Sex, Violence And Transgression - Essay Example

Running Head: SEX, VIOLENCE AND TRANSGRESSION Sex, Violence and Transgression Question 3 Name Institution Date Question 3 Introduction An understanding of complications of relationships among the young people in their social interactions and sexuality is becoming limited in the today life. Perceptions about sexual force differ depending on their gender. There are some individuals whose gender seems to be unclear thus they are entitled to genital surgeries while they are infants or children so as to fit in a defined gender; whether male or female. Others may have their genders identified to be either male or female but there are not comfortable with their appearance or some conditions of their organs thus they decide to have cosmetic genital surgery especially when they are adults with the intention of enhancing self-esteem and sexual pleasure. The study below considers some of the risks which results from Intersex Genital Mutilation and Cosmetic Genital Surgery. Intersex Genital Surgery and Cosmetic Genital Surgery It is becoming common for the individual hormones, chromosomes internal sex structures and external genitalia to be different from the ordinary male-female mold. Thus according to the medical records in US approximately in every 100 children 17 are born outside the ordinary dimorphic and are referred to be intersexual. Since the mid-20th Century the intersex doctors promoted surgeries done on the young children with noticeably intersexed genitalia before they grow up to become mature men and women. This is done to avoid the confusion of the individuals about their identities and enhancement of the long term psychological well-being of the concerns. Both the Code of Nuremberg and the other basic principles of the human rights prohibits all the activities which subjects children and infants to permanent, involuntary genital surgeries which are medically unnecessary. The first and the main principle in Nuremberg Code give the victim/subject the right of informed consent. That is the individual should have an idea of what is being done to them and be given a chance to make decision (Donnan & Magowan, 2009). These surgeries have been carried out for a long period of time with various modifications of the techniques applied and some of the medical practitioners assume that they are standard they are still not yet proved to be genuine and involving difficult decisions since they are irreversible and are no evidence of their success in the achievement of the intended purposes. It is important to have voluntary consent of the individuals; the individual should have legal abilities to give consent or free power to make choices especially on the things which are meant to cause permanent changes in their lives. This is without the intervention of any external forces like those of his parents, peers or the society. Unlike the clitoral surgeries which are done on the grown up children, the intersex genital surgeries are done on the infants and young children who are powerless in the efforts to oppose any decision made by the parents or other adults. This is done with the intention of enhancing psychological well-being of the young ones when they grow up. It is very difficult for the parents to bring up children who are intersex because of the societal stigmatization from the mythical roots; these children are not accepted by the members of either of the genders since their biological features differ. The parents only have it as the only option to have their parents operated to have their genders identified. However there is no evidence of the psychological comfort after the operation. The prohibition of the involuntary medical intervention and the requirement of the informed consent are very absolute because the set code governs the research to determine the best medical therapy (Ahrens, 2005). The Nuremberg Code bans these involuntary surgical processes because they are found to be unnecessary to alleviate any psychological or physical pain or dysfunction. There are no medical records showing the benefits of these processes but instead there are increasing concerns of the medical practitioners over the efficacy and ethics of the practices in the field. There are also no outcome studies for the support of the intended psychological benefits to the child or enhancement of the well-being of the child. The practice is found to be causing psychological torture to the adults who were subjected to these practices when they were young as they come forward to report cases of physical or psychological harm. The most common cases relates to urological problems, loss of sexual sensation and functioning, scarring and a number of emotional trauma among the others. Sometimes these individuals are not comfortable in the genders that their parents and the other adults chooses for them when their personalities develops but they have no option to choose where they fit since the operation is irreversible. It is therefore found to be doing against the basic child’s human rights for a parent or any adult to approve to unnecessary genital surgery with the intentions of dictating or defining the gender of the individual child or just conforming to the cultural notions or for the purposes of ordinary genital appearance. This principle was enacted during the struggle to fight Female Genital Mutilation when various authorities concerning the human rights and organizations came up to advocate that involuntary surgeries performed on female children without considering their opinions is related with violating human rights to bodily integrity, personal dignity and autonomy. The practice of Female Genital Mutilation is condemned by medical bodies like, World Medical Association, UNICEF, and World Health Organization among the others. The reason for the strong campaigns against this is because the practice is done on the young children who do not have consent but simply comply with what is dictated by the adults or parents yet they are the ones to suffer the complications (Worell, 2001, p.297). Recently there are increasing controversies among the medical intersex specialists due to the campaign that the children should be let to grow enough to be in a position to make such decisions on their own. The child should be left to choose whether to have surgery or not depending on how they perceive their situations in comparison to what they want to be. This is because there no medical based reasons for the reduction of the clitoris so long as they serve the purpose. There are also no genuine reasons for the deepening or creation of a vagina to force the child to fit in the female gender. The surgery is irreversible thus the child cannot get back to what she wants incase she or he is not comfortable with the decision made over him. The surgery can also result to complications such as physical harm like chronic illnesses, chronic irritation, or others like reduction of sexual sensation as well psychological harm. All surgeries are subjected to the risks of infections or bleeding which can result to the need of repair. Because the surgery of gender reassignment is permanent hence there is need to think well before making decision concerning them (Edge, 2002). Cosmetic genital surgery concerns reshaping the vulva, labia or penis; female genital reshaping is done to change the shape or size of the inner labia or lips of the vulva and the penis enlargement surgery is done to increase the width and length of the penis. This is done for the purpose of psychological