Limor Meoded Danon | Bar-Ilan University (original) (raw)

Papers by Limor Meoded Danon

Culture, Health & Sexuality, Sep 16, 2020

In the past several decades, conflicting discourses have coexisted in the field of intersex studi... more In the past several decades, conflicting discourses have coexisted in the field of intersex studies, including the pathologising discourse of the biomedical disciplines and the affirmative, subjective psychosocial discourse of people born with intersex bodies and their advocates. Intersex activists call for a positive discourse on intersex bodies and a humanistic healthcare approach that accepts and protects intersex bodily autonomy to replace continuing harmful, traumatic treatments aimed at normalising variations of sex characteristics (VSC). Our awareness of the biomedical discursive dominance prompted us to initiate Inter-Care and Awareness, an intercultural German-Israeli action research project. This paper introduces the project and explores intercultural approaches to psychosocial intersex care using an action research framework. We describe how the project's goals, processes and outcomes created educational material on intersex which uses positive language, explores intersex in the Jewish tradition, improves the support offered to parents of intersex children, and examines cross-cultural differences that arose in the encounters between the Israeli and German participants. The analysis points to sociocultural themes that reflect intersex people's current status in Israel and Germany. Implications regarding the implementation of similar projects in other countries are discussed.

Qualitative Health Research, Mar 25, 2015

This study was inspired by Iris Arad's (2010) autobiography Building Castles With a Spoon [Hebrew... more This study was inspired by Iris Arad's (2010) autobiography Building Castles With a Spoon [Hebrew 1 ], in which the author describes the physical experiences she underwent during a coma. Arad retells how she heard, saw, and felt the touch of her family members and the treatment team that surrounded her, but at the same time was present in different realities, heaven, hell, dreams, and hallucinations, all of which she remembered in minute detail years after she awoke from the coma. She writes the following: Imagine that you are fast asleep, dreaming strange dreams, and even feel your soul traveling in other worlds. When you hear a familiar and beloved voice from afar, you try to respond, to answer, and discover that your body will not obey you. It's as though all the systems of command are mixed up and the machine is out of control. When you try to talk, your leg jumps, your body moves uncontrollably. My soul was not here.

Qualitative Health Research, Feb 3, 2021

The focus of this article is on how parents of children with “nonnormative” genitalia cope with t... more The focus of this article is on how parents of children with “nonnormative” genitalia cope with the conflict between the genital socialization process and their children’s genital autonomy in the Israeli medical–sociocultural context. Based on a qualitative narrative study that included 18 parents of children born with atypical genitalia and 23 parents who had chosen not to circumcise their sons, I compare parents’ experiences and perceptions of genital autonomy and examine the challenges posed by the Israeli genital socialization process from their perspective. In this study, I aim to shed light on the stressful and powerful Israeli genital socialization process, in which the medical, familial, and religious forces reproduce gendered normative genital appearances. The parents’ physical and emotional experiences include feelings of doubt and a critical stance toward genital socialization, changes in perceptions regarding genital appearance, and parental practices that challenge the meaning and outcomes of genital surgeries.

Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, Sep 7, 2018

This article focuses on the dynamic between the medical policy on intersex bodies and intersex ac... more This article focuses on the dynamic between the medical policy on intersex bodies and intersex activists in Israel. Recently, in many countries changes have taken place in medical guidelines regarding intersex patients and laws that regulate medical practices and prohibit irreversible surgeries for intersex babies for cosmetic reasons and without the patient's consent. In Israel, intersex activists are limited by several factors. On the one hand, they are influenced by the achievements of intersex activism around the world but on the other, the pathologizing medical discourse and sociomedical practices, which include early diagnosis, early irreversible surgeries, and secrecy surrounding intersexed bodies, present obstacles to achieving bodily autonomy for intersex individuals and social recognition of different sex development. Nevertheless, intersex activists are attempting to find different social and media spaces in which to achieve public acknowledgement and future bodily autonomy for intersexed people and seeking medical professionals' cooperation. Recently, the Israeli Ministry of Health published a new circular for intersex/DSD patients, and while it does not clearly forbid irreversible surgeries, it provides information about the complexities of intersex people and their experience.

International Journal of Impotence Research, Oct 5, 2022

In May 2021, the German parliament passed a long-debated law to protect children with variations ... more In May 2021, the German parliament passed a long-debated law to protect children with variations of sex development/sex characteristics from medically unnecessary surgeries until they are old enough to decide for themselves. This law joins similar laws passed in other countries in recent years and recognizes the rights of people with variations of sex development to selfdetermination and bodily autonomy. In this article, we discuss the notion of bodily autonomy and examine details of the German legislation in the context of psychosocial care. We focus on the following questions: (1) How may the law help to preserve the genital integrity and future bodily autonomy of newborns with variations of sex development (VSD)? (2) What are the opportunities and challenges of this law? (3) What strategies are needed to implement the law in ways that include medical professionals' knowledge and skills, parental cooperation, and protection for the genital integrity as well as the future genital autonomy of newborns with VSD? We make two main arguments. On the one hand, this law has created a space for a new discourse and discussion on VSD in German society and enables the "wait and see" approach. This approach challenges the traditional "psychosocial emergency" policy aimed at quickly "repairing" atypical genitalia. On the other hand, the law is characterized by significant challenges. For example, it does not address the meaning of bodily autonomy in the context of newborns and their families with VSD, and it overlooks the important distinction between genital appearance, genital function, and gender identity. We offer various educational strategies that can be implemented with different target groups in Germany to meet these challenges and ensure the adequate implementation of this law.

