Intersex
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...
, in humans and other animals, describes variations in
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
characteristics including
chromosome
A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...
s,
gonad
A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland is a mixed gland that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. The male gonad, the testicle, produces sper ...
s,
sex hormones
Sex hormones, also known as sex steroids, gonadocorticoids and gonadal steroids, are steroid hormones that interact with vertebrate steroid hormone receptors. The sex hormones include the androgens, estrogens, and progestogens. Their effects are ...
, or
genital
A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...
s that, according to the UN
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...
, "do not fit typical binary notions of
male
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization.
A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...
or
female
Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gamet ...
bodies".
Intersex people were historically termed
hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...
s, "congenital eunuchs",
or even congenitally "frigid".
Such terms have fallen out of favor, now considered to be misleading and stigmatizing.
Intersex people have been treated in different ways by different cultures. Whether or not they were socially tolerated or accepted by any particular culture, the existence of intersex people was known to many ancient and pre-modern cultures and legal systems, and numerous historical accounts exist.
Ancient history
Sumer
A
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian
creation myth
A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...
from more than 4,000 years ago has
Ninmah
, deity_of=Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers
, image= Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal - Walters 42564 - Impression.jpg
, caption= Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sittin ...
, a
mother goddess
A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility goddess, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or th ...
, fashioning humanity out of clay.
She boasts that she will determine the fate – good or bad – for all she fashions:
Ancient Judaism
In traditional Jewish culture, intersex individuals were either ''
androgynos
In Jews, Jewish tradition, the term ''androgynos'' (אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס in Hebrew language, Hebrew, translation "intersex") refers to someone who possesses both male and female sexual characteristics. Due to the ambiguous nature of ...
'' or ''
tumtum'' and took on different gender roles, sometimes conforming to men's, sometimes to women's.
Ancient Indian Subcontinent
The
Tirumantiram
The ''Tirumantiram or Thirumantiram'' is a Tamil poetic work, written either in the 6th century CE or post 10th century CE by Tirumular and is the tenth of the twelve volumes of the ''Tirumurai'', the key texts of Saiva Siddhanta and the first k ...
Tirumular
Tirumular (also spelt Thirumoolar etc., originally known as Suntaranāthar) was a Tamil Shaivite mystic and writer, considered one of the sixty-three Nayanmars and one of the 18 Siddhars. His main work, the ''Tirumantiram'' (also sometimes wri ...
recorded the relationship between intersex people and
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
.
Ardhanarishvara
The Ardhanarishvara ( sa, अर्धनारीश्वर, Ardhanārīśvara, the half-female Lord, translit-std=IAST), is a form of the Hindu deity Shiva combined with his consort Parvati. Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half-male and half ...
, an androgynous composite form of male deity
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
and female deity
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...
, originated in
Kushan
The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
culture as far back as the first century CE. A statue depicting Ardhanarishvara is included in India's
Meenkashi Temple; this statue clearly shows both male and female bodily elements.
Due to the presence of intersex traits, Ardhanarishvara is associated with the ''
hijra
Hijra, Hijrah, Hegira, Hejira, Hijrat or Hijri may refer to:
Islam
* Hijrah (often written as ''Hejira'' in older texts), the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE
* Migration to Abyssinia or First Hegira, of Muhammad's followers ...
,''
a third sex category that has been accepted in South Asia for centuries.
After interviewing and studying the ''hijra'' for many years,
Serena Nanda writes in her book ''Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India'' as follows: "There is a widespread belief in India that ''hijras'' are born
hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...
s
ntersexand are taken away by the ''hijra'' community at birth or in childhood, but I found no evidence to support this belief among the ''hijras'' I met, all of whom joined the community voluntarily, often in their teens."
According to
Gilbert Herdt
Gilbert H. Herdt (born February 24, 1949) is Emeritus Professor of Human Sexuality Studies and Anthropology and a Founder of the Department of Sexuality Studies and National Sexuality Resource Center at San Francisco State University. He founded ...
