Honestly, I never gave the word “queer” a lot of thought. Primarily, because I don’t have anyone in my life who would fall under the LGBT umbrella. I have heard the word many times but always felt it was wrong to use it myself. Even after watching the video I still feel like it is wrong to use. Before watching the video, I didn’t know that the word “queer” actually has different meanings. The one I found particularly interesting was using the word “queer” to refer to something that is literally the opposite of straight. At that point, I realized how the word evolved from that to using it to describe someone who is “gay” and so on. I wasn’t aware that historically the meaning of the word “queer” could even be used to describe someone who is drunk. It is fascinating to see how much power a single word can hold. The variety of meanings and connotations we attach to words makes it even more difficult when using it in a conversation. I could be having a conversation with someone and say something is queer, meaning strange, and that person could find it offensive that I am using the word because they attach a different meaning to it. The extent of the use of the word queer was certainly unknown to me. How can a word hold so much negative power in a community? How can that word be reclaimed by that community by turning it into something positive? Even though the word was reclaimed by the LGBT community, there are still people who use it negatively, as an insult. Unfortunately, the only way I have ever known the word “queer” to be used is when referring to someone who is not straight. I find this unfortunate because I have also made the mistake of attaching a negative connotation to the word without knowing how many other meanings the word has. I have never used the word to describe anyone before, but I have heard plenty of people doing that.
I have to admit that before the readings on “intersex” I was not very educated on the matter. When reading the word “intersex” I immediately assumed it was referring to what I have always know to be a “hermaphrodite.” I was not aware that people with an intersex anatomy do not always physically show it at birth. I was shocked to see that there are people who isn’t found to have an intersex anatomy until they die of old age and are autopsied. What’s even more shocking is that someone could go their whole lives without anyone, not even themselves, knowing that they have an intersex anatomy. I have always believed that those with an intersex anatomy had to eventually, especially early in their lives, find out about it. Intersex isn’t used to categorize a specific variation of sexual anatomy; it is actually socially constructed and can be used to describe many variations of sexual anatomy. It has to be one of the most difficult choices to decide the fate of your child’s gender. In that moment, you turn to those who you believe are the most capable of helping you, like doctors. Unfortunately, as you can see in the story of David Reimer, sometimes that decision, even with the help of someone you trust to know the right thing to do, could have fatal implications. I had always believed that if you have a child with an intersex anatomy it was always the best choice to take action and raise the child with a specific gender. Now that I know it could have serious and fatal consequences I realize that a child can be perfectly healthy, both physically and psychologically, and live a normal life with an intersex anatomy. After watching several videos about David Reimer’s life I decided I wanted to read about others who went through something similar. I was saddened by all the stories about people who were forced to live as one gender but identified as another. The one that got to me the most was the story of Max Beck. When he was born, the doctors couldn’t tell what he was. His parents decided to raise him as a female. He was raised as Judy, but eventually identified himself and transitioned to male as Max Beck. Max wrote an article in which he tells his story, “What was I? The doctors and surgeons assured me I was a girl, that I just wasn't yet "finished." I don't think they gave a thought to what that statement would mean to me and my developing gender identity, my developing sense of self. The doctors who told me I was an "unfinished girl" were so focused on the lie—so invested in selling me "girl"—that I doubt they ever considered the effect a word like "unfinished" would have on me.” (Max Beck, 2001). David and Max should be used as examples to parents who face the tough choice of having to decide their child’s fate. They have to know it is okay to let their child be who they are without making that choice for them.
Beck, M. (2001, October 30). My Life as an Intersexual. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/intersexual-life.html
