Intersexuality...
Mar. 2nd, 2010 10:16 pmBetween XX and XY: Intersexuality and the Myth of Two Sexes by Gerald N. Callahan. I read this because I heard an interview with Dr. Callahan on CBC Radio, and was impressed by his intelligence and sense of empathy. Being interested in the subject in any case, I thought it worth getting and reading his book.
And it was, but what I got from his book wasn't what I expected to get from his book.
Callahan talks about what determines gender, and tries to pin it down. ( Not so easy. )
Though Callahan gives statistics for the number of children born with the various conditions that cause intersexuality (androgen insensitivity syndrome, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, 5-alpha reducase, and so on), I didn't see any statistic that told roughly what proportion of the total population is intersexed.
He never uses the word "transsexual" and I wondered what the relationship was between transsexuality and intersexuality. Nor does he mention people who are bigendered, which looks like a different situation entirely, but surely has similar implications. Sexual orientation issues become all the more complicated: if you don't fit standard definitions of male and female, the usual definitions don't apply.
It seems to me that we already have (in my part of the world, in any case) less rigidity than ever before with regard to gender roles, and much more tolerance in personal styles. But people are still regarded as 'male' or 'female', and I can't help thinking if that dichotomy were not taken as basic and definitive, life would be a little easier for everyone, regardless of their gender type.
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