Intersexuality

Cet essai  contextualise l'autobiographie d'Adélaïde Herculine dite Alexina et devenue Abel Barbin (1838-1868) en la replaçant dans l'histoire de ce que les médecins ont appelé "les erreurs de sexe" qualifiant ainsi les personnes "hermaphrodites" présentant une discordance entre leur sexe biologique et leur sexe social au XIXe siècle.

The intro is available on my personal website via the link. The Shape of Sex is a pathbreaking history of nonbinary sex, focusing on ideas and individuals who allegedly combined or crossed sex or gender categories from 200–1400 C.E. Ranging widely across premodern European thought and culture, Leah DeVun reveals how and why efforts to define “the human” so often hinged on ideas about nonbinary sex.

The Shape of Sex examines a host of thinkers—theologians, cartographers, natural philosophers, lawyers, poets, surgeons, and alchemists—who used ideas about nonbinary sex as conceptual tools to order their political, cultural, and natural worlds. DeVun reconstructs the cultural landscape navigated by individuals whose sex or gender did not fit the binary alongside debates about animality, sexuality, race, religion, and human nature. The Shape of Sex charts an embrace of nonbinary sex in early Christianity, its brutal erasure at the turn of the thirteenth century, and a new enthusiasm for nonbinary transformations at the dawn of the Renaissance. Along the way, DeVun explores beliefs that Adam and Jesus were nonbinary-sexed; images of “monstrous races” in encyclopedias, maps, and illuminated manuscripts; justifications for violence against purportedly nonbinary outsiders such as Jews and Muslims; and the surgical “correction” of bodies that seemed to flout binary divisions.

In a moment when questions about sex, gender, and identity have become incredibly urgent, The Shape of Sex casts new light on a complex and often contradictory past. It shows how premodern thinkers created a system of sex and embodiment that both anticipates and challenges modern beliefs about what it means to be male, female—and human.

Entre ver e não ver: uma análise sobre as imagens médicas da intersexualidade RESUMO Em meados de 2013, fui a um hospital especializado em cuidados materno -infantis, localizado na Zona Sul do Rio de Janeiro, para entrevistar um geneticista, que chamarei de GEN 1 . No decorrer do encontro, ele contou sobre o caso de um bebê que, na ocasião, tinha quarenta dias de vida e estava internado na enfermaria pediátrica para realizar uma laparotomia exploratória 2 . Antes disso, essa criança já havia passado por uma ultrassonografia, na qual se via a presença de testículos internos, e por um exame de cariótipo 3 , com resultado indicando 46, XY. Além disso, O presente artigo examinará o papel das imagens médicas nas (re)definições do sexo e gênero no contexto da assistência em saúde oferecida às pessoas intersexo. Os instrumentos de visualizaçãoescalas visuais, fotografias, exames de imageamento -utilizados em momentos variados dessa assistência pretendem ser uma ferramenta supostamente neutra de revelação do "verdadeiro sexo". O argumento a ser desenvolvido é que a perspectiva visual médica, mais do que revelar o "sexo", parte e reforça noções tradicionais de gênero e sexualidade, levando a uma apreensão estritamente patológica das variações dos corpos sexuados. No caso das imagens produzidas pela medicina sobre a intersexualidade, convivem outras expectativas, como o controle das normas de gênero e da sexualidade. O material analisado consiste em pesquisa bibliográfica sobre o tema (artigos e manuais médicos) e entrevistas feitas com profissionais de saúde. Por meio deste material, reúno pistas para responder como as imagens médicas concorrem para a patologização dos genitais de pessoas intersexo.

L'objectif de cet article est celui d'illustrer quelques résultats obtenus au cours d’une recherche doctorale, réalisée entre 2008 et 2010 à l'Université de Turin, qui visait à décrire et analyser les comportements quotidiens, l'imaginaire et les attitudes liées à la construction du Soi corporel sexué, dans une phase de vie qui est constamment en évolution. Grace à une stratégie de recherche intégrée (Porrovecchio, 2011, 2012a), au centre de laquelle j’ai inséré une ethnographie appliquée aux communautés virtuelles, j’ai pu faire prendre la parole (De Certeau, 1994) aux ados, en essayant de surmonter le filtre du regard des adultes. Grâce à cette stratégie, j’ai pu reconstruire l’aspect évolutif de la construction du Soi corporel sexué, objet d’un livre (Porrovecchio, 2012b) dont je propose ici quelques conclusions.

