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I think Rosemary described the doco very well. Meanwhile, here's what I wrote to "Quantum" - not very polished I'm afraid - but have had no reply - ----- Original Message ----- From: Judy Singer <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Cc: Judy Singer <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2000 11:21 PM Subject: Disaility Rights Movt vs "Joella's Story " Dear Quantum programmers, I would like to raise your awareness on the disservice you have done intersex people by airing the program "Joella's Story". You may not be aware that there has been a long lasting political struggle between 2 models of disability. 1. A Medical Model often referred to by disabled people as the Medical "Tragedy" Model 2. A Rights Model/ the Social model of disability. The Medical Model asks "What is wrong with this individual that makes their life so difficult?" The Rights Model asks "What is wrong with society that makes life so difficult for this individual?". There are a growing number of people with disabilities who are saying, "Dont change us, change your attitudes to difference and human variability" Joella's Story pulls at some pretty heavy "Tragedy" strings, and we must ask, who benefits and who loses? The "We-need-more-Research" chorus obviously do well out of this kind of scare mongering. However, if 1 in 1000 people are born intersexed then they do not have a tragic disability, but a naturally occurring variance. The problem is not in these people but in our classificatory schema: And the knife should not be the first recourse. It would be simpler, cheaper and nicer to add an extra box to official forms: M/F/I Note that Joella herself, though only 9 years old, is clear that she doesnt want to change, that she wants to be accepted for who she is! Note that I am not against some of the surgery that Joella obviously had to have - only the hubris of those who believe they can see into her future and are confident of the rightness of "re-assigning" her gender when she doesnt want it. You may be interested to hear that there are some intersex adults who refused surgery and are happy with their choice. It's "who they are" - they shouldnt have to re-invent the same wheel that the gay movt discovered. You are in a responsible position when it comes to informing public opinion on the issue of disability and medical research. If you are going to present a balanced information service for your audience it is incumbent on you to educate yourselves on models of disability that are "Human Rights"-based in addition to those that are "Pure Science"-based Judy Singer %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%