1st Edition
Intersