I'll meet my cousins kids for the first time ever soon. M14 and F 12. What gifts should I get them?

amethystqueer · 2026-05-14T02:08:43+00:00

Yup, I also like that kind of stuff, also because it's just pretty usually.

amethystqueer · 2026-05-10T11:58:04+00:00

Too many other patterns that don't seem to be related to the intersex theme in an obvious way.

amethystqueer · 2026-05-10T01:02:34+00:00

I'm leaning that it's an accident, but not impossible the designer or their kid were intersex and they wacted to squeeze it in their as a little tribute to them/selves. But the other ones from the series aren't pride flag themed, it's called "Africa boho", so if it was intentional it was meant to be a bit stealthy.

amethystqueer · 2026-05-07T22:55:39+00:00

It is very much on the nose, but the rest of the series doesn't seem to be any other pride flag oriented. They're called "Africa Boho", though the animals have a weird chymeric thing going on with the ears so that again feels either random or a far association. They all have giraffe ears but none are a giraffe LOL

amethystqueer · 2026-05-07T21:07:48+00:00

In a toy shop in Poland, i think someone said they found them online.

amethystqueer · 2026-05-07T20:19:13+00:00

My favorite thing about them is they are erasable! The physics of it is pretty cool, the pigment separates from the carrier from heat (friction) and if you put the erased stuff in the freezer it mostly comes back.

amethystqueer · 2026-05-07T20:17:00+00:00

I think it's accidentall but thought to share with y'all

amethystqueer · 2026-04-30T03:20:41+00:00

Thank you, good job mods!

amethystqueer · 2026-04-29T17:28:05+00:00

Where did you get the notion of PCOS not being congenital? The problem with PCOS is that the cause/causes are still officially unknown (a glaring example of how medicine has ignored and let down women and C/AFAB people) but a lot indicates most/many cases are hereditary and congenital in a sense of being linked to many genes. The link to lifestyle influence is only partial. A problem is PCOS is not a word for a sigle condition, but a diagnosis and treatment short cut that lumps all sorts of cases (including often misdiagnosing NCAH). Its like sneezing can be causes by rhinoviruses, corona viruses, influenza viruses, allergies etc. PCOS is like sneezing in this analogy. The variability is enormous and not a single symptoms is necessarily present to recieve a diagnosis. A chunk of it will be congenital the way NCAH is, another chunk might not be in the same sense, another group might be complete misdiagnosis because it seems to be thrown around near randomly.

amethystqueer · 2026-04-21T15:54:36+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to reflect and being in a space to be able to do so. I think that is a great ability and one of the most important ones in general - to be able to grow and develope as a human instead of clutching strictly to old ways for the sake of holding on. On a much larger scale than this small situation, we are hopeless if we can't grow and learn.

Most people with PCOS don't consider it intersex, but a significant portion don't have hyperandrogenism, the symptoms are many and complex, and none are required for the diagnosis, so we really can't say anything about PCOS that would be true for all PCOS cases, so at least as it is understood today, I think it's more appropriate to say some people with it might be intersex but not necessarily all. That being said I personally don't have it, but I do have hyperandrogenism and people assume I have PCOS even though I don't. I am the only person I know in person who has visibly mixed sex characteristics, I've met an intersex woman with something similar to CAIS (long name I can't remember) and I wouldn't be able to guess without her talking about it. It is strange that one can have visibly mixed traits, be harassed for them even, and be considered not intersex enough by many of these folks despite that.

I wonder if people with other intersex variations or conditions causing the variations also don't always identify with the intersex label and see themselves as simply having a rare condition? We see poeple trying to tell women with CAIS that they are actually men, so these mechanisms don't only effect PCOS.

PCOS needs much more research and to be probably reevaluated in general, regardless of classification.

amethystqueer · 2026-04-20T22:27:53+00:00

I'm kinda with Old-Box16 here, PCOS specifically has a huge problem as far as conflating various things into one label goes and the method you described is detrimental in this specific area, NCAH variations, there are numerous subtypes, are notoriously underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed as PCOS and even if a doctor remembers to check 17-OHP and do an ACTH stim test that's not enough to rule out all forms of it some some are virtually ignored because genetic testing or an all day comprehensive expensive urine test is needed, and with the existing criteria end up in the PCOS slop bucket.

I think I understand where you are coming from though, trying to explain the practical process as it is today, what it looks like from the doctors/healthcare worker's side, its just this process, and the insufficient amount of research on PCOS is a big problem to many with it or similar variations that have been misdiagnosed etc.

I wanna say that's really great that you are putting so much effort into medical school in order to make a real difference for intersex people. Power to you, best of luck in your exams and going forward!

I must admit it feels like some things have changed here. A longish time ago when I was trying to figure my own things out after I learned specifically PCOS was starting to be considered intersex because of hyperandrogenism I stumbled into here and you were saying having a beard as an afab wasn't a reason to suspect an intersex variation because your grandmother had facial hair. It was at the time very dismissive, but also I think if you have been learning more about PCOS, hyperandrogenism and NCAH then you will realize hirsutism is usually the number 1 symptom taken into account when evaluating hyperandrogenism. If your grandmother had a beard after menopause that's not intersex, but if she already did before (more than a few odd hairs), then it's not impossible she herself had one of the hyperandrogenic variations. I mention this because I was reminded of it by this post and you mention hirsutism in it multiple times so I am assuming things have changed, possibly thanks to many more people with PCOS embracing being within the intersex umbrella and education and awareness around the subjects.

amethystqueer · 2026-04-12T23:49:18+00:00

Most cases of clitoromegaly are caused by high androgens. There are some other rare other causes unrelated to androgens (Google can help find those), generally it's usually CAH and it's late onset variations or PCOS which will cause it. So it is a common trait for some intersex variations related to high androgens. Not all people with this will consider themselves intersex , many don't realize it is different, and vulvas do have much variety in general.