, the ''hijra'' differentiate between "born" and "made" individuals, or those who have physical intersex traits by birth and those who become ''hijra'' through penectomy, respectively.
According to Indian tradition, the ''hijra'' perform a traditional song and dance as part of a family's celebration of the birth of a male child; during the performance, they also inspect the newborn's genitals to verify its sex. Herdt states that it is widely accepted that if the child is intersex, the ''hijra'' have a right to claim it as part of their community.
However, Warne and Raza argue that an association between intersex and hijra people is mostly unfounded but provokes parental fear.
The ''hijra'' are mentioned in some versions of the ''
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
'', a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
epic poem from around 300 BCE, in a
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
about the hero
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
instructing his devotees to return to the city
Ayodhya
Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...
rather than follow him across the city's adjacent river into banishment. Since he gives this instruction specifically to "all you men and women," his ''hijra'' followers, being neither, remain on the banks of the river for fourteen years until Rama returns from exile.
In the
Tantric sect of Hinduism, there is a belief that all individuals possess both male and female components. This belief can be seen explicitly in the Tantric concept of a Supreme Being with both male and female
sex organ
A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...
s, which constitutes "one complete sex" and the ideal physical form.
Ancient Greece
According to
Leah DeVun
Leah DeVun is an American contemporary artist and historian who lives in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BA and PhD from Columbia University and is an associate professor at Rutgers University, where she teaches women's and gender history.
Work
D ...
, a "traditional Hippocratic/Galenic model of sexual difference – popularized by the late antique physician
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one of ...
and the ascendant theory for much of the Middle Ages – viewed sex as a spectrum that encompassed masculine men, feminine women, and many shades in between, including hermaphrodites, a perfect balance of male and female".
DeVun contrasts this with an Aristotelian view of intersex, which argued that "hermaphrodites were not an intermediate sex but a case of doubled or superfluous genitals", and this later influenced Aquinas.
In the
mythological tradition,
Hermaphroditus
In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus or Hermaphroditos (; grc, Ἑρμαφρόδιτος, Hermaphróditos, ) was a child of Aphrodite and Hermes. According to Ovid, he was born a remarkably handsome boy whom the naiad Salmacis attempted to rape an ...
was a beautiful youth who was the child of
Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...
(Roman
Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
) and Aphrodite (Venus). Ovid wrote the most influential narrative of how Hermaphroditus became androgynous, emphasizing that although the handsome youth was on the
cusp of sexual adulthood, he rejected love as
Narcissus had, and likewise at the site of a reflective pool. There the water nymph
Salmacis
Salmacis ( grc, Σαλμακίς) was an atypical Naiad nymph of Greek mythology. She rejected the ways of the virginal Culture of Greece, Greek goddess Artemis in favour of vanity and idleness.
Mythology Ovid's version
Salmacis' attempted ...
saw and desired him. He spurned her, and she pretended to withdraw until, thinking himself alone, he undressed to bathe in her waters. She then flung herself upon him, and prayed that they might never be parted. The gods granted this request, and thereafter the body of Hermaphroditus contained both male and female. As a result, men who drank from the waters of the spring Salmacis supposedly "grew soft with the vice of ''
impudicitia''". The myth of
Hylas
In classical mythology, Hylas () was a youth who served as Heracles's (Roman Hercules) companion and servant. His abduction by water nymphs was a theme of ancient art, and has been an enduring subject for Western art in the classical tradition ...
, the young companion of Hercules who was
abducted by water nymphs, shares with Hermaphroditus and Narcissus the theme of the dangers that face the beautiful adolescent male as he transitions to adult masculinity, with varying outcomes for each.
Ancient Rome
![Ermafrodito, affresco Romano di Ercolano (1–50 d](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Ermafrodito%2C_affresco_Romano_di_Ercolano_%281%E2%80%9350_d.C.%2C_Museo_Archeologico_Nazionale_di_Napoli%29_-_02.jpg)
Pliny notes that "there are even those who are born of both sexes, whom we call hermaphrodites, at one time ''
androgyn
Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression.
