Thursday, July 1, 2010

Hormones to Stop Lesbianism? Really?

Is this what we're doing?

New is currently working on an experimental hormone that is thought to prevent lesbianism and put a stop to females that have “abnormal” masculine tendencies, such as disinterest in babies, childrearing, and girl’s toys, or “masculine” career preferences.

Conducting research with a drug called dexamethasone, New is studying its effects on the disease Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). CAH is a condition that, among other side affects, causes masculinized, androgynous genitals in females due to excess amounts of prenatal androgens—a generic word for naturally occurring hormones.

New, along with psychologist Heino F.L. Meyer-Bahlburg of Columbia University, believe that the prenatal antigens that cause CAH are connected to sexual orientation, and even gender identity.
In a paper entitled “What Causes Low Rates of Child-Bearing in Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia?” Meyer-Bahlburg writes that “CAH women as a group have a lower interest than controls in getting married and performing the traditional child-care/housewife role. As children, they show an unusually low interest in engaging in maternal play with baby dolls, and their interest in caring for infants, the frequency of daydreams or fantasies of pregnancy and motherhood, or the expressed wish of experiencing pregnancy and having children of their own appear to be relatively low in all age groups.”
The researchers’ 2008 paper hypothesizes about the correlation between prenatal antigens ratios and sexual orientation in women with CAH. They write, “That this [correlation] may apply also to sexual orientation in at least a subgroup of women is suggested by the fact that earlier research has repeatedly shown that about one-third of homosexual women have (modestly) increased levels of androgens.” Concluding “that the findings support a sexual-differentiation perspective involving prenatal androgens on the development of sexual orientation.”
New is currently administering the experimental dexamethasone parentally as a solution to the excess hormones caused by CAH without the approval of a medical ethics committee. There is little clinical data about the drug’s long-term affects or potential risks to the children administered the drug. New, and associates, however, hope to cure the masculine affects of CAH, creating women who conform to the heteronormative gender binary.
There is no evidence to suggest that New is using the drug directly to cure lesbianism; but if the drug is released onto the market, doctors have the ability to prescribe it for condition they deem adequate.

I'm not buying this one...

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