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Deirtear gur ‘beatha teanga í a labhairt’. Bhíos ag smaoineamh ar an gcumhacht atá i bhfocail. Cás casta é cás na hidirgnéasacha. Seo thread beag le smaointí ar na bhfocail a usáidtear chun labhairt faoi #idirgnéas #Intersex @IntersexMap @IrelandIntersex 1/9
Ar an gcead dul síos tá an bhfocail #idirgnéas . We have the same situation with #intersex - these words literally mean between the sexes and imply that a person is neither male nor female but somewhere in between. 2/9
An older (and no longer used as it is offensive) word is #hermaphrodite. Ovid tells the myth of Hermaphroditus (son of Hermes and Aphrodite) who fell in love with a nymph Salmacis and begged the gods that they never be parted. 3/9
The Greek gods with their wry sense of humour literally fused their two bodies into one and they became Hermaphroditus. Obviously using this word suggests that #Intersex is a myth and not a natural biological variation, hence it’s offensive. 4/9
In 2006 a new description emerged #DisordersOfSexDevelopment (DSD). The problem is it implies there is something wrong or disordered about #Intersex that needs to be fixed. 5/9
In response some people suggest that #DifferencesOfSexDevelopment or #DivergencesOfSexDevelopment would be preferable. 6/9
Other people have argued in favour of #VariationsOfSexDevelopment. 7/9
Because words have power, different people prefer different words to describe themselves. So I guess we should echo back the words people use for themselves. #EveryBodyIsEqual #IntersexRightsAreHumanRights #NoBodyIsShameful 9/9
