5 věcí, co neříkat intersex lidem – a vlastně nikomu

5 things not to say to intersex people – or to anyone else

Intersex people are not talked about very often, which is one of the reasons why myths and prejudices about them arise. When an intersex person meets someone and introduces themselves to them, they may encounter inappropriate questions and comments. So what should we not say to intersex people? And not at all! In fact, these things should not be said to anyone at all... 5-things-not-to-do-with-intersex-people


1. What do you have between your legs?

Asking strangers about their genitals is generally rude, and asking this question of intersex people is no exception.

It should not even be accepted that in the past, people with so-called strange bodies (which includes the intersex population) were exhibited in various parades or circus performances for the purpose of entertaining others, without respect for the performers. The bodies of intersex people belong to the intersex people and it is up to them whether they allow anyone to touch them.

This also relates to the issue of intimacy. It's good to discuss in advance what is pleasant for us and what we don't want, but we must not forget that the bodies, including the genitals, of no two people in the world (including those who are cisgender and endosex) are the same.

2. Hermaphrodite

We've probably come across this word in biology or science classes, and so we can be convinced that it can also be used to refer to intersex people. Although some intersex people use it for themselves , in the past the medical community used this word against them, not to mention the fact that not every intersex person has a penis and a vagina, so it's better to avoid this term unless we ourselves are intersex and we're not talking about ourselves. There are even people who don't use the term hermaphrodite even for animals and refer to them as intersex.

3. So you're non-binary?

Although there are many people who are both intersex and non-binary, not every intersex person is non-binary. Conversely, not every non-binary person is intersex.

Furthermore, non-binary and intersex identity are two completely different things: while non-binary refers to a gender identity that does not fit neatly into either male or female gender, intersex identity refers to a variation of gender.

4. Intersexuality

Just as sex and gender are different, so are sex and sexuality. Intersex identity has nothing to do with sexual orientation, and the intersex population includes people of all sexual orientations.

5. There are only two genders. Intersex people are just an aberration.

In such a case, we could also declare that there are no redheads, who also make up about one percent of the population , or Czech women, who make up even less percentages on the globe... However, the truth is that the division into specific sexual categories is a so-called social construct, i.e. something created solely by society, not nature. Of course, this does not mean that chromosomes or sexual organs do not exist, only that if we have one category for people with ovaries and XX chromosomes, another for people with testicles and XY chromosomes, and the last one for everyone else, this is a division created by man: in the same way, we could have one category for people with two sex chromosomes and another for people with three.

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