A NEMEK WEININGERI ÉS JUNGI ÁTMENETE Sokáig haboztam, írjak-e a nőkérdésről. Nem éppen újszerű, és idegesítő téma, különösen nőknek. A nőkérdés vitájára eddig is több tintát pazaroltak már az elégnél, a vita lezárult, ne is beszéljünk róla többet. Pedig beszélünk róla. Az utóbbi száz évben elpufogtatott ostobaságok özöne a jelek szerint nem nagyon járult hozzá a kérdés tisztázáshoz. De van egyáltalán nőkérdés? És, ha van, hogy hangzik? Egyáltalán: vannak még nők? […] Az ember lassan maga sem tudja már vannak-e még nők vagy sem, lesznek-e mindig nők, kívánatos-e, hogy legyenek, mi a helyük, szerepük a világban, és miféle hely, szerep illeti meg őket. Mindenekelőtt: mi az, hogy nő? (Beauvoir 1969, p. 7.) Simone de Beauvoir fent idézett mondatai óta lassan hetven év telt el, de még mindig aktuálisak. A kérdés, hogy "mi az, hogy nő" ma is megválaszolatlan. Sőt, talán egyre kevésbé megválaszolható.

Abstract
"Normal Abnormalities"  Intersex and the Psychology of a two-sex system.
"Perhaps Adults just don't take childhood seriously"
This is a qualitative study involving intersex people and their parents.  It asks them to talk about how they experienced intersex. It investigated their views on the medical treatment and management of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) or Androgen Insensitivity (AIS) Syndrome and the psychological effects of the medicalisation of intersex. This study involves 32 interviews with adults/parents from the AIS/CAH support groups around England and Wales. For an interdisciplinary audience, this paper aims to highlight briefly, some of the impact theories of intersexuality have had on a variety of theories of sex and gender and how intersex is accepted within society. It also unveils how society responds to intersex people. Intersex and Intersexuality are identifications that transgress socio-cultural meanings around boundaries of binary gender and in doing this, it disrupts our binary logic of the sexes. Intersex people do not conform to society’s fundamental assumption that there are two sexes and only two types of normal bodies. Nor do they conform to the idea, there are only two genders. My interest in this study is not just giving a voice to intersex people, but to highlight what the theoretical concept of intersex can illuminate about the everyday social construction of sex and gender for everyone.  From a personal, theorist and intersex activist perspective this paper will highlight contemporary issues both in theory and practice for the psychology of intersex.

Analysis of one type of intersexuals in tannaitic literature (the androgynos) arguing that the early rabbis know three sexes but only 2 genders. A comparison between the Tosefta Bikkurim and the post-tannaitic Baraita inserted into some manuscripts as fourth chapter of Mishna Bikkurim shows in my eyes that two different attitudes, one tending to a certain feminization of the androgynos (Baraita)as opposed to the Tosefta.

Relying on Monster Theory and biopolitics, this article presents an
interpretation of the history of sexual medicine as it applies to two novels written about the intersexual maquis Florencio Pla Meseguer. We illustrate how intersexual individuals have been monsterized so as to perpetuate the gender binary, while postfeminism and queer theory have succeeded in subverting such binary. We examine this process in two novels: "La Pastora: el maqui hermafrodita" by Manuel Villar Raso and "Donde nadie te encuentre" by Alicia Giménez Bartlett.

