The not-so-distant future of gender...

[battybattybats]

I've been pondering the possibilities of the future lately and some things occured to me.

Firstly, social change can be swift. Considering how far the gay and lesbian acceptance has grown just over the last 20 years, it could well be that a similar swift improvement could be possible for us, if we act to get it.

Secondly I was thinking about the current researches into regenerative medicine and 3d organ printing (growing replacement tissue and forming new organs using grown tissue in a 3d version of an inkjet printer for those who've not heard of it) and I suddenly realised that in a decade or three SRS as we know it could change drastically!

Thirdly I thought, what would the ramifications be were the broader gender spectrum being accepted in society to coincide with these new technologies?

Will there be SRS for people who would want to be hermaphrodites? Gaining new parts without losing the old ones? How large a proportion of our community might take up that option?

What about the possibility of artificial wombs or male pregnancy?

What else could be a plausable reality on the cutting edge of gender exploration in the century to come?

[ToyGirl]

From what ive seen governments dont especially want pre-ops running around , everyone needs to fit in a box, In australia the correct procedure is no hormones till your approved by a major gender clinic , 2 years later in the program you will have srs with there assigned surgeon. They make it difficult to get hormones without being accepted to have SRS.

I dont mind a binary gender society though.

[cd_lisaplaything]

According to Dr. Karl Kruzelniski on his regular Thursday morning spot on Triple J radio here in Australia, it is possible [theoretically] to fiddle with the DNA to get the body to grow any organs, or even limbs, without the need for surgery. The only thing is, we don't know enough about DNA yet to be able to do it, but he reckons with the way stem-cell research is going, it should become a reality in about 20-30yrs or so.

Bring on that stem-cell research!

Here's a link to triple j, just scroll down to "Programs" and click on REAL or WM, then go to 24min 20sec into the program to hear his answer to a transexual caller's question. It will only be online till next Thursday, May 24 [Sydney time- GMT+10hrs]. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/listen/default.htm


PS. ...and I HATE getting logged out in the time it takes to go find a page on the www and type in a reply to a post linking to said page...grrr!!!

[battybattybats]

Is there a transcfript for that? I can't really strain the download limit at the moment.

[cd_lisaplaything]

I don't know, you could try phoning triple j and asking them for a transcript to be emailed to you. It may or may not happen, but it's worth a try. Or you could hit Dr. Karl's guestbook when your download limit isn't an issue and say you missed the show that day...