>>This quote says only that gender *is* constructed, which I have not
>>disputed. It does not address my question, which is why social
>>institutions would want to hide the fact of that construction.
Kathryn Aegis responds:
>a gender-bending individual, in revealing the constructed nature of
>gender to others around them, will provoke enforcement reactions from
>those fully conditioned into the norms and rules of any social
>institution that intersects with the social institution of gender.
In the coming years, we will witness innovations in our current fields,
social institutions and otherwise, which are not only central to sex
changes and gender differentiation, but also satellite disciplines.
Today, in order to have a surgical sex change, an individual must have two
favorable psychological tests. This testing is comprised on one licensed
psychiatrist and a certified psychologist or sex therapist or another
psychiatrist. (The second such testing is the choice of the patient.) The
well-known "Harry Benjamin International Gender Criteria" test is used as a
standard.
Regardless of the lagging personal views of social structures, they will
have to leap ahead because the cross-over of sex and genders isn't going to
stop. It will only become even more complex. Thus, new fields will develop
and many of them will be sponsored, headed, financed and supported by the
communities who need their expertise and good common sense. The gay
community has become quite recognized and powerful in many segments of
society. It is not longer considered a handicap, but a voice of individualism.
Just as the gay community scientists, psychologists and innovative thinkers
will soars ahead in designing regulations for aiding its own community, it
will also become even more authenticated in making reasonable decisions
about the perplexities of sex changes. Also, the more we virtualize
genders, the more switching over, and back and forth, emotionally and
sexually, will become a party of culture.
Natasha Vita More [fka Nancie Clark] - natasha@extropic-art.com
"Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best
light."
Jennie Jerome Churchill
More Art Studio - http://www.extropic-art.com
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