When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in h ...
i''" (''andr-'', "man," and ''gyn-'', "woman", from the Greek). However, the era also saw a historical account of a congenital eunuch.
The Sicilian historian
Diodorus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
(latter 1st-century BC) wrote of "hermaphroditus" in the first century BCE:
Diodorus also recalled the lives of
Diophantus of Abae
Diophantus ( grc, Διόφαντος), born Herais ( grc, Ἡραΐς; 2nd century BC), was an intersex person who lived in the second century BC and fought as a soldier with Alexander Balas. His life is known from the works of Diodorus Siculus.
...
and
Callon of Epidaurus Callon (born Callo) was an intersex person, who may have been a priestess and lived in the second century BC. The medical treatment he underwent is the first recorded example of gender affirmation surgery. His life is known from the works of Diodor ...
, both of whom had conditions which would correspond with intersex conditions.
Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...
(''c.'' 560–636) described a hermaphrodite fancifully as those who "have the right breast of a man and the left of a woman, and after coitus in turn can both sire and bear children." Under Roman law, as many others, a hermaphrodite had to be classed as either male or female.
Will Roscoe Will Roscoe (February 8, 1955) is an American activist, scholar, and author based in San Francisco, California.
Early life
Will Roscoe was born on February 8, 1955. He grew up in Missoula, Montana.
Gay activism
Roscoe helped found the Lambda Alli ...
writes that the hermaphrodite represented a "violation of social boundaries, especially those as fundamental to daily life as male and female."
In
traditional Roman religion, a hermaphroditic birth was a kind of ''
prodigium
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on ...
'', an occurrence that signalled a disturbance of the ''
pax deorum
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on ...
'', Rome's treaty with the gods. But Pliny observed that while hermaphrodites were once considered
portents
An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...
, in his day they had become objects of delight (''deliciae'') who were
trafficked in an exclusive slave market. According to historian
John R. Clarke, depictions of Hermaphroditus were very popular among the Romans:
In c.400,
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...
wrote in ''The Literal Meaning of Genesis'' that humans were created in two sexes, despite "as happens in some births, in the case of what we call androgynes".
Historical accounts of intersex people include the
sophist
A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...
and
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
Favorinus, described as a
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...
(εὐνοῦχος) by birth.
[Philostratus, VS 489] Mason and others thus describe Favorinus as having an
intersex
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...
trait.
[Mason, H.J., Favorinus’ Disorder: Reifenstein's Syndrome in Antiquity?, in Janus 66 (1978) 1–13.]
A broad sense of the term "eunuch" is reflected in the compendium of ancient
Roman law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
s collected by
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
in the 6th century known as the Digest or
Pandects
The ''Digest'', also known as the Pandects ( la, Digesta seu Pandectae, adapted from grc, πανδέκτης , "all-containing"), is a name given to a compendium or digest of juristic writings on Roman law compiled by order of the Byzantine e ...
. Those texts distinguish between the general category of eunuchs (''spadones'', denoting "one who has no generative power, an impotent person, whether by nature or by castration", D 50.16.128) and the more specific subset of ''castrati'' (castrated males, physically incapable of procreation). Eunuchs (''spadones'') sold in the slave markets were deemed by the jurist
Ulpian
Ulpian (; la, Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus; c. 170223? 228?) was a Roman jurist born in Tyre. He was considered one of the great legal authorities of his time and was one of the five jurists upon whom decisions were to be based according to ...
to be "not defective or diseased, but healthy", because they were anatomically able to procreate just like
monorchid
Monorchism (also monorchidism) is the state of having only one testicle within the scrotum.
Terminology
An individual having monorchism can be referred to as ''monorchid''.