well-being of the individuals who do not appreciate the appearance of some of their organs thus their confidence is boosted. Women are at risks of these operations although according to the report of from various medical facilities more women are coming up for these surgeries as a result of being troubled by the shape and appearance of their organs especially the vulva. Other common cosmetic surgeries include: breast implants, facelifts, nose reconstruction and breast reduction. These are done to improve the appearance of the individuals thus they look more beautiful and proportional in their visible organisms. Many of the women today want to keep fit by maintaining good figure, size and shape of their bodies. According to the report of the Reproductive Health Matters the increasing number of the surgeries performed specifically on women. Some of these operations are seen to similar to the Female Genital Mutilation and assumed to cause similar consequences. Many of the health practitioners highly discourage the practice of cosmetic surgery although they bring in a lot of money to the facilities. They argue that these operations have no mutual benefits to the concern hence are just wastage of facilities and enough. This is because almost 90% of the women are not comfortable with their appearance and thinks that by changing it to what they want makes them look better (Nancy, 2008). Most of the women cite lifestyle as the key reason for the decision to have the surgery done on their organs. This includes the inability to wear tight clothes which are considered to be in fashion, not able to ride bicycles comfortably or lack of freedom to have some sexual practices due to the fear of what their partners or friends will say. They are forced to have their organs operated to have an ordinary appearance to avoid the stigmatization of the society. Most of the young people think that the normal vulvas or clitoris must be flat without any protrusion going beyond the labia majora even when their services are normal. They bring to the medical services some images of the sizes and shapes of the organs which the society assumes to be normal. These are compared to the images shown in the advertisements and pornography materials published through the media. The more these materials are released to the public the increased the number of the people coming up to have their organs reshaped. This is a reflection of the societal definition of normal or a misunderstanding of normal and idealized (Harper, 2007). The beauty concepts are also factors contributing to the increased demand of the surgeries because the individuals compare their appearance with those of the ones chosen to be beautiful. The societies assume that those who win the beauty concepts are slim and have bodies which are well shaped. This is forcing the individuals to reduce their weights and have the sizes of their organs reduced like nose reconstruction, facelifts and breast reduction. Initially the media played a great role of helping the individuals deal with the feelings of insecurity caused by failure of appreciating their appearance but recently they have failed the responsibility instead are creating a situation whereby the individuals have no confidence in themselves. Possible complications Both the irreversible genital surgeries on children and infants who are intersex and the cosmetic genital surgeries just like the any other surgery have some degree of risks. The surgical risks of excess bleeding or infection, the operations are done to the outpatients. This means that the patients or the subjects of the surgeries are expected to nurse their own wounds while at home. Mishandling of the open wounds in the genital areas mostly end up getting infections especially if they come in contact with the microorganisms. The scars resulting from the cuttings may be severe, raised and itchy thus resulting to more problems than if they were not interfered with. Unevenness or the labia may not be symmetrical after the operation or the permanent color change of the labia after it is operated. Asymmetrical labia or the one which changes the ordinary color is also termed to be abnormal and this may result to much psychological torture if an individual causes makes a decision which ends up in complications which may cause social stigmatization. The operation can cause damage to the nerves around the labia which causes the sexual sensation, this result to loss of sensation hence the individual ends up interfering with her reproduction system. The operations to shape or adjust the size of penis also have some complications related with impotence or the inability to maintain an erection; this is because of the transfer of the fat deposit (Sullivan, 2001). The surgery may also cause the death of the tissues along the wound or the skin cut thus not able to support the adjustment of the sizes or loss their sensitivity. This may end up in the need for further operation to treat the complications. Other common factors include bruising and swelling of the areas which have been operated and possible numbness if the sensitive parts are cut off and dead cells left on the surface. Sometimes pain and discomfort is experienced in the process of healing the wounds and even on the scar. These are the physical complications but there are also psychological harms resulting from the operations. The changes are permanent hence one has to live with even when not appreciating it. Most of the children who are subjected to genital surgeries without their conscious do not appreciate it when they grow up thus they develop some psychological complications and always blame those responsible (Sytsma, 2006, p. 80). Conclusion Sex Violence and transgression are represented by many activities taking place in today’s society. Irreversible genital surgeries on the infants and young children whose sex is considered to be indefinite and cosmetic genital surgeries are some of the common examples of the practices which concerning sex and violence. Lack of confidence and personal appreciation especially because of the social norms forces the individuals to think of a decision to change their appearance. The operations ends up in unbearable complications, for instance, excess bleeding, chronic illness or scars which may be severe. Sometimes the subjects or the patients are aware of the possible consequences but they choose to undergo the surgery so as overcome the societal stigmatization by identifying themselves with a certain gender cord or developing confidence in the appearance. Reference list Donnan, H. & Magowan, F. (2009). Transgressive sex: subversion and control in erotic encounters. New York: Berghahn Books. Ahrens, R. (2005). Violence and transgression in world minority literatures. California: Winter books. Worell, J. Encyclopedia of women and gender: sex similarities and differences and the impact of society on gender: Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender. (1) 2: 2001, p. 297. Edge, P. (2002). Legal responses to religious difference. New York: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Nancy, E. (2008). The reproductive rights reader: law, medicine, and the construction of motherhood. New York: NYU Press. Harper, C. (2007). Intersex. New York: Berg Publishers. Sullivan, D. (2001). Cosmetic surgery: the cutting edge of commercial medicine in America. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. Sytsma, S. Ethics and intersex: Volume 29 of International library of ethics, law, and the new medicine. (29)3, 2006: p. 80. Read More