OK, It’s Time to Talk Difference: The Stigma of Intersex with Sean Saifa Wall
08/13/23 • 55 min
Sean Saifa Wall (he/him/his) is a Black queer intersex activist and rising scholar. Born and raised in the Bronx, Saifa attended Williams College and has since lived and worked in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, he is a Marie Skolowdska-Curie fellow at the University of Huddersfield in England examining the erasure of intersex people from social policy in Ireland and England. As an activist, Saifa is committed to racial equity and a radical vision of bodily autonomy for people with intersex variations. He is co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project whose #EndIntersexSurgery campaign pressured Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to become the first children’s hospital in the United States to denounce and further investigate genital surgeries on Intersex infants. Above all else, Saifa is determined to end harmful and invasive genital surgery on intersex children and advocate for affirming healthcare for all people with intersex variations.
About this episode:
Sean Saifa Wall was diagnosed with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome, subjected to a gonadectomy at age 13, and necessitating lifelong hormone replacement therapy. As a teenager, Sean Saifa Wall was told that he was to live as a “girl”, however, conformity wasn’t something Saifa or his mother would allow. Now a thirty-year old man, Saifa explains the devastating surgeries performed on babies and young people to medically assign and “correct” people born with an intersex variation. With global recognition as an Intersex activist, Saifa explains why different bodies are beautiful bodies, how we can safely hold the conversations that matter, and why stigma needs to end with “assuming gender”.
In this episode, Ally and Saifa discuss:
- Understanding intersex physically, emotionally, mentally and societally?
- Breaking down body parts and the differences we know
- Is it OK to ask about a person’s genitalia?
- What is social etiquette when your body doesn’t have a drop-down menu?
- Tackling the taboo about bodies: fixed, broken, or perfect?
- Talking pronouns and how they’ve evolved
You can find Saifa on Instagram @saifaemerges @intersexjusticproject
If you love this episode, please share and leave a review — let’s smoke out stigma and make truth-telling the next biggest trend!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sean Saifa Wall (he/him/his) is a Black queer intersex activist and rising scholar. Born and raised in the Bronx, Saifa attended Williams College and has since lived and worked in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, he is a Marie Skolowdska-Curie fellow at the University of Huddersfield in England examining the erasure of intersex people from social policy in Ireland and England. As an activist, Saifa is committed to racial equity and a radical vision of bodily autonomy for people with intersex variations. He is co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project whose #EndIntersexSurgery campaign pressured Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to become the first children’s hospital in the United States to denounce and further investigate genital surgeries on Intersex infants. Above all else, Saifa is determined to end harmful and invasive genital surgery on intersex children and advocate for affirming healthcare for all people with intersex variations.
About this episode:
Sean Saifa Wall was diagnosed with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome, subjected to a gonadectomy at age 13, and necessitating lifelong hormone replacement therapy. As a teenager, Sean Saifa Wall was told that he was to live as a “girl”, however, conformity wasn’t something Saifa or his mother would allow. Now a thirty-year old man, Saifa explains the devastating surgeries performed on babies and young people to medically assign and “correct” people born with an intersex variation. With global recognition as an Intersex activist, Saifa explains why different bodies are beautiful bodies, how we can safely hold the conversations that matter, and why stigma needs to end with “assuming gender”.
In this episode, Ally and Saifa discuss:
- Understanding intersex physically, emotionally, mentally and societally?
- Breaking down body parts and the differences we know
- Is it OK to ask about a person’s genitalia?
- What is social etiquette when your body doesn’t have a drop-down menu?
- Tackling the taboo about bodies: fixed, broken, or perfect?
- Talking pronouns and how they’ve evolved
You can find Saifa on Instagram @saifaemerges @intersexjusticproject
If you love this episode, please share and leave a review — let’s smoke out stigma and make truth-telling the next biggest trend!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
Have We Got the Sex Industry All Wrong?: The Stigma of Sex Work with Amanda Goff
Amanda Goff is a bestselling author, journalist, and former escort under the alter ego name of Samantha X. Amanda started her career as a tabloid journalist in her hometown of London before moving to Sydney in 2000, where she worked in TV and magazines. Then at 37, after two kids and separation, Amanda completely changed her life.
After walking out of her nine-to-five job. Amanda became Australia’s most high-profile escort Samantha X. Since then, Amanda has written two best-selling books and was the focus of constant media attention, gaining fans and critics worldwide. Deciding to leave the escort business, Amanda now lives life unapologetically, despite facing global judgement and stigma. Now, Amanda continues to inspire women to lead the life they want without explanation. And most of all, Amanda encourages vulnerability, so that all people can be their unique and original stigma-free selves.
Description:
Amanda Goff was once Australia’s highest paid escort. Talking about the sex industry can be societally jarring. Those who opt for a career “selling sex” are often frowned upon, but why? In this episode, Amanda Goff shares the sides of the industry we rarely understand, how the sex industry is more intimate than we've been led to believe, and why as a society, we need to start talking about sex and shame.
Topics:
In this episode, Ally and Amanda discuss:
- How society views the sex work industry
- The art of sexual disconnection
- Is being an escort just about sex?
- The relationship between sex and shame
- Debunking the myths around selling sex for money
Follow:
You can find Amanda on Instagram @amandagoffofficial, via her website www.amandagoff.com.au and her podcast Xposed with Samantha X
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
We Marry As a Community But Divorce Alone: The Stigma of Divorce with Nikki Parkinson
Nikki Parkinson is a separation strategist, family law expert, mother of three, and unmarried. Once upon a time, Nikki spent her 9-5 working in the corporate world of Family Law, ticking boxes and filing court orders. Then her marriage ended, and she found herself standing in the shoes of her clients — anxious, alone and lost despite all of her experience. She's lived through the difficulties of separation — both her own and her clients. Now, her goal is to take the fear-factor out of divorce and separation, reduce the shame, start important conversations around the practicalities of ending a relationship and take the mess out of messy.
Description:
After a decade working in the Family Law System — and experiencing her own divorce from the father of her daughter – she saw a gap in the system: divorce no longer has a stigma, but we are telling women to ‘be brave and seize the day’ without the holistic support they need to have an empowered separation. In this informed and heartfelt episode, Nikki shares what she has learnt from supporting women through divorce and separation, how stigma continues to riddle two broken hearts, and why single shaming (even from your dearest Nan) can be replaced with “Congratulations on your divorce!”
Topics:
In this episode, Ally and Nikki discuss:
- How we marry as a community but divorce alone
- Why marriage isn’t a failure but proof of love, lessons, and learnings
- Divorcing and dinner parties, and why divorcees are mistaken as a threat between main course and dessert
- The damage of divorce and why couples feel the shame of an ending
- The ways and days to healthy separation, away from the courts
- Single-shaming and what “not” to say to a happy singleton!
Follow:
You can find Nikki on Instagram @thedivorcehub, via her website www.divorceandseparationhub.com and The Divorce and Separation Podcast.
If you love this episode, please share and leave a review — let’s smoke out stigma and make truth-telling the next biggest trend!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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