Synopses & Reviews
Intersex is the condition whereby an individual is born with biological features that are simultaneously perceived as male and female. Ranging from the ambiguous genitalia of the true 'hermaphrodite' to the 'mildly or internally intersexed', the condition may be as common as cleft palate. Like cleft palate, it is hidden and surgically altered, but for very different reasons. This important book draws heavily on the personal testimony of intersexed individuals, their loved ones, and medical careers. The impact of early sex-assignment surgery on an individual's later life is examined within the context of ethical and clinical questions. Harper challenges the conventional and radical 'treatment' of intersexuality through non-consensual infant sex-assignment surgery. In doing so she exposes powerful myths, taboos, and constructions of gender - the perfect phallus, a bi-polar model of gender and the infallibility of medical decisions. Handling sensitive material with care, this book deepens our understanding of a condition that has itself only been medically understood in recent years.
About the Author
Catherine Harper is Head of the School of Architecture and Design at University of Brighton.
Table of Contents
PART 1: Introduction * Orientation of the Subject * Kayla's Story * Intersex as Real * Imaging Intersex * Research Methodology and Conventions * Analysis of Frequencies * PART 2: The 'Mythological True Hermaphrodite' * 'True and Pseudo-Hermaphrodites' * In Porn, History, and in Antiquity * Normal and Natural * Typical and Atypical * Fetish and Myth * Monstrous and Abject * PART 3: Louise's Story and Other Tales * Welcome Louise! * It's a Boy, It's a Girl * Secrets and Lies * The Primacy of the Penis * John Money's 'Optimal Gender Policy' * PART 4: David's Story and Professor Diamond's Recommendations * David Reimer * Money's 'Theory of Neutrality' * Surgical Sex Assignment * The 'Good Enough' Penis * The Penis of Perfection * Good Housekeeping * Professor Milton Diamond's Recommendations * PART 5: Ade's Story * Diagnosis and Infant Treatment for Hypospadias * Treatment in Early Childhood * The Endocrine Effect * Breast Development * Hindsight and Desire * PART 6: Sarah-Jane and the 'Phallic Female' * Neither Fully Male nor Fully Female * Stories from the Cutting Room (i) Martha (ii) Patrick (iii) Avril (iv) Jane (v)Morgan
(vi) Diane * Growing up as Sarah-Jane * The 'Phallic Female' * Sex Liberated * PART 7: Changes in Standards of Care? * The North American Task Force on Intersex 2000 * The British Association of Paediatric Surgeons 2001 * PART 8: Lorna, Jessie, Sal: Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia * Frequency and Symptoms * Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and Genital Ambiguity * Surgical Treatment Protocols * Feminising Genitoplasty * Lorna's Story * Jessie's Story * Sal's Story * Childhood Sexual Abuse? * PART 9: Jacob's Story * A Tentative 'Atypical CAH' Diagnosis * Growing Up as a Girl * Living as a Woman with a Woman * Jacob's Physical Transition * Living as a Man with a Woman * Binary, Spectrum, Continuum * PART 10: Joanne, Helen, Barbara: Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome * Frequency and Symptoms * Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome * Joanne's 'Monstrous Feminine' * Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome * Helen's 'Phallic Female' * Barbara's Marriage and Partial AIS * Sex of Rearing * PART 11: Severe Undervirilisation in Genetic Males * 5-Alpha Reductase Deficiency * Testicular Regression Syndrome * Severe Hypospadias * 'Micropenis' or 'Microphallus' * PART 12: 'Hermaphroditism' and Gonadal Dysgenesis * 'True Hermaphrodites' * 'Female Pseudohermaphrodites' * 'Male Pseudohermaphrodites' * Complete Gonadal Dysgenesis * Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis * Anja's Story * PART 13: Sex Chromosome Variations: Klinefelter Syndrome * Male or female? * Genetic Sex and the Extra X * Dr Harry Klinefelter * Intersex or Not? * Parents: Marie, Stefan, K, Nic, Debra and Keith * XXY troubled . . . * Chris: An 'Epicene' Person * Pete's Story: A Man with Breasts * 'Sex Essentialism' * David: A 'Beautiful Variation' * Liam: The 'Menstruating Man' * Testosterone * Tony's Story * Concluding Comments * PART 14: Sex Chromosome Variations: Turner Syndrome * Turner Syndrome: An Intersex Condition? * Symptoms and Frequency * Non-Functioning Ovaries * But Is it Intersex? * PART 15: The Convention of a Conclusion