Chastity Bono’s decision to physically become a man has left us to wonder: What happens to those who are physically one sex but want to be the other? Human sexuality then becomes something that has shades of gray, varied interpretations and repercussions far beyond the bedroom.
In “Between XX and XY: Intersexuality and the Myth of the Two Sexes,” author Gerald Callahan breaks down the general belief that there is only the male and the female. He argues that the idea that there are only two sexes is a mere myth we hold on to to make sex simple.
After discovering that, every year, more than 65,000 children are born who are not obviously boys or girls, Callahan wondered, “Why has this become so arcane? Our classical preconceptions about sex do not fit with the real world.”
Unlike Bono, those born as intersex individuals cannot be traditionally identified. “I do see transgender and intersex as two very different things,” Callahan says. “Most transgender people fit what we think as a man or a woman should be, and yet they don’t feel like the sex that they are. In intersex, from the onset, no one can comfortably put a pronoun on the person.”
LA Times (thanks, Fosca)
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shades of grey not shades of gray
Its a UK based site, so please use proper UK English
Why does science feel the need to label? In any given situation ultimately the individual needs to be happy with who they are and not what they think they should be. SEX Isn’t the be all and end all! X
Interesting…
Really important topic imo.
Just wanted to point something out though: “Human sexuality then becomes something that has shades of gray”. “Sexuality” refers to sexual preference, which isn’t the issue here.
This seems sort of old hat – it’s very similar to what Judith Butler has argued (from a theoretical perspective) since her 1990 book Gender Trouble. 2003 (or thereabouts) took up the issue of trans- and intersexuality more specifically… Nice to see biologists catching up at the back, for once.
Sounds like an interesting book. It is a bit weird that people with no problems in this area focus a bit on these things like that. At least, if you think of it. As if you leasure using other people’s problems. But it is interesting, as it is with most things that are different than (in) yourself.
Sometimes people can not even see to their strongest male/female inside .. it would not be accepted, some might even end up in jail.
We all have both sides, that’s more my opinion. We all contain male and female .. one is on top in all of us .. and at times it swops during life, or all the time .. Life asks for different ways of approaching it, dealing with it. Passive, active (that’s the cliche way of seeing upon male/female). What is .. female/male .. catching it in words is not easy. Is it indeed just the body? Or do we get fooled by the body and was there no real difference in the I’s inside those vehicles that drive us around.
@spell master it’s a quote from an article from the LA Times, so the spelling is correct.
This is interesting stuff. I think a lot of people never feel they fit either sex, but the world makes you feel like you should be one thing or another. I can’t see it changing in the near future.
JoJo – I think your confusing the way science uses labels and the way the public uses labels.
Also wanted to reiterate Ruth’s point…
Sexuality and gender are very different issues. They can be likened to a knife and a spoon… very different creatures but both make food much more practical. With gender and sexuality both frame societies view of a person making walking on this sphere a much more practical enterprise. Still… very different.
The post is very misleading because for a fact, Intersex is not transsexuality. Intersex people do not want anything to do with transsexuals. As an intersex person, I find the post very misleading and very demeaning towards intersex people.
there have been some cultures around the world and in history that used to think there were 3 or even 4 anyways
I’ve noticed e few forms now have a ‘prefer not to say’ option under the traditoinal male/female choice.
About time too !
It has long been known that some people fit neither catagory.
It must be hell going through life constantly having to explain that.
@Nicky
The last paragraph of the post clearly says that there is a difference between intersex and transgendered people. You say that “intersex people don’t want anything to do with transsexuals”. That is as bigoted as a cisgendered person saying that they want nothing to do with intersex people. While transgendered people and intersex people are not the same thing, some of the issues and challenges the two groups face are very similar, such as attacks from ignorant and bigoted people. Before you try to distance yourself from other minority groups, remember the similarities between your situation and theirs.