Against a backdrop of feminist and social scientific research on sex, female embodiment, and normality this thesis aims to discern how young women, who in adolescence have learned that their bodies are developing in ways considered ‘atypical’ for the female sex, make sense of their bodies and their situation. In focus are the ways in which the women make sense of and negotiate female embodiment; how they, particularly in stories about their interactions with others, position their embodied selves; and how norms and beliefs about sexed embodiment, heterosexual practice, and in/fertility are strengthened and challenged in the interviewees’ sense-making. The data comprise 23 in-depth interviews with women who in adolescence have learned that they do not have a uterus and a vagina, or who have learned that they do not have two X chromosomes and have no, or non-functioning, ovaries. Through narrative and thematic analysis the thesis shows how the women’s sense-making can be obstructed by norms about female embodiment, heterosexual practice, and in/fertility, expressed through medical terminology and practice and in interaction with family, friends, and peers, as described by the interviewees. Concomitantly, as the thesis demonstrates, medical terminology can be experienced and function as a resource in the women’s sense-making. Diagnostic categories enable them to put the specificities of sex development into words and raise awareness about bodily variation. Furthermore, in their stories about others’ reactions to their bodies and about their experience and management of certain medical treatments, the women question norms about female embodiment, heterosexual practice, and in/fertility that were previously taken for granted. The complexity of the women’s sense-making is demonstrated through the ways in which the interviewees, on the one hand, align with norms about female embodiment, heterosexual practice, and in/fertility, and in which they, on the other hand, succeed in challenging the same. In this ‘juggling’ of reinforcement and resistance, the thesis argues, the women are found to expand rather than dismiss beliefs about female embodiment.  Thus, the thesis contributes with deepened knowledge about what it can be like to live with these specific conditions and with problematizations of how norms about female embodiment can be enacted and questioned.

Despite the increasing visibility of variations in sex/gender identities, society maintains a strict sex dichotomy. The commitment to the female/male sex distinction and the resistance to acknowledge or accept sex variability results in the silencing of people born intersex, the medicalization of the various "conditions," and their stigmatization. Although activists and scholars are beginning to educate the public and the medical community, sex and gender reassignment protocols and surgeries upholding the sex dichotomy remain intact. Due to contemporary trends and medical approaches, the authors argue it is necessary to explore how intersex is represented and communicated to the public by the mass media. Using textual analysis, the study examines how primetime television programs portray contemporary intersex patients, specifically in medical dramas that feature a storyline about the identification of intersex variation in infants and adolescent children. Altogether six episodes from five shows are analyzed. The authors find that, although some storylines "possibilize" some progressive portrayals of intersex, the shows' representations of sex variations are treated as violations of established sex and gender binaries, ultimately portraying intersex in such ways as a social transgression or medical threat, thereby neutralizing the existence of intersex attributes and recuperating and normalizing the sex dichotomy.

Il testo vuole incarnare una possibile mediazione tra universi culturali lontani ed essere una lettura propedeutica per chi intenda addentrarsi nella tematica, lasciando che la fede cristiana s’interroghi liberamente sul ‘gender’. Un approccio sereno e critico sia alla cultura laica di genere – della quale si esaminano i nodi principali – sia a quella cattolica, con l’intento di superare le reciproche diffidenze e cercare insieme una verità umanizzante per tutti. L’obiettivo è gettare delle basi condivisibili su cui costruire una sintesi teologica più ampia. Un testo che, nell’esaminare i nodi teoretici, volge lo sguardo alla recente campagna ‘anti-gender’, cercando di fornire le coordinate utili a svelenire il clima e muoversi al suo interno con padronanza di lessico e concettualità. In questo senso, l’opera vuole essere uno strumento per formatori, pastori e attivisti che vogliano introdursi nella complessità senza scorciatoie, per cogliere la ricchezza del ‘pensiero di genere’: nell’orizzonte della promozione di un benessere comunitario e individuale.

By Lorenzo Bernini, translated by Elena Basile and Michela Baldo

This is a short and accessible introduction to the complex and evolving debates around queer theories, advocating for their critical role in academia and society. The book traces the roots of queer theories and argues that Foucault owed an important debt to other European authors including the feminist and homosexual liberation movements of the 1960–1970s and the anticolonial movements of the 1950s.
Going beyond a simple introduction to queer theories, this book situates them firmly in a European and Italian context to offer a crucial set of arguments in defence of LGBTQI+ rights, in defence of the freedom of teaching and research, and in defence of a radical idea of democracy. The narrative of the book is divided into three short chapters which can be read independently or in sequence. The first chapter argues that queer theories are rooted in the critical philosophical tradition, the second presents a critique of heterosexism and the binary inherent to the gender-sex-sexual orientation system, and the third chapter sketches a history of the queer debate. The book offers a useful typology of queer theories by sorting them into three basic paradigms: Freudo-Marxism, radical constructivism, and antisocial and affective theories, clarifying the complexities of the nature of the debates for undergraduates.
The book is both accessible and original, and is suitable for both specialist researchers and undergraduate students new to queer studies. It will be essential reading for those studying philosophy, sexuality studies and gender studies.