Sociology of Health and Illness, Sep 5, 2018

Recently, new laws and medical guidelines in many countries have prohibited early genital surgeri... more Recently, new laws and medical guidelines in many countries have prohibited early genital surgeries and irreversible medical treatment for intersexed babies. Following the passing of the German law that allows parents to register intersexed babies with no sex/gender, and after the establishment of new medical guidelines for intersexed patients in Israel, this study aims to examine the current medical policies regarding intersexed bodies at DSD centres and hospitals in Israel and Germany. How, if at all, have they changed the previous medical guidelines? This is a narrative study that includes 62 in-depth interviews with medical professionals, parents and intersexed people from Germany and Israel. Three main controversial themes are examined, including the situated diagnostic medical gaze, the surgical practices for normalising intersexed bodies and the concealment of intersexed bodies. I find that in Israeli hospitals, early irreversible surgeries for 'ambiguous genitals' and the removal of internal sex organs are taking place frequently, whereas in Germany, the three DSD centres examined offer psychological counselling for parents instead of early surgeries for their babies. While in Israel concealment practices are embodied in the medical policy, the DSD centres in Germany encourage openness and peer group support.

History and Philosophy of The Life Sciences, Jul 22, 2022

History and Philosophy of The Life Sciences, Jun 1, 2022

Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2018

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-qhr-10.1177_1049732320984420 for The Parental Struggle With the I... more Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-qhr-10.1177_1049732320984420 for The Parental Struggle With the Israeli Genital Socialization Process by Limor Meoded Danon in Qualitative Health Research

International Journal of Impotence Research

History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences

Interdisciplinary and Global Perspectives on Intersex, 2022

Culture, Health & Sexuality, 2020

Abstract In the past several decades, conflicting discourses have coexisted in the field of inter... more Abstract In the past several decades, conflicting discourses have coexisted in the field of intersex studies, including the pathologising discourse of the biomedical disciplines and the affirmative, subjective psychosocial discourse of people born with intersex bodies and their advocates. Intersex activists call for a positive discourse on intersex bodies and a humanistic healthcare approach that accepts and protects intersex bodily autonomy to replace continuing harmful, traumatic treatments aimed at normalising variations of sex characteristics (VSC). Our awareness of the biomedical discursive dominance prompted us to initiate Inter-Care and Awareness, an intercultural German–Israeli action research project. This paper introduces the project and explores intercultural approaches to psychosocial intersex care using an action research framework. We describe how the project’s goals, processes and outcomes created educational material on intersex which uses positive language, explores intersex in the Jewish tradition, improves the support offered to parents of intersex children, and examines cross-cultural differences that arose in the encounters between the Israeli and German participants. The analysis points to sociocultural themes that reflect intersex people’s current status in Israel and Germany. Implications regarding the implementation of similar projects in other countries are discussed.

Sociology of Health & Illness, 2018

Social science & medicine (1982), 2018

This article focuses on the dynamic relationships between time and intersex bodies that exist, on... more This article focuses on the dynamic relationships between time and intersex bodies that exist, on the one hand, in medical policy on intersex bodies and, on the other, in intersex people's subjective experiences. Time, from a sociological perspective, is a biosocial agent that establishes diagnostic practices, regulations, and treatment policy regarding intersex bodies. The systematic construction of timeframes by biomedical professionals aims to rapidly diagnose and treat intersex patients and is deeply rooted in the "dimorphic soma-gender order" (DMSGO), the imagined unified relationship of female bodies to femininity and male bodies to masculinity. From a socio-phenomenological perspective, I describe the concept of somatic time, which involves the relationship between time and the soma, the body's own particular clock and rhythms, according to which it grows, changes, and develops, and the body as a time capsule that stores experiences. I will illustrate the so...

Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 2016

Molecular dynamics trajectories are the result of molecular dynamics simulations. Trajectories ar... more Molecular dynamics trajectories are the result of molecular dynamics simulations. Trajectories are sequential snapshots of simulated molecular system which represents atomic coordinates at specific time periods. Based on the definition, in a text format trajectory files are characterized by their simplicity and uselessness. To obtain information from such files, special programs and information processing techniques are applied: from molecular dynamics animation to finding characteristics along the trajectory (versus time). In this review, we describe different programs for processing molecular dynamics trajectories. The performance of these programs, usefulness for analyses of molecular dynamics trajectories, strong and weak aspects are discussed.

Qualitative Health Research