Causes
This can be due to:
* One testicle not descending into the sc ...
s (D 21.1.6.2). On the other hand, as
Julius Paulus
Julius Paulus ( el, Ἰούλιος Παῦλος; fl. 2nd century and 3rd century AD), often simply referred to as Paul in English, was one of the most influential and distinguished Roman jurists. He was also a praetorian prefect under the Rom ...
pointed out, "if someone is a eunuch in such a way that he is missing a necessary part of his body" (D 21.1.7), then he would be deemed diseased. In these Roman legal texts, ''spadones (eunuchs)'' are eligible to marry women (D 23.3.39.1), institute posthumous heirs (D 28.2.6), and adopt children (Institutions of Justinian 1.11.9), ''unless'' they are ''castrati''.
Middle Ages
Islam
By the eighth century CE, records of Islamic legal rulings discuss individuals known in Arabic as ''khuntha.'' This term, which has been translated as "hermaphrodite," was used to apply to individuals with a range of intersex conditions, including
mixed gonadal disgenesis, male
hypospadias
Hypospadias is a common variation in fetal development of the penis in which the urethra does not open from its usual location in the head of the penis. It is the second-most common birth abnormality of the male reproductive system, affecting abou ...
,
partial androgen insensitivity syndrome
Partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (PAIS) is a condition that results in the partial inability of the Eukaryote#Animal cell, cell to respond to androgens. It is an X linked recessive condition. The partial unresponsiveness of the cell to the ...
,
5-alpha reductase deficiency, gonadal
aplasia
Aplasia (; from Greek ''a'', "not", "no" + ''plasis'', "formation") is a birth defect where an organ or tissue is wholly or largely absent. It is caused by a defect in a developmental process.
Aplastic anemia is the failure of the body to produ ...
, and
congenital adrenal hyperplasia
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of autosomal recessive disorders characterized by impaired cortisol synthesis. It results from the deficiency of one of the five enzymes required for the synthesis of cortisol in the adrenal cortex. ...
.
In Islamic law,
inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...
was determined based on sex, so it was sometimes necessary to attempt to determine the biological sex of sexually ambiguous heirs.
The first recorded case of this sort has been attributed to the seventh-century
Rashidun
, image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png
, caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs
, birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia
, known_for = Companions of t ...
caliph named '
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
, who attempted to settle an inheritance case between five brothers in which one brother had both a male and female
urinary opening. 'Ali advised the brothers that sex could be determined by site of urination in a practice called ''hukm al-mabal''; if urine exited the male opening, the individual was male, and if it exited the female opening, the individual was female. If it exited both openings simultaneously, as it did in this case, the heir would be given half of a male inheritance and half of a female inheritance.
Later, in the thirteenth century CE,
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
law expert Abu Zakariya al-Nawawi ruled that an individual whose sex could not be determined by ''hukm al-mabal'', such as those with urination from both openings or those with no identifiable sex organs, was assigned the intermediary sex category ''khuntha mushkil''.
Both
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...
and
Hanbali
The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools (''madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...
lawmakers also recognized that
puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...
could clarify a new dominant sex in intersex individuals who were labeled ''khuntha,'' male, or female in childhood. If a ''khuntha'' or male developed female secondary sex characteristics, performed vaginal sex, lactated, menstruated, or conceived, this person's legal sex could change to female. Conversely, if a ''khuntha'' or female developed male secondary sex characteristics, performed penetrative sex with a woman, or had an erection, their legal sex could change to male. This understanding of the effect of puberty on intersex conditions appears in Islamic law as early as the eleventh century CE, notably by
Ibn Qudama
Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī Muwaffaq al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad ( ar, ابن قدامة المقدسي موفق الدين ابو محمد عبد الله بن احمد بن محمد ; 1147 - 7 July 1223), often re ...
.
In the sixteenth century CE,
Ibrahim al-Halabi
Burhān ad-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ḥalabī (برهان الدين ٳبراهيم بن محمد بن ٳبراهيم الحلبى) was an Islamic jurist (''faqīh'') who was born around 1460 in Aleppo, and who died in 1549 ...
, a member of the
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...
school of
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
in Islam, directed slave owners to use special gender-neutral language when freeing intersex slaves. He recognized that language manumitting "males" or "females" would not directly apply to them.