Os estados intersexuais e as decisões em torno de quais procedimentos devem ser adotados com pessoas nesta “condição” constituem tema de acirrado debate nos campos da biologia, psicologia e biomedicina e fonte de intensas disputas no campo social e moral. As disputas de saberes e práticas envolvem diferentes conflitos bioéticos, como o consentimento de pacientes e/ou familiares para as intervenções médicas, o acesso à verdade sobre a condição, os critérios para a designação sexual e a necessidade de definição do sexo para o registro civil do recém-nascido. Atualmente, o manejo clínico dos casos de intersexualidade está pautado em torno de dois modelos: a) Modelo Centrado no Sigilo e Cirurgia (MCSC), proposto por John Money, e b) Modelo Centrado no Paciente (MCP), proposto por Milton Diamond . O MCSC foi desenvolvido a partir dos anos 1950 com base no pressuposto da na preponderância da socialização e da centralidade da anatomia genital na definição da identidade de gênero do indivíduo. O MCP surge nos anos 1990 como uma proposta alternativa, tanto em termos de fundamentação teórica, como em termos éticos. Baseado na teoria da sexualidade inata definida pela influência hormonal durante o período pré-natal é decorrência de um processo de crítica e revisão ética desencadeados pela revelação dos desdobramentos negativos do caso John/Joan e pelo nascente ativismo intersexo nos Estados Unidos. As normativas que orientam esse manejo clínico, como a Resolução do Conselho Federal de Medicina, no Brasil, e o Consenso de Chicago, adotam aspectos desses modelos. Para melhor conhecer a problemática realizou-se uma análise dos diferentes argumentos mobilizados acerca desses modelos nos discursos biomédicos, teóricos feministas e do ativismo intersexo. Adotou-se como estratégia metodológica investigar as concepções de sexo, gênero e sexualidade nas obras de John Money e Milton Diamond, e compreender em que medida essas concepções se relacionam com e influenciam sua proposta de manejo clínico da intersexualidade, e apresentar uma reflexão crítica tanto a seus pressupostos teóricos, na voz de teóricas feministas, quanto às questões éticas implicadas em seus modelos de tratamento da intersexualidade, em diálogo com o movimento intersexo. Para tal, buscou-se a literatura dos originais dos principais teóricos/as identificados, combinada com a pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, nacional e internacional, de estudos sobre a intersexualidade disponíveis em bases bibliográficas acadêmicas na Internet. Para análise bioética dos dois princípios identificados como preponderantes na discussão do manejo clínico da intersexualidade – autonomia e beneficência - adotou-se a perspectiva da teoria ética biomédica dos quatro princípios, largamente conhecida e empregada no meio biomédico e bioético, facilitando o diálogo com diversos atores que atuam diretamente nesse manejo clínico. Conclui-se que a crítica feminista à acepção biomédica do binarismo de sexo e gênero, aliada à perspectiva do construcionismo social, foi importante subsídio para a formulação da perspectiva crítica do manejo clínico da intersexualidade, até então hegemonicamente definido pelo MCSC. O MCP defende o adiamento das cirurgias estéticas em genitálias ambíguas e o acesso integral do paciente e família aos históricos médicos. A problematização dos aspectos éticos implicados no MCSC e o surgimento do MCP e do ativismo intersexo denotam a transição do paradigma ético no gerenciamento biomédico da intersexualidade, com o paulatino fortalecimento do princípio da autonomia do/a paciente, em detrimento do princípio da beneficência.

La « vérification » du sexe des sportives de haut niveau : pour une reconnaissance de l’intersexualité

La compétition sportive continue aujourd’hui de constituer un terrain d’inégalités entre les femmes et les hommes. A la fois l’histoire et l’actualité de ces inégalités sont enchevêtrées dans des normes culturelles ayant pour rôle de délimiter la frontière entre les sexes et de contrôler la conformité des individus vis-à-vis de ces normes. Dans la mesure où elle met en scène les performances des corps, en ayant préalablement défini des critères d’excellence et des règles censées garantir l’équité, la compétition sportive revêt une dimension hautement publique. Cette communication interrogera la manière dont l’intimité des corps est mise à l’épreuve, non pas tant par la compétition elle-même, que par des dispositifs de contrôle des normes de genre. En particulier, il sera question de la « vérification » du sexe des sportives, et notamment des personnes intersexuées, vérification systématisée par des instances sportives internationales à partir de 1966. La communication se focalisera sur trois enjeux majeurs soulevés par cette pratique. Tout d’abord, il s’agira de la « scientificité » – et donc de la légitimité – des méthodes de vérification et de la science médicale sur laquelle elles reposent. Ensuite, les enjeux éthiques de la « vérification » du sexe seront examinés, à la fois du point de vue de l’équité dans le sport et de celui des droits des athlètes. Enfin, la publicité du sexe et du genre sera analysée en tant qu’enjeu de contrôle de la féminité des femmes.

