A common argument used against intersex people (and, frankly, quite a lot of queer shades as well) is the idea that we're not "natural." People looove to call back to "nature" as this omnipotent good and no one should ever touch it. It's "natural" to have masculine men and feminine women. It's "natural" to be in monogamous heterosexual relationships. It's "natural" for some races to be superior to others.

I hopefully don't have to tell you why this whole argument is bogus magic talk used to enable all sorts of bigotry across the ages (this is a blog about being intersex and by extension a bit about queerness as a whole, but boy has the "it's natural!" argument been used a LOT for racism and justifying slavery.) So I'll just say this: first, my intersex body is as natural as can be- this is how I look like without any sort of hormones or procedures, which is like, the definition of natural. Second: nature is not inherently good you fucking idiot. Nature just throws shit at a wall and sees what sticks. It doesn't have a conscience. It doesn't have morals. The deer that overbreeds for lack of predation & consequently starves to death atfer eating all its food sources is no more virtuous than humans setting the planet on fire with fossile fuels. Nature is not good. Getting a cancer is "natural," and if you're the kind of person who genuinely thinks no treatment for illnesses should be given ever because it's not "natural," then I think you're a dumbass bitch and I refuse to engage with you any further.

When people use the word "natural," what they really mean is "normal." Intersex bodies aren't natural to them because they're not in the norm of sexes most people recognize. Yes, that norm is arbitrary and doesn't even have well-defined rules, but people looove their norms. So, intersex bodies are abnormal.

Plenty of people will argue back that the norm is wrong and it should be widened to include intersex people. Good on them. Personally however, I will ask something different: my body is abnormal. so what?

Yeah, most bodies aren't like mine. Yeah, norms don't account for me. So what? Why should I want to be in that norm? Why are my only two choices "changing to be in the norm" or "change the norm to include me"? Having blue eyes or blond hair isn't the norm in most countries either, and people don't see it as reason to run random science experiments on them.

The only thing this norm has ever done for me was try to burn my face off. You guys can keep it, if you love it so much. I, however, am abnormal, and I still demand to be respected as a person regardless.