Christianity
In ''Abnormal'' (''Les anormaux''),
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...
suggested it is likely that, "from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century ... hermaphrodites were considered to be monsters and were executed, burnt at the stake and their ashes thrown to the winds."
However, Christof Rolker disputes this, arguing that "Contrary to what has been claimed, there is no evidence for hermaphrodites being persecuted in the Middle Ages, and the learned laws did certainly not provide any basis for such persecution".
Canon Law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
sources provide evidence of alternative perspectives, based upon prevailing visual indications and the performance of gendered roles.
The 12th-century ''
Decretum Gratiani
The ''Decretum Gratiani'', also known as the ''Concordia discordantium canonum'' or ''Concordantia discordantium canonum'' or simply as the ''Decretum'', is a collection of canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook b ...
'' states that "Whether an hermaphrodite may witness a testament, depends on which sex prevails" ("Hermafroditus an ad testamentum adhiberi possit, qualitas sexus incalescentis ostendit.").
In the late twelfth century, the canon lawyer
Huguccio stated that, "If someone has a beard, and always wishes to act like a man (excercere virilia) and not like a female, and always wishes to keep company with men and not with women, it is a sign that the male sex prevails in him and then he is able to be a witness, where a woman is not allowed".
Concerning the ordination of 'hermaphrodites', Huguccio concluded: "If therefore the person is drawn to the feminine more than the male, the person does not receive the order. If the reverse, the person is able to receive but ought not to be ordained on account of deformity and monstrosity."
Henry de Bracton
Henry of Bracton, also Henry de Bracton, also Henricus Bracton, or Henry Bratton also Henry Bretton (c. 1210 – c. 1268) was an English cleric and jurist.
He is famous now for his writings on law, particularly ''De legibus et consuetudinibus ...
's ''De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae'' ("On the Laws and Customs of England"), c. 1235, classifies mankind as "male, female, or hermaphrodite", and "A hermaphrodite is classed with male or female according to the predominance of the sexual organs."
The thirteenth-century canon lawyer
Henry of Segusio
Henry of Segusio, usually called Hostiensis, (c. 1200 – 6 or 7 November 1271) was an Italian canonist of the thirteenth century, born at Susa (Segusio), in the ancient Diocese of Turin. He died at Lyon.
Life
He undertook the study of Roman law ...
argued that a "perfect hermaphrodite" where no sex prevailed should choose their legal gender under oath.
Archaeology
A 2021 study in the ''European Journal of Archaeology'' concluded that a grave from 1050 to 1300 in
Hattula
Hattula is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Tavastia Proper region and until 2010 it was located in the province of Southern Finland. Hattula is almost completely surrounded by Hämeenlinna, only in the north it shares the border with ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, containing a body buried in feminine clothing with brooches, furs and a hiltless sword, which earlier researchers speculated to be two bodies (a male and female) or a powerful woman, was one person with
Klinefelter syndrome
Klinefelter syndrome (KS), also known as 47,XXY, is an aneuploid genetic condition where a male has an additional copy of the X chromosome. The primary features are infertility and small, poorly functioning testicles. Usually, symptoms are su ...
and that "the overall context of the grave indicates that it was a respected person".
Early modern period
The 17th-century English jurist and judge
Edward Coke
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
(Lord Coke), wrote in his ''
Institutes of the Lawes of England
The ''Institutes of the Lawes of England'' are a series of legal treatises written by Sir Edward Coke. They were first published, in stages, between 1628 and 1644. Widely recognized as a foundational document of the common law, they have been ci ...
'' on laws of succession stating, "Every heire is either a male, a female, or an hermaphrodite, that is both male and female. And an hermaphrodite (which is also called ''Androgynus'') shall be heire, either as male or female, according to that kind of sexe which doth prevaile." The ''Institutes'' are widely held to be a foundation of
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
.
A few historical accounts of intersex people exist due primarily to the discovery of relevant legal records, including those of
Thomas(ine) Hall
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Taylor => Brown
Brown => ?
hort => ?