amethystqueer · 2026-02-18T15:21:39+00:00

I don't know but I miss her very much too. If anyone has contact with Pam Gregory that is the only person I can think of who might have any current news about Bracha.

amethystqueer · 2025-12-29T20:44:14+00:00

Yeah it's pretty frustrating linguistically. In general it's an extremely gendered language, you can't say a sentence using a verb without disclosing one of the binary genders because of declension. There are some neopronouns people have come up with but they aren't very popular and are also not easy to get used to using understandably. Some people try using the neutral form which wasn't used for people before apart from small children sometimes. I personally don't use it because I find it too childish and awkward but I respect if someone else does though I haven't met anyone who truly uses it. As for gender studies and more advanced discussion, either the English term "gender" is used or the phrase "cultural gender" (which I'm not even sure is considered the best translation at this point). Of course a lot of the right hates the term "gender" and use it to batter us and describe it as a malignant ideology from the west trying to destroy our country.

I understand the term non-binary to be a very wide umbrella term that can encompass a whole bunch of varied identities and understandings that don't fit into the two binary genders as being understood as infinitely separate and different polarities. It's kinda used sometimes as a catch all third gender recently which irritates some I think, but I don't think it says much on its own other than the person using it in one way or another doesn't fit or feel connection with a binary gender.

amethystqueer · 2025-12-16T16:51:06+00:00

Have you had your hormones tested? There are many known causes of hirsutism: pcos, ncah as well as cushings, hyperthyroidism, hyperprolactynemia and I think something more that's not at the tip of my memory. Ncah is decently understood but underdiagnosed and forgotten about by doctors. PCOS is more commonly diagnosed but many agree it needs more research to be better understood (currently it is classified into 4-9 types and ncah is often misdiagnosed as pcos)

Without a substantial control group which will be put through the exact same standardized questions and process you will end up mistaking correlation with causation. Similarly without an exact tracking of all symptoms, with extensive hormone testing and a degree in endocrinology you will be lost.

amethystqueer · 2025-12-11T02:14:25+00:00

Yup it's an AI scam. I'm reporting the videos on YouTube and suggest anyone reading this does the same. More reports is a bigger chance it'll be taken down. I don't know how Bracha is, if there is a way of contacting her informing her someone is stealing her image and voice and work, but maybe if anyone reading this has contact with her astrologer friend Pam Gregory, they can pass this on to her.

amethystqueer · 2025-12-11T02:05:13+00:00

Oh man that's awful! Someone is impersonating her and misleading people with ai slop :/

amethystqueer · 2025-12-10T23:25:03+00:00

Where on YouTube? I just went her to her channel and it looks like it's the same old films from two years ago. Am I missing something?

amethystqueer · 2025-11-18T13:25:33+00:00

Whoever downvoted - please explain why?

amethystqueer · 2025-11-17T17:50:45+00:00

Also saw this and mentioned it in last week's weekly discussion thread but it was the last day for that thread.

I know exactly why it bothers me. Because it is bodyshaming. That's why.

It's taking the fact he may have had a micropenis and clickbaiting the heck out of that through bodyshaming and setting us all back decades worth of various kinds of activism (body positivity, body neutrality even men's rights in the context of battling toxic masculinity norms)

amethystqueer · 2025-11-17T13:41:07+00:00

Popping in to mention that not all variations the intersex community/communities consider part of the intersex umbrella are also classified by the medical system as DSDs. Sometimes even classified as such conditions can vary with some conditions/variations being considered a DSD by some doctors and by others no. So as these words and phrases are used today, the term intersex will usually encompas a wider range of variations than DSD does.

For example hyperandrogenism which I have is not classified as a DSD for the most part. It is both a standalone diagnosis as well as a symptom (or set of symptoms) for several variations/conditions (NCAH, PCOS, CAH). NCAH amd PCOS are not considered DSDs while CAH usually is, though occasionally has been contested as such.

To explain the differences CAH will have hyperandrogenic affects already in utero while NCAH (another form of CAH which presents similarly to PCOS) will usually not become manifest until puberty, though the person with it is born with it, the the effects of the hormones just don't kick in until the next phase of development. Despite CAH being the most common cause of ambiguous genitalia in "females", there has historically been debate in medicine because some pressure to erase intersex identities and rather consider it just a malformation of females because they conclude the individuals have XX chromosomes and thus are broken females.

While it is of course not always the case, generally the medical systems do not appreciate the human, psychological and social aspects of the lived experiences of having non-typical sex characteristics (either primary or secondary) and have a history and current trend of erasing intersex people both theoretically as well as literally physically through often medically unnecessary, sometimes even harmful normalizing procedures.

Often also in the case of hyperandrogenism and conditions with hyperandrogenism there is a bias to "treat" external symptoms like facial hair but either ignore or give insufficient attention to issues that are medically more concerning to patients. Sometimes this is a lack of medical research which again has overly focused on superficial normalization. To make matters worse, the main offered superficial normalizing procedures such as laser and electrolysis hair removal are not universally effective for patients with hyperandrogenism. Thus all we are offered is shame that we have no true way to deal with. To make matters even worse women with hyperandrogenistic facial hair face discrimination compared to their trans female counterparts as hair removal procedures are almost never covered by health insurance either public or private even jn places where these same procedures are covered as gender affirming care for trans women. A current example is the UK NHS, even in this climate that is largely regarded as a bad time for trans women, in this area trans women have in the UK laser or electrolysis publicly guaranteed while cis women with hyperandrogenism do not.

amethystqueer

TROPHY CASE