“Verifying” the sex of elite female athletes: for the recognition of intersexuality

Today, athletic competition continues to constitute an area of inequality between women and men. Both the history and current state of these inequalities are entangled in cultural norms, the role of which is to delimit the frontier between the sexes and to control the conformity of individuals with respect to those norms. Insofar as it orchestrates the performances of bodies, having defined the criteria of excellence and the rules meant to guarantee fair play, athletic competition comprises a highly public dimension. This paper will question the manner in which the intimacy of bodies is put to the test, not so much by the competition itself, as by the protocols of control over gender norms. In particular, the paper will study the “verification” of the sex of female athletes, and of intersexed individuals in particular, which was systematized by international sports governing bodies starting in 1966. Our focus will be on three major questions. First, the question of the “scientificity” – and thus the legitimacy – of the verification methods and the medical science on which they rest will be considered. Second, the ethical stakes of sex “verification” will be examined, both from the point of view of fairness in sport and that of athletes’ rights. Finally, the publicity of sex and gender will be analyzed as a mechanism of control of the femininity of women.

The view that humans comprise only two types of beings, women and men, a framework that is sometimes referred to as the “gender binary,” played a profound role in shaping the history of psychological science. In recent years, serious challenges to the gender binary have arisen from both academic research and social activism. This review describes 5 sets of empirical findings, spanning multiple disciplines, that fundamentally undermine the gender binary. These sources of evidence include neuroscience findings that refute sexual dimorphism of the human brain; behavioral neuroendocrinology findings that challenge the notion of genetically fixed, nonoverlapping, sexually dimorphic hormonal systems; psychological findings that highlight the similarities between men and women; psychological research on transgender and nonbinary individuals’ identities and experiences; and developmental research suggesting that the tendency to view gender/sex as a meaningful, binary category is culturally determined and malleable. Costs associated with reliance on the gender binary and recommendations for future research, as well as clinical practice, are outlined.

La crociata contro la teoria del gender inizia nel 1995 come una guerra contro i cinque sessi. Ma i difensori dell'ordine veteropatriarcale non hanno capito che a chi contesta binarismo sessuale ed eterosessualità obbligatoria cinque sessi non bastano! Lo spettacolo MDSLX dei Motus è una magnifica occasione per spiegare perché.

Cette thèse étudie les transformations des savoirs et des pratiques biomédicales autour de l’intersexuation en France. Elle étudie l’émergence et la mise en place, au XXe siècle, d’un dispositif de médicalisation précoce des enfants ayant un sexe atypique en prenant pour exemple l’histoire d’une variation particulière – l’hyperplasie congénitale des surrénales (HCS). Ce dispositif de normalisation se fonde sur un changement de paradigme incarné par un protocole rédigé à l’hôpital Johns-Hopkins dans les années 1950, et dont cette thèse analyse la réception en France. L’historicisation du dispositif de prise en charge des « filles HCS » sert à examiner la production médicale de plusieurs « évidences » à leur égard : leur appartenance indiscutable au sexe féminin et la supposée nécessité d’une intervention médicale durant la petite enfance, évidences soutenues par des nouvelles techniques ainsi que des théories psychologiques sur le genre et la sexualité. À partir d’une analyse d’archives – notamment des publications scientifiques – et des entretiens avec des acteurs-clés de ce processus médical, cette thèse montre que la multiplication des connaissances et des modalités d’intervention médicale produit paradoxalement des formes d’ignorance de la part du milieu médical français et des résistances à abandonner un paradigme pourtant maintes fois remis en question. À travers l’étude de deux champs de savoirs et d’action sur l’HCS – le diagnostic prénatal et les études de suivi à long terme – cette recherche analyse comment persistent les évidences à propos du sexe en dépit du caractère incertain et complexe des savoirs que l’intersexuation révèle. Cette persistance des évidences est rendue possible par divers mécanismes de mise à l’écart de connaissances alternatives, témoins de la légitimité sociale et de l’emprise exclusive dont bénéficie actuellement la médecine.