Vaughan => ?
Rose => ?
Bridenbaugh => ?
MSmith => reis2005
Floyd => ?
reis2005 => reis2005
Here's some citations which I removed in try ...
(17th-century United States),
Eleno de Céspedes, a 16th-century intersex person in Spain , and
Fernanda Fernández (18th-century Spain).
In 2019 the Smithsonian Channel aired a documentary "American's Hidden Stories: The General was Female?" with evidence that
Casimir Pulaski
Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski of the Ślepowron coat of arms (; ''Casimir Pulaski'' ; March 4 or March 6, 1745 Makarewicz, 1998 October 11, 1779) was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called, tog ...
, the important
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
hero, may have been intersex.
In a court case, heard at the
Castellania in 1774 during the
Order of St. John in
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, 17-year-old Rosa Mifsud from
Luqa
Luqa ( mt, Ħal Luqa, , ) is a town located in the Southern Region of Malta, 4.3 km away from the capital Valletta. With a population of 5,945 as of March 2014, it is a small but densely populated settlement which is typical of Malta's old ...
, later described in the ''British Medical Journal'' as a
pseudo-hermaphrodite
Pseudohermaphroditism is a condition in which an individual has a matching chromosomal and gonadal tissue (ovary or testis) sex, but mismatching external genitalia.
Female pseudohermaphroditism refers to an individual with ovaries and external gen ...
, petitioned for a change in sex classification from female.
Two clinicians were appointed by the court to perform an examination. They found that "the male sex is the dominant one".
The examiners were the
Physician-in-Chief and a senior surgeon, both working at the
Sacra Infermeria.
The
Grandmaster himself made took the final decision that Mifsud would, from that point forward, wear only male garb.
Maria Dorothea Derrier/Karl Dürrge was a German intersex person who made their living for 30 years as a
human research subject. Born in Potsdam in 1780, and designated as female at birth, they assumed a male identity around 1807. Traveling intersex persons, like Derrier and
Katharina/Karl Hohmann, who allowed themselves to be examined by physicians were instrumental in the development of codified standards for sexing.
Mid modern period
![Tượng Lê Văn Duyệt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/T%C6%B0%E1%BB%A3ng_L%C3%AA_V%C4%83n_Duy%E1%BB%87t.jpg)
During the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
, medical authors attempted to ascertain whether or not humans could be hermaphrodites, adopting a precise biological definition to the term. During this period, doctors introduced the terms "true hermaphrodite" for an individual who has both ovarian and testicular tissue, verified under a microscope, "male pseudo-hermaphrodite" for a person with testicular tissue, but either female or ambiguous sexual anatomy, and "female pseudo-hermaphrodite" for a person with ovarian tissue, but either male or ambiguous sexual anatomy.
Historical accounts including those of Vietnamese general
Lê Văn Duyệt
Lê Văn Duyệt)., group=n (1763 or 1764 – 30 July 1832) was a Vietnamese general who helped Nguyễn Ánh—the future Emperor Gia Long—put down the Tây Sơn wars, unify Vietnam and establish the Nguyễn dynasty. After the Nguyễn came ...
(18th/19th-century) who helped to unify Vietnam;
Gottlieb Göttlich, a 19th-century
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
travelling medical case; and
Levi Suydam, an intersex person in 19th-century USA whose capacity to vote in male-only elections was questioned.
The memoirs of 19th-century intersex Frenchwoman
Herculine Barbin
Herculine Adélaïde Barbin, later known as Abel Barbin (November 8, 1838 – February 1868), was a French intersex person who was assigned female at birth and raised in a convent, but was later reclassified as male by a court of law, after an affa ...
were published by
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...
in 1980. Her birthday is marked in
Intersex Day of Remembrance
Intersex Day of Remembrance, also known as Intersex Solidarity Day, is an internationally observed civil awareness day designed to highlight issues faced by intersex people. It marks the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a French intersex person who ...
on 8 November.
