Photo Essay by Emily Macias

Confidently Me

emaci029 — 2024-05-20 05:22:48 UTC

I like to imagine this is the child grown up and fully confident of who they are. They have embraced all aspects of being intersex. They decided to keep both reproductive systems and started exploring what it means to be both feminine and masculine. I tried to convey this by having both feminine and masculine features, but they all go together. I wanted to have them holding what looks like a penis to show that while on the outside they look like they are female, they possess both female and male reproductive parts even if you can't see it. I was inspired by the talk by Judith Butler called "Your Behavior Creates Your Gender" and how they showed that gender is a social construct designed by the way we act, speak, dress, etc.

The Weight Of A Decision

emaci029 — 2024-05-20 05:26:24 UTC

I imagine the person in the photo is older now and is faced with the decision of whether or not they want to remove their biologically male reproductive parts. I wanted to show how there are decisions to be made and how they can impact someone forever. If they choose to remove the testes, then they loose a part of them, but it can also make them "feel normal" and "fit in". It's literally a weight on their shoulders, and how knowing is not necessarily a burden but it does change the way they view the world. No matter what they choose though, it is one of peace and resiliency, as depicted by their body language and facial expressions.

It's All An Act

emaci029 — 2024-05-20 05:28:08 UTC

Growing up, sometimes it feels like you are the only person who is experiencing what you are going through. In this case, I wanted to convey how lonely it can feel finding out you are intersex, but not having anyone else around you who is the same. I also wanted to show how sometimes it means putting on a mask to feel like you fit in even though that might not be what you identify with exactly. The masks represent cisgender ideals, and how we are expected to choose one or the other from traditional societal views, even though the lines are blurred especially when the person has both biological reproductive systems.

The Choice Is Yours

emaci029 — 2024-05-20 05:28:56 UTC

In this photo, I wanted to show how as kids grow up they're able to make choices on their own without it hurting them. I was mainly inspired by the "This Girl Has Balls" TedTalk by Georgiann Davis, and how they were shocked to find out that they had their testes removed at a young age without their consent. In a way, this is an example of how if they were given the information to make their own choices, they could've been at peace and prevented residual long-term health problems. If you notice, the "child" is at peace making their decision, and they don't look scared. I like to imagine that they were given information about them being intersex in a child-friendly language so that they have the information they need and the support they should have and know that there is no right or wrong answer and they can change it in the future.

Lessons Learned

emaci029 — 2024-05-20 05:30:10 UTC

For this picture, I was inspired by the TedTalk given by Emily Quinn called " The Way We Think About Biological Sex Is Wrong". During the TedTalk, she mentioned how we like to label things and make sure that people fit into tiny little boxes so that it makes sense to us. They mention how chromosomes don't always fit what a person looks or identifies as, so in the end biological sex doesn't matter as much. I wanted to convey in the photo the innocence of being a child and not fully understanding the way that adults want things to be in order. For the kid, it makes perfect sense when playing "teacher", but for adults, if they were to try and explain the math on the whiteboard it would not make sense.