Sunday, December 18, 2005

Sex change operations

Screwed the studying for the psycho test and saw a Bharka Dutt interview of three (actually two and a half) ex-men on NDTV. Recognised only Bobby Darling, although there were two more ex-men who looked thoroughly like they were born with identicat chromosomes. Bobby Darling was strictly not suitable for the program as he is just a cross dresser as of now, although he has plans for a sex change operations. His firther plans include going abroad and pole dancing.
The concensus as of now is to look on them as cranks and to crack a few probably chauvinistic gender jokes and skirt the issue. About acceptance, as long as I don't see the difference, I will accept them.
My mother on the other hand, is totally against it. She believes them to be misguided. Gender reassignment surgeries, as they are known for those with politically correct intentions are here to stay. The moot point here, is really not if gender reassignment surgery will be accepted - people have little choice, there will always be the marginalised, and a movement by the marginalised - Peasants, Dalits, Blacks, Women, the phenomenon is universal - and they have always been accepted - instead, the point is what kind of surgeries will be available in the future, and if research in such surgeries should be controlled.
Excellent opportunity for a Dr. Something type story, but imagine if people would want to graft in extra brain cells onto themselves, extra limbs, BOTH genders. And then the trend moves on morphing abilities, computers embedded within the body, connecting the body to the internet and to all the household appliances - how about a battery charged body. Seems like a weird idea now, but not totally unrealisable. Infact, people called cyborgs already exist, with microchip implants that open doors around the house, turn on the lights as they enter rooms, switch on the entertainment systems and lock up the house as they leave. Discreaders and radios embedded inside the body is not far off.
Imagine the social and legal repurcussions of someone embedded with a camera in his eye that will record his entire life. Imagine such surgeries becoming the norm, and then the law. Not at all unrealisable, even now. There are already electronic eyes in existence which fuse in with the optical chords.
All of this is going down the purely technological line of body manipulation. Imagine bilogical surgeries - extra eyes, fingers, sensory organs that we do not currently posess like the infrared or echolocation organs. Imagine providing us with blowholes and even gills that can make man into an amphibious species.
Imagine lending humans the forms of other animals. Just a tiger's head, or an elephants entire body. WINGS.

Mey seem pretty cool or disturbing, depending on your mindset, and also pretty far fetched independant of your mindset... but humans have it coming.

There will be just one problem - reproduction. But I guess they will take care of that as well, though it will probably be the toughest thing to do.

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