Contemporary period
![Phall-O-meter%27, Intersex Society of North Wellcome L0031936](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Phall-O-meter%27%2C_Intersex_Society_of_North_Wellcome_L0031936.jpg)
The term intersexuality was coined by
Richard Goldschmidt
Richard Benedict Goldschmidt (April 12, 1878 – April 24, 1958) was a German-born American geneticist. He is considered the first to attempt to integrate genetics, development, and evolution. He pioneered understanding of reaction norms, gen ...
in the 1917 paper ''Intersexuality and the endocrine aspect of sex''. The first suggestion to replace the term 'hermaphrodite' with 'intersex' came from British specialist Cawadias in the 1940s.
[Cawadias, A. P. (1943) ''Hermaphoditus the Human Intersex'', London, Heinemann Medical Books Ltd.] This suggestion was taken up by specialists in the UK during the 1960s. Historical accounts from the early twentieth century include that of Australian Florrie Cox, whose marriage was annulled due to "malformation frigidity".
Since the rise of modern medical science in Western societies, some intersex people with ambiguous external genitalia have had their genitalia surgically modified to resemble either female or male genitals. Surgeons pinpointed intersex babies as a "social emergency" once they were born. The parents of the intersex babies were not content about the situation. Psychologists, sexologists, and researchers frequently still believe that it is better for a baby's genitalia to be changed when they are younger than when they are a mature adult. These scientists believe that early intervention helped avoid gender identity confusion.
This was called the 'Optimal Gender Policy', and it was initially developed in the 1950s by
John Money
John William Money (8 July 1921 – 7 July 2006) was a New Zealand psychologist, sexologist and author known for his research into sexual identity and Sex determination and differentiation (human), biology of gender. He was one of the first ...
. Money and others believed that children would in general develop a gender identity that matched sex of rearing (this view has since been challenged, based in part on Money's inaccurate reporting of success in the infant sex reassignment of
David Reimer
David Reimer (born Bruce Peter Reimer; 22 August 1965 – 4 May 2004) was a Canadian man born male but raised as a girl following medical advice and intervention after his penis was severely injured during a botched circumcision in infancy. ...
). The primary goal of assignment was to choose the sex that would lead to the least inconsistency between external anatomy and assigned psyche (gender identity).
Since advances in surgery have made it possible for intersex conditions to be concealed, many people are not aware of how frequently intersex conditions arise in human beings or that they occur at all. Dialog between what were once antagonistic groups of activists and clinicians has led to only slight changes in medical policies and how intersex patients and their families are treated in some locations. Numerous civil society organizations and human rights institutions now call for an end to unnecessary "normalizing" interventions.
The first public demonstration by intersex people took place in Boston on October 26, 1996, outside the venue in Boston where the
American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C.
Background
The Academy was founded ...
was holding its annual conference.
The group demonstrated against "normalizing" treatments, and carried a sign saying "Hermaphrodites With Attitude".
The event is now commemorated by
Intersex Awareness Day
Intersex Awareness Day is an internationally observed awareness day each October 26, designed to highlight human rights issues faced by intersex people.
History
The event marks the first public demonstration by intersex people in North America ...
.
In 2011,
Christiane Völling
Christiane Völling (born 17 April 1959) is the first intersex person known to have successfully sued for damages in a case brought for non-consensual surgical intervention described as a non-consensual sex reassignment. She was awarded €100,00 ...
became the first intersex person known to have successfully sued for damages in a case brought for non-consensual surgical intervention.
In April 2015,
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
became the first country to outlaw non-consensual medical interventions to modify sex anatomy, including that of intersex people.
See also
*
Timeline of intersex history
The following is a timeline of intersex history.
Timeline
Pre-history
* Sumerian creation myths, 4000 years ago, include the fashioning of a body with atypical sex characteristics.
Antiquity
* Hippocrates and Galen view sex as a spectrum bet ...
Footnotes
External links
{{Intersex
Intersex in history
LGBT history