Winner, 2017 Sex and Gender Distinguished Book Award, presented by
the American Sociological Association Winner, 2016 Donald Light
Award for the Applied or Public Practice of Medical Sociology,
presented by the American Sociological Association A personal,
compelling perspective on how medical diagnoses can profoundly
hurt, or help, the lived experiences of entire communities When
sociologist Georgiann Davis was a teenager, her doctors discovered
that she possessed XY chromosomes, marking her as intersex. Rather
than share this information with her, they withheld the diagnosis
in order to "protect" the development of her gender identity; it
was years before Davis would see her own medical records as an
adult and learn the truth. Davis' experience is not unusual. Many
intersex people feel isolated from one another and violated by
medical practices that support conventional notions of the
male/female sex binary which have historically led to secrecy and
shame about being intersex. Yet, the rise of intersex activism and
visibility in the US has called into question the practice of
classifying intersex as an abnormality, rather than as a mere
biological variation. This shift in thinking has the potential to
transform entrenched intersex medical treatment. In Contesting
Intersex, Davis draws on interviews with intersex people, their
parents, and medical experts to explore the oft-questioned views on
intersex in medical and activist communities, as well as the
evolution of thought in regards to intersex visibility and
transparency. She finds that framing intersex as an abnormality is
harmful and can alter the course of one's life. In fact,
controversy over this framing continues, as intersex has been
renamed a 'disorder of sex development' throughout medicine. This
happened, she suggests, as a means for doctors to reassert their
authority over the intersex body in the face of increasing intersex
activism in the 1990s and feminist critiques of intersex medical
treatment. Davis argues the renaming of 'intersex' as a 'disorder
of sex development' is strong evidence that the intersex diagnosis
is dubious. Within the intersex community, though, disorder of sex
development terminology is hotly disputed; some prefer not to use a
term which pathologizes their bodies, while others prefer to think
of intersex in scientific terms. Although terminology is currently
a source of tension within the movement, Davis hopes intersex
activists and their allies can come together to improve the lives
of intersex people, their families, and future generations.
However, for this to happen, the intersex diagnosis, as well as
sex, gender, and sexuality, needs to be understood as socially
constructed phenomena. A personal journey into medical and social
activism, Contesting Intersex presents a unique perspective on how
medical diagnoses can affect lives profoundly. Ask us about setting
up a Skype-in with the author for your class Watch Georgiann Davis
in National Geographic's Gender Revolution documentary with Katie
Couric
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