Intersexuality and Intersectionality
Hermaphrodites with Attitude, the newsletter of the Intersex Society of North America, is working to end “shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries” imposed upon intersex people. Intersexuality, also termed Differences of Sexual Development (DSD), is when the components of one’s biological sex--chromosomes, external genitalia, secondary sex characteristics, internal reproductive organs, etc.--cannot be neatly categorized into the socially constructed sex binary. Many of the articles in these volumes are dedicated to the medical community’s regulation of the sex binary including terrible stories of unwanted genital surgeries, Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM), used to normalize a baby into a masculine or feminine body. On top of constituting a grave violation of a person’s bodily autonomy, these surgeries can also cause loss of sexual pleasure and reproductive function. Intersex people have many identities and consider themselves separate from the transgender community, though some intersex persons identify as transgender.
After extensive processing of the newsletters for the collection, we happened upon an interesting article exploring the racial dimensions of the intersex experience, another interesting point of intersectionality. Given the fact that almost 30% of intersex individuals are people of color, there really has not been enough discussion about the added stigma that these individuals face. Long discusses this aspect of identity through the example of the fragile masculinity that is associated with intersex men of color because of the assumptions regarding the size of their genitalia. Long ties these two concepts together through describing an individual's childhood experiences. Through this personal account, Long emphasizes the importance of providing education and resources to black communities in addition to the greater community.
