Interdisciplinary and Global Perspectives on Intersex

Description

This edited collection interrogates how social and cultural representations of individuals with intersex variations impact how they are understood and treated from legal and medical perspectives across the world. Contributors consider how novelists, filmmakers, artists, and medical professionals have represented people with intersex variations, and highlight the importance of ethical representation and autonomy to encourage wider cultural and medical knowledge of intersex variations as a naturally occurring phenomenon. The text also examines the ways in which individuals with intersex variations are represented and viewed in India, Italy, Pakistan and Israel, as well as how this impacts decision making for the individuals, families and medical providers. This book argues that reactions to intersex variations will not change unless they are no longer presented as treatable disorders. It positions representation at the forefront, shifting the emphasis away from a concern for maintaining gender norms to upholding the human rights of intersex people. This volume will be of interest to researchers and scholars in intersex studies as well as policymakers and activists. Acknowledgements Contents Notes on Contributors List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction Objectives The Field of Intersex Studies Contributions References Part I: Representing Intersex Chapter 2: Intersex in Fictional Films Throughout History: Towards a Cinema of Inclusion? Background Intersex or DSD: A Brief Introduction Middlesex and the Challenge of Representation The Power of Images and Study Aims Methods Results General Film Characteristics Narrative Representation of Intersex Variations on Screen Coming-of-Age Story4 Modern Myth-Telling Camp-Horror Tales Visual Portrayal of Intersex Variations on Screen The Metaphor of Liminality Fascination with the Corporeal Dimension Traditional Gender Roles and Sexuality Animals as Allies, Animals as Alter Ego Discussion Limitations Conclusions References Chapter 3: ‘Declining to Describe’: Intersex Narrators and Textual Visibility ‘The Uninvited Act of Looking’: Normativity and Representation Middlesex’s Disembodied Narrator and the Objectification of the Experiencing-I The Refusal to ‘Help Visualise’: Ethical Erasures in Confessions of the Fox Conclusion References Chapter 4: The Importance of Narrative in Intersex Representation: A Literary Reading of John Money’s Case Histories The Cultural Role of Myth: Hermaphroditus and Modern Intersex Narratives John Money: The Author-God of Intersex Representation Conclusion References Chapter 5: Toxic Sexing: Aaron Apps’ Intersex Poetics in Our Chemically Altered Age Toxic Exposures Transsex Panics Toxic Becomings Pure Sex Mourning a Toxic Planet Frogs and the Inevitable End References Chapter 6: ‘This Is What I Am and Who I Am’: Exploring Authorship and Ethics in Intersex Research and Reflective Diaries Introduction Intersex Life Writing The Importance of Methodological Decisions Interviews in Intersex Research Intentions Behind Methods Power and Control Diaries in Research Experiences of Diary-Writing Conclusion References Chapter 7: When Bioethics Fails: Intersex, Epistemic Injustice and Advocacy Introduction Interview Conclusion References Chapter 8: Afterword to “Representing Intersex” Conclusions References Part II: Global Intersex Chapter 9: Examining Autonomy and Consent in Gender Assignment Decisions on Intersex People in India Introduction Autonomy Power Dynamics in the Medical Complex Consent Process Doctors as Research Participants Impact of Intersectional Axes of Marginality on Doctor-Patient Relationships Concluding Remarks References Chapter 10: An Apparent Paradox: The Bio-medicalisation of Intersex Variations in Italy Research Framework, Methodology, Definitions and Terminology An Apparent Paradox: Biological Variability and ‘Normalisation’ of Intersex Bodies Protocols and Practices in Italy Within the International Context Concluding Remarks: A Matter of Human Rights References Chapter 11: A Critical Analysis of the Transgender (Intersex) Persons Act, 2018, in Pakistan Versus United Nations Recommendations Introduction Analysis Conclusion References Chapter 12: Towards an Inclusive Approach to Harmful Practices: The Case of Western Elective Surgeries on Intersex Children Introduction Historical Background Main Features of HTPs Harmfulness Traditional and Cultural Critics of the Approach to HTP Elective Surgeries on People with Intersex Traits Harmfulness Cultural and/or Traditional Conclusion References Legal Sources Chapter 13: The Geneticisation of Intersex Bodies in Israel Introduction The Medicalisation and Geneticisation of Intersex/DSD Bodies The Medicalisation and the Geneticisation of Intersex/DSD Bodies in Israel Methods Control and Lack of Control of Intersex/DSD Bodies “PGD Is Preferable to Pregnancy Termination” Certainty and Uncertainty in Genetic Diagnosis Practices Discussion Appendix References Chapter 14: Western Management of Intersex and the Myth of Patient-Centred Care Introduction A New Care Standard Patient-Centred Care Team Characteristics Medical Overreach and Psychological Disengagement Implications for Childhood Genital Surgery Conclusion References Chapter 15: Global Intersex, an Afterword: Global Medicine, Connected Communities, and Universal Human Rights Nomenclature Global Medicine Connected Communities Universal Human Rights References Index