more consonant with Repo’s argument that “the hermaphroditic subject was a subject of biopolitical potentiality: a subject who, through the surgical alteration of genitals, could be psychologically managed into a different-sex desiring subject and hence become a subject useful for the reproduction of social order.” Cortisone therapy was meant to address the young child’s plasticity in a normalizing sense, to remedy the adrenals at the same time that it feminized the body, recalibrating development along a binary trajectory. However, in its salt-losing version, incredibly virulent embodied plasticity constantly interfered with the isolation of “sex” as a distinct “part” of the body, frustrating the metonymic slide from life-threatening medical conditions to arbitrary binary models of human phenotype and genitals. This inability to isolate sex was a dramatic incarnation of the epistemological crisis of sex that plasticity had generated over the first half of the twentieth century, and it manifested specifically on the endocrine ward as a radical metabolic openness to the environment. As Wilkins so often found, diet and stress in the clinical setting often overrode the action of cortisone in the midst of treatment, throwing resonance off without advance warning. […] The reason that Wilkins was willing to cling to binary sex in cases of salt-losing CAH, I argue, even when that could put the life of the patient at risk, is that the binary imperative was a racialized phenotype. The crucial detail was scrupulously recorded by Wilkins in a 1952 article he published in Pediatrics: each of the patients upon whom he experimented to produce the protocol for salt-losing CAH was “a white female” or “a white infant.” That whiteness names an investment in a racial normativity that had previously been articulated as eugenic stock during Young’s surgical paradigm. As the transition to the postwar era heralded the end of an explicitly eugenic language of race improvement and extermination in the life sciences, the eugenic preoccupations that had typified endocrinology during the interwar period rhetorically faded. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that the eugenic techniques underwriting modern endocrinology similarly ended in the 1950s. On the contrary, the experimental use of cortisone illustrates continuity in practice. Wilkins aimed to resolve a metabolic condition that would simultaneously normalize the growth rate, metabolism, and sex of the body, directing it toward a binary phenotype that was merged with the resolution of the salt-losing crisis. The whiteness of these children was so valuable as a racial formation that it allowed Wilkins to justify putting children’s lives at risk to achieve a binary sex as humane practice, presaging Morland’s argument about Money.

Jules Gill-Peterson, Histories of the Transgender Child

[ipso-faculty]

Proposing/requesting some new intersex terminology

In my talking and thinking about intersex and intersex studies, I've found a desire to put names some of the concepts and groups of people that are out there. Here's what I've come up with, and would like feedback. 💛

Alternate language for medical/identity models

Intermedicalist: referring to a person or ideas which support the pathologization of intersex. Alternate language for what Costello (2016) refers to as the medical/disorder model of intersex. Intended as a parallel with transmedicalist.

Interliberationist: an intersex person who supports intersex liberation, in contrast to intermedicalism. Alternate language for what Costello (2016) refers to the identity framework of intersex; the view of intersex as a social identity, and intersex people in need of liberation from pathologization and presumptions about sex/gender norms.

Language for how intersex people relate to gender

Extergender. An intersex person who is not intergender, i.e. their gender does not feel affected by being intersex.

Language for how intersex people do or do not relate to queerness

Interqueer: an intersex person who sees their intersexness as being queer 🌈

Ipsoqueer: an intersex person whose queerness comes solely from being intersex; they are heterosexual, cis/ipsogender, etc. A subtype of interqueer.

Ulterqueer: an intersex person who understands their intersexness as queer and is also queer in other ways (sexual orientation, gender identity, etc). A subtype of interqueer.

Interseparate: an intersex person who rejects the idea that being intersex makes them queer. Opposite of interqueer.

Interconforming an intersex person who disidentifies with queerness on all axes (they are hetero, cis/ipsogender, etc). A subtype of interseparate.

Internormative: an intersex person who rejects that being intersex makes them queer, but they are queer in other ways. A subtype of interseparate. Chosen as parallel to homonormativity and transnormativity.

In terms of feedback: these are all concepts I want names for, but other than intermedicalist & interliberationist I feel pretty tentative/uncertain about what I've come up with. If you have ideas for improvements please let me know! 🤗

I'm a little worried that ipsoqueer and ulterqueer would lead to confusion with ipsogender and ultergender but also couldn't think of anything better!

EDITS: - 2023-11-27: changed "interstraight" to "interseparate", TY to anon who suggested the change. 🏳️‍⚧️

[erose-this-name]

Paganism held a lot more social roles than monotheism ever can.

The priesthoods of each God's cults often acted as like-minded communities for certain Queer/neurodivergent people.

Transfem? Joining the all eunuch priesthood of Cybele was a great excuse to rid yourself of testosterone and wear makeup and woman's clothing.

