Hypospadias, the “Bathroom Panopticon,” and Men’s Psychological and Social Urinary Practices

Kerry, Stephen

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6931-5_12

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Even though some may not consider how people urinate a public concern, genitals and what people do with their genitals matter greatly in public spaces-in this case, public bathrooms, which are overwhelmingly sex-segregated (Halberstam 2005;Kerry 2014). The personal is indeed political and of public concern.…”

Section: Hypospadic "Failed" Masculinity and Boyhood Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, we must contend with the fact that the bathroom is also a political space where masculinity is literally competed for. Kerry (2014: 219) writes, "Fausto-Sterling [2000 notes that the medical profession determines an adequate phallus by arguing 'young boys should be able to pee standing up and thus … 'feel normal' during little-boy peeing contests.'" Medical professionals are aware of the political nature of urinating, given that they irreversibly modify boys with hypospadias so that they can compete in these sorts of literal "pissing contests" with other boys.…”

Section: Hypospadic "Failed" Masculinity and Boyhood Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resisting the Demand to Stand

Orr

2019

Boyhood Studies

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How sex-segregated bathrooms negatively impact trans, genderqueer, nonbinary, queer, and gender-nonconforming people has been extensively studied, yet few have considered how intersex people are subjected to bathroom violence. To begin broadening this conversation, I focus on the medical management of boys with the intersex variation hypospadias and demonstrate that anxieties around bathrooms extend beyond the bathroom walls-into surgical theatersand are not simply a trans or queer issue. Anxieties about bathrooms and hegemonic urinary masculine behavior inform the violent medical maltreatment of intersex boys with hypospadias; they are subjected to shaming, disabling, and invasive procedures in the hope they will reinforce compulsory dyadism and able-bodiedness, as well as exhibit hegemonic heteromasculine behaviors, namely standing to urinate. Because of discriminatory, gratuitous surgical interventions, the bathroom and urination become sites of pain and trauma for these boys. In turn, these boys' sense of masculine belonging are undermined or destroyed.When analyzing bathrooms as both a litmus test for biological sex and volatile sites of gender policing, the discrimination that trans, genderqueer, nonbinary, queer, and gender-nonconforming people face are understandably central (see Cavanagh 2010; Halberstam 2005; Swales 2018). These individuals are subjected to various forms of cissexist, homophobic, queerphobic, and heterosexist violence: physical, sexual, verbal, and state-sanctioned. This "bathroom problem" (Halberstam 2005: 20), however, extends beyond bathroom walls and is not simply a trans or queer issue. Anxieties about bathrooms and hegemonic urinary masculine behavior inform the violent medical maltreatment of intersex boys with hypospadias. 1 These boys' experiences of pathologization must be integrated into analyses of the bathroom problem. In this article, I therefore extend conversations about the bathroom beyond the realm of trans and queer studies and demonstrate Boyhood Studies 12, no. 2 (Winter 2019): 89-113

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Section: Hypospadic "Failed" Masculinity and Boyhood Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hypospadic "Failed" Masculinity and Boyhood Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%