Abstract : This dissertation traces the transformations of biomedical knowledge and practice on intersex in France. It studies the 20th century emergence and development of a new apparatus consisting in early medicalization of children with atypical sex. It specifically examines the example of the management the intersex variation Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). This normalizing apparatus was based on a paradigm shift instituted by a new protocol developed at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s. This research analyzes the way this protocol was received and implemented in France. Examining the systematic medical management of “CAH girls” from this historical point of view reveals a process of medical knowledge production that creates several ideas that come to be self-evident: their unequivocal female sex and the presumed necessity of early medical interventions. These “obvious” ideas are supported by new biomedical techniques as well as by psychological theories on gender and sexuality. Drawing on archives of scientific publications and interviews with key actors in this medical process, this dissertation shows that the multiplication of knowledge and medical intervention technologies paradoxically produces forms of ignorance and resistance within the current French medical field to abandon this paradigm that has now long been criticized. By studying two areas of medical action and knowledge production (prenatal diagnosis and long term follow-up studies), this dissertation focuses on the way these obvious ideas about sex persist despite the uncertain and complex nature of this knowledge that intersexuality destabilizes. This phenomenon can be understood in light of the contemporary context where medicine enjoys social legitimacy and exclusive control over the subject and deploys a variety of mechanisms to reject alternative forms of expertise.

Resumen
En este artículo presentaré una reflexión acerca de los problemas metodológicos que surgen en mi tesis de grado, en la cual analizo la representación de un cuerpo intersex y su relación con la categoría de eroticidad en la serie fotográfica inter*ME de lx artistx inter* Del LaGrace Volcano. La presente reflexión explora la pregunta acerca de cómo constituir una metodología que me permita enlazar mi activismo y mi marco teórico-metodológico al trabajar con mi corpus. Por este motivo presentaré las categorías punctum de Barthes y trozo de Didi-Huberman y explicaré las razones por las cuales considero que el entramado de ambas constituye una metodología situada que puede expresar la forma en que mi cuerpo intersex mira imágenes de otro cuerpo intersex desde una mirada erotizante. Palabras clave: eroticidad, intersex, fotografía, representación.

Abstract
In this article I will reflect on the methodological issues that came up in my Undergraduate thesis, in which I study the representation of an intersex body and its relation to the concept of eroticity in the photographic series inter*ME by inter* artist Del LaGrace Volcano. This article explores the question on how to create a methodology that will allow me to link my activism and my theoretical-methodological framework while working with my corpus. For this reason I will introduce the categories of punctum by Barthes and patch by Didi-Huberman and explain the reasons why I think that weaving these categories together creates a situated methodology that will help me articulate the way in which my intersex body looks at images of another inter* body with an eroticizing gaze.

A child born with ambiguous genitalia will discover early in life that being born different leads to association with the monstrous. This paper examines Jeffrey Eugenides’s exploration of the intersexed individual in his novel Middlesex. Usually, a bildungsroman follows a character’s journey into adulthood; a journey which requires assimilation into one of only two possible gender roles. For the intersexed child, however, the binary supposedly inherent in gender roles complicates this process. In Middlesex, the protagonist Calliope Stephanides is born with 5-alpha-reductase-deficiency syndrome, which means that although the
infant presents as female at birth, the child is, biologically-speaking, more male than female. Having been designated as female, Callie struggles to identify with the gender role which is expected of her, and consequently Eugenides begins an examination of the complex constitution of gender as Callie is caught in a struggle between societal expectation and biological fact. As Ann Fausto-Sterling has argued, the idea that there are only two sexes is erroneous, but those who cannot be
easily categorised have long been seen as a deviation from what is understood to be human. When Callie discovers the ‘truth’ about her biological make-up, s/he learns that hir very condition of existence is defined as a gruesome deviation from the norm. In Webster’s Dictionary, Callie finds “hermaphrodite” defined as: “Anything comprised of a combination of diverse or contradictory elements. See synonyms at
MONSTER”. At first Callie is convinced that the synonym is “official,
authoritative”; “the verdict that culture gave on a person like her”. But, as this paper will explore, through embracing the category of ‘monster’ and mapping its contradictory elements into existence on the body, Callie is able to achieve a stable, legitimate subject position in society and discover that intersexuality is a condition in some degree shared by all human beings

