| Description |
xiii, 213 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-206) and index. |
| Contents |
Beyond pink and blue -- Medical sex assignment -- Stigma, secrecy, and shame -- Seeds of change -- Intersex pride -- Implications of intersex mobilization -- Methodological appendix. |
| Summary |
"Approximately one in every two thousand infants born in America each year is sexually ambiguous in such a way that doctors cannot immediately determine the child's sex. Some children's chromosomal sexuality contradicts their sexual characteristics. Others have the physical traits of both sexes, or of neither. Is surgical intervention or sex assignment of intersexed children necessary for their physical and psychological health as the medical and mental health communities largely assume? Should parents raise sexually ambiguous children as one gender or another and keep them ignorant of their medical history? Drawing upon life history interviews with adults who were treated for intersexuality as children, Sharon E. Preves explores how such individuals experience and cope with being labeled sexual deviants in a society that demands sexual conformity. Preves frames their stories within a sociological discussion of gender, the history of intersex medicalization, the recent political mobilization of intersexed adults, and the implications of their activism on identity negotiation, medical practice, and cultural norms. By demonstrating how intersexed people manage and create their own identities, often in conflict with their medical diagnosis, Preves argues that medical intervention into intersexuality often creates, rather than mitigates, the stigma these people suffer"--Publisher description. |
| Subject |
Intersex people -- Identity.
|
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Intersex people -- Identity. |
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Intersexuality -- Psychological aspects.
|
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Intersexuality -- Psychological aspects. |
|
Intersexuality. |
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Intersexuality -- Social aspects.
|
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Intersexuality -- Social aspects. |
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Gender identity.
|
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Gender identity. |
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Intersex people. |
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Intersex variations. |
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Gender identity. |
| ISBN |
0813532280 cloth |
|
9780813532288 cloth |
|
0813532299 paperback |
|
9780813532295 paperback |
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