Gay? No one cares, that's not a sin in most pagan religions, it's not even taboo. But, you'll never beat Apollo's record of tragic ex-boyfriends or be more of a twink than Dionysus. No one can out-gay the gods! Pagan myth has a lot of good roll models actually, did you know that myth-accurate Loki is a gender fluid shape shifter and has gotten pregnant multiple times??? He's not really "evil", either, just a lovable scamp who accidentally and causes Ragnarok in a horrible prank gone wrong

Lesbian / asexual? Become a Vestel virgin, now it's literally illegal for men to have sex with you! (Sadly not as easy to be openly lesbian back then as gay, but Sappho pulled it off)

Butch? Join the cult of Artemis, it has the same perk as previous except you can also go hunting and "act the bear" and shit. (I'd imagine these convents of "virgin" women probably had a lot of secret yuri going on)

Intersex? Um, you are literally the physical embodiment of Hermaphroditus and are sacred and also probably magic.

Schizophrenic? Those aren't 'hallucinations', you've been blessed by Apollo with the ability to see the future and talk to dead people! People will pay you to tell them whatever and they'll just believe it and get closure!

Autistic? Hyperfixate on mythology and/or history, being a walking encyclopedia is actually extremely useful for being a storyteller / oral historian.

Don't like civilization? Join the cult of Pan, god of wildness and nature, all his shrines are out in the middle of the woods somewhere.

Just wanna fuckin' get really drunk and high? The cult of Dionysus throws the best parties, talk to them.

You don't need to justify any of these alternative lifestyles to allo cis hetero neurotypicals if you can just threaten divine retribution if they try to fuck with you. (Granted, the fact you have to give up any other career options still sucks, but it's something. It still helps to normalize it.)

In a lot of cases, this benefited everyone because all these different cults were uniquely able to fulfill different social roles because they didn't have to suppress their diversity.

Nearly all of these kinds of communities and social roles are gone under Abrahamic faiths. Now neurodivergence and transness are fuckin' "demonic possessions". Being gay is sin. I guess if you want an excuse to not have sex you can still be a monk or a nun??

[identitty-dickruption]

I feel like tumblr's analysis of the social model of disability would be more coherent if the impairment–disability divide was more broadly understood so I'm going to do my best to briefly summarise that!

before I launch into this, I just want to make a few caveats:

the social model is not my preferred model of disability. I am way more into the political-relational model

I don't necessarily subscribe to the impairment–disability divide in full, and I have my own critiques of it

BUT nothing pains me more than seeing people critique a model I dislike whilst arguing that the model is saying something that it isn't actually saying. so here we go: the impairment–disability divide!

once upon a time, a feminist called Judith Butler (building on the work of Simone de Beauvoir) wrote a book claiming that "sex" and "gender" were separate categories, where sex is natural and gender is social (I, an intersex person, largely disagree with these definitions but that's a different story). she argued that, while the category of gender is usually based on the category of sex, separating the two categories from each other allows for more nuanced cultural analysis

in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a group of disability scholars in the UK read this work and thought that it could be roughly reworked in such a way that it could also apply to disability. HENCE the impairment–disability divide. to them, "impairment" refers to the natural state of having a disability (e.g. not being able to see/hear, not being able to walk, experiencing hallucinations, etc). "disability" refers to the social meanings given to those impairments (e.g. being Deaf)

this is the context that the social model was born into in 1983 by Mike Oliver. he never claimed that disability is 100% social in the way many people would conceive of "disability". he would not agree with claims that disabilities and impairments are completely socially constructed. instead, he was arguing that "disability" is only a coherent category because of various features of social and built environments. he thought that people wouldn't have as much of a need to identify as disabled if they were treated better by society

TLDR: the impairment–disability system breaks disability into two parts (the natural part and the social part). the social model of disability argues that having various impairments would be easier if society was more accessible and less discriminatory

[genderkoolaid]

do you mind if i ask what has provoked the thought u may be intersex? of course, do not share if it’s too personal, but i’m a little interested myself. if u don’t share, maybe instead could you show me the resources you looked at to question your possible intersex identity????

I'm not gonna go super deep into everything but essentially: I've always had issues with vaginal penetration, even before T, and I never really thought too much about it (I don't have dysphoria around my vagina, I just didn't care & didn't think it was a big deal). But looking into intersex stuff in order to educate myself, I started thinking more about how uh. vaginal sex isn't supposed to hurt at all. But I looked into the normal reasons why it does and none of them fit my experience, which I realized had been around my whole life. I went to a gyno (who was luckily very nice and trans-affirming) and she told me that while there was a little atrophy from T, the pain was due to congenital differences & suggested dilation.

There's a few cool blogs about intersexuality on tumblr who talked about social models of being intersex, with much more radical attitude than you see from doctors, which is really what helped me. InterACT defines it as "an umbrella term for differences in sex traits or reproductive anatomy." While I do want to get more shit checked out (esp. now going back on E, since I have never tracked my periods regularity before), I realized that I could relate to the experiences of people with an Official Diagnosis who were accepted as intersex.