In het voorliggende rapport schetst NNID een beeld van intersekse en DSD vanuit het perspectief van mensen die een intersekse-conditie/DSD hebben. Intersekse/DSD omvat een breed scala aan individuele ervaringen. Bij het behartigen van de belangen van mensen met een intersekse-conditie/DSD moet daarom niet worden uitgegaan van de individuele beleving van een diagnose, maar van wat een ander gegund wordt. Dit betekent, concreet, dat belangenbehartiging gebaseerd moet zijn op solidariteit.

In een aantal korte en soms wat langere essays worden de uitgangspunten van Stichting Nederlands Netwerk Intersekse/DSD (NNID) weergegeven. Zoveel mogelijk zijn deze uitgangspunten gebaseerd op wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Belangrijke standpunten zijn herkenbaar aan een rode ruit () in de marge. Deze standpunten vormen de basis voor de discussies die binnen de deelnemersraad van NNID gevoerd kunnen worden en kunnen als gevolg van deze discussies in de toekomst veranderen.

In grote lijnen bestaat dit rapport uit vier onderdelen: introductie en deel I, II en III. De inhoud van de introductie en deel I is vooral informe-rend. Omdat de meeste Nederlanders niet weten wat intersekse/DSD is, is elke hoofdstuktitel in deel I een vraag. De antwoorden weerspie-gelen de belangen van mensen met een intersekse-conditie/DSD en het beleid van NNID. In deel II wordt de visie van NNID op de toekomst van intersekse/DSD gegeven. Hier wordt de tekst abstracter en wijzigt de toon van informerend naar betogend. In relatie tot de vragen die minister Bussemaker van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap in de Emancipatiebrief heeft gesteld over intersekse is deel II het belangrijkste deel van het rapport. Deel III is het feitelijke beleidsplan.

De visie van NNID heeft vier kernpunten: de positie van intersekse/DSD binnen LHBT(I)-organisaties, openheid & emancipatie, en ethiek.

Hoofdstuk 11, LHBT(I), behandelt de relatie tussen LHBT en intersekse/DSD. Seksuele voorkeur, genderidentiteit en geslacht hebben weinig met elkaar te maken, waardoor samenvoeging in de ‘alfabetsoep’ LHBTI niet logisch lijkt. Maar als gekeken wordt naar het doel van de samenwerking, is het toevoegen van een I aan LHBT even logisch als de bijvoorbeeld de samenwerking van patiëntenorganisaties voor diverse diagnoses in een koepelorganisatie.  Maar de I moet dan wel een volwaardige plaats binnen de LHBT(I)-organisaties krijgen – alleen een I toevoegen is niet voldoende.

Hoofdstuk 12, Coming-out, laat zien dat in Nederland schijnbaar geen groot taboe op intersekse/DSD rust, maar dat mensen met een intersekse-conditie/DSD dat zelf niet zo ervaren. Aan de hand van de van moderne homonegativiteit afgeleide begrippen moderne interfobie en geïnternaliseerde interfobie wordt betoogd dat het ook de geïnternaliseerde interfobie is die een coming-out in de weg staat.

Hoofdstuk 13, Emancipatie en demedicalisering, is het langste essay omdat daarin geschetst wordt waarom emancipatie nodig is en hoe dit bereikt kan worden. Demedicalisering is het zodanig veranderen van de sociale waarde die aan een medische diagnose gekoppeld is dat de patiënt minder afhankelijk wordt van het medisch discours. De conclusie is dat demedicalisering en emancipatie bij elkaar horen als Nederland en dijken; het een kan niet zonder het ander.

Hoofdstuk 14, Ethiek, laat zien dat een ethische commissie een belangrijke bijdrage kan leveren in het scheiden van de medische aspecten en de sociale aspecten van intersekse/DSD. Aan de hand van drie eerdere onderzoeken in Europa wordt aangetoond dat niet alleen naar de medisch-ethische aspecten moet worden gekeken, maar ook naar de juridisch-ethische aspecten.

In hoofdstuk 15 staan de plannen van NNID voor het jaar 2013/2014 beschreven. De realiseerbaarheid van het beleid is afhankelijk van het verkrijgen van subsidie.

De bronnen die gebruikt zijn bij de samenstelling van dit rapport worden genoemd in hoofdstuk 16. De literatuurverwijzingen in het rapport zijn bedoeld om inzicht te geven in de objectiviteit bij de bepaling van de verschillende standpunten, en niet om te bewijzen dat andere standpunten onjuist zijn.

ENG: This contribution analyses Italian and French rules governing the judicial civil procedure to be undertaken in
order to amend the act of birth of an intersex person. Following the analysis of the conficting decisions rendered on this topic, this paper argues that the correct procedure to be undertaken in Italy is regulated by art. 95 D.P.R. 396/2000. Therefore, the paper focuses on: content of pleading; capacity of public prosecutor to bring the action; taking of evidence; content of the decision; res iudicata. The paper emphasizes that an administrative procedure for amending legal gender and name written in civil status records should replace the current judicial procedure.

ITA: Il presente contributo analizza la normativa italiana e francese in materia di rettifcazione dell’indicazione
del nome e del genere nell’atto di nascita della persona intersex. A seguito di un’analisi del contrasto
giurisprudenziale in merito al rito da seguire, si argomenta a favore dell’applicabilità, nella fattispecie
in esame, del procedimento ex art. 95 D.P.R. 3 novembre 2000, n. 396. In seguito, si pone l’attenzione su:
contenuto dell’atto introduttivo; legittimazione attiva (con particolare riguardo al pubblico ministero);
fase istruttoria e mezzi di prova assumibili (con particolare riguardo alla prova atipica); natura e idoneità
alla res iudicata della decisione. Il saggio enfatizza la necessità de jure condendo che l’attuale procedura
giurisdizionale sia sostituita da un procedimento amministrativo.

Der Begriff "intersexuell" beschreibt Körper, die nicht eindeutig als männlich oder weiblich eingeordnet werden können, und in diesem eher weiten Sinne werde ich ihn in meinem Vortrag benutzen. Die moderne Medizin unterscheidet eine ganze Reihe verschiedener Arten von Intersexualität und erklärt die meisten von ihnen durch bestimmte Chromosomenkonstellationen oder aber durch den jeweiligen Hormonhaushalt. Wenn es nach diesen Maßstäben ginge, also das Geschlecht von Menschen aus ihren Chromosonen bestimmt werden sollte, gäbe es nicht nur zwei und auch nicht nur drei, sondern deutlich mehr Geschlechter. Ich bin kein Arzt und kein Biologe, sondern Historiker. Als Historiker richtet sich mein Interesse nicht auf den Körper und die Frage, warum er uneindeutig ist, sondern auf die Gesellschaft, die nicht in der Lage ist, diese Körper als männlich oder weiblich zu klassifizieren. Als Historiker frage ich mich: Nach welchen Maßstäben wird ein Körper überhaupt als männlich oder weiblich kategorisiert, und in welchen Fällen ist die Gesellschaft bereit, einen Körper als "weder-noch" anzuerkennen? Und wer darf diese Entscheidung überhaupt treffen? Sind es die Eltern, die Kirche, die Hebamme, ein Arzt, der im Zweifelsfall das Geschlecht feststellt? Oder dürfen die Betroffenen selbst wählen, ob sie lieber Mann oder Frau sein wollen? Und warum und mit welchem Nachdruck besteht eine Gesellschaft darauf, dass es nur zwei Geschlechter geben darf? Die Antworten auf alle diese Fragen können sehr unterschiedlich ausfallen, ja nach dem, ob man sich westliche oder nicht-westliche Gesellschaften anschaut, ob man die Moderne, das Mittelalter oder die Antike in den Blick nimmt.

writing characters with intersex variations for television abstract Throughout history, people with intersex variations have been positioned somewhere between 'prodigy literature and pornography, mythology and medical discourse'. Contemporary representations have changed in step with societal values, yet it could be argued there is still slippage towards sensationalism. This article explores the writing of fictional characters with intersex variations for television. It is posited that screenwriters must go beyond limiting, stereotypical representations, and write characters with intersex variations 'as an everyday social type'. Scripts that develop characters and narrative arcs in league with the intersex community rupture stigma and pre-inscription, defy current medical interference and promote ethical debates.