Katrina Karkazis

Long time, still me

Katrina — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:59:14 +0000

Whoa it has been a very long time since I posted anything. I wondered whether to renew the domain — not that anyone was bugging me for it — but decided to. And yet I still didn’t post. Why? Well in March I learned to paraglide and completely fell in love with it. I spent the last 6 months flying all over California, and even in France, Switzerland, and Spain. I cannot remember the last time I was so taken with something. Well, yes I can — my chickens. (And boy do I love them). So it’s been a really blissful year.

October marks 3 years since I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I decided it was finally time to do the revision surgery I should have done years ago. So here I am less than a week out and back to work. So much easier than my last surgery, which was really an ass-kicker.

So I guess life very much goes on after cancer. It feels really good…

KUOW Seattle

Katrina — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:50:43 +0000

I’ll be on Weekday on KUOW in Seattle on February 10, 2009 at 9am with the wonderful Jane Goto. If you are not local, I htink you can listen via the web.

The Health Show

Katrina — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:00:54 +0000

I taped a great interview with Bob Barrett for The Health Show, a WAMC program that airs on a bunch of public radio affiliates around the country. It airs locally (i.e., Albany, NY) on Thursday, January 29th at 3PM EST and again Sunday, February 1 at 6:30PM EST. It goes nationally to the affiliates on Friday, January 30th and will also be posted on The Health Show website Friday.

New Piece in The Lancet

Katrina — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:02:01 +0000

Ellen Feder and I have a new piece out in The Lancet tomorrow called “Naming the Problem: Disorders and their Meanings,” in which we talk a bit more about the harms that can result from the medical naming of conditions. You can read it here.

A Few More Upcoming Shows

Katrina — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:24:12 +0000

I just taped an episode of Bay Area People with the marvelous Rosy Chu. It’ll air on KTVU at 6:30am this Saturday, December 13, 2008. If you’re not an early riser, it’ll also be available for free on Comcast on Demand. I’ll try to put a link to it somehow.

I’ll also be on Against the Grain with C.S. Song on December 22, 2008. There are a few ways to listen:

• On the Radio: Noon to 1 pm PT Monday through Wednesday on KPFA 94.1 FM and KFCF 88.1 FM in Northern and Central California

• On the Web, Live: Noon to 1 pm PT Monday through Wednesday at kpfa.org

• On the Web, via podcast subscription or archived on the ATG website.

Bookslut and Leonard Lopate

Katrina — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:51:18 +0000

The little yellow tab on Amazon has gone from “pre-order” to “add to basket,” which means the books are shipping! And I’ve already heard from folks they have gotten their copies. Writing this book took much longer than I expected and some days I wasn’t sure the book would ever come out, so this is pretty darn thrilling. I have a few upcoming talks. The first one is in person and the second on air. Please come or tune in. You can even call in for the Leonard Lopate Show.

I’ll be reading at Bookslut in Chicago on December 2, 2008. More info is here.

I’ll be on the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC on December 5, 2008 from 12:20-1pm. I’ll be joined by Janet Green and Katie Baratz to talk about their experiences growing up with an intersex condition, or disorder of sex development.

Story in Stanford Report and Podcast too

Katrina — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:43:32 +0000

Erin Digitale did a great job writing a short story about Fixing Sex that is accompanied by a podcast interview with the fantastic Paul Costello, executive director of Communication & Public Affairs at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Enjoy!

Feminist Review reviews Fixing Sex

Katrina — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:12:42 +0000

Another review of Fixing Sex in from Feminist Review.

What’s in a Name? The Controversy over “Disorders of Sex Development”

Katrina — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:20:44 +0000

There’s been no shortage of debate about the change in nomenclature for intersex conditions recommended in the 2006 Consensus Statement. The debate over the new term— “disorders of sex development”—has proven incredibly heated because it is deeply, achingly personal, centering on who gets to deﬁne, determine, and label the truth of one’s life.

Ellen Feder and I have a commentary in the latest Hastings Center Report where we discuss why the issue has been polarizing and what we think the shift can—and cannot—accomplish. It’s in the September/October issue and they are making it available free online later this week. For now, it’s here.

Bitch reviews Fixing Sex

Katrina — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:41:10 +0000

The first review is in and it’s from Bitch Magazine. I am thrilled to bits they decided to review it and really pleased that Summer Wood, the reviewer, noted that “Karkazis never loses sight of the authentic lived experiences of intersexed people and their families. . . . Fixing Sex . . . offers a compassionately written discussion of interest to anyone concerned with gender and sexuality, health activism, and human rights.” Really, that was the point of writing the book. I was never interested in adding to some academic debate about gender and intersex. Rather, I was interested in the lives of people and I wanted to see if I could add something to the debates that would help to improve treatment. The funny thing about writing a book is that you have all kinds of ideas about what you want to accomplish with the book and how you want to sound (I suppose writerly folks call this voice). I worked on so many drafts for so long I had no idea if I had come anywhere near accomplishing what I set out to do so it’s interesting finally to hear others’ takes on the book. Anyway, if you want to read the review, it’s here.