[ExI] Beowulf

[spike]

> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Stathis Papaioannou
> Subject: Re: [ExI] Beowulf
> 
> On 22/11/2007, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> 
> > What if a person is born ambiguously gendered in those societies?  ...
> > So complicated is this.
> 
> It is complicated. See the following article about transgendered people in
> Iran:
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4115535.stm

> ...41 years ago, Ayatollah
> Khomeini wrote about new medical issues like transsexuality...

>... Doesn't excuse the Ayatolla's other faults, of course, but it just
> goes to show that you shouldn't make assumptions about a demonised
> enemy... Stathis Papaioannou


Stathis, the article you cited (if it is cited on the internet, perhaps the
verb is sited) partially anticipates a question: at what point in the gender
reassignment surgery does the patient lose her driver's license?

>From the article:  

"...Surgeons have already removed Mahyar's testicles. After the operation,
her older brother locked her up for a week and wouldn't let her use the
telephone..."

What if the patient is reassigned from female to male?  At what point does
he become eligible to drive?  What if the patient retains both the breasts
and a penis?  Is the requirement to drive based on having the latter or not
having the former?  Is the Saudi Arabian DMV worried than breasts interfere
with the proper operation of the steering wheel?  Or do they propose that
the penis is actually used in guiding the vehicle?  How?  

Mahyar's brother locked her up and wouldn't allow her to use the telephone
after her testicles were removed.  Are we to assume that Mahyar's brother
uses his testicles to dial the phone?  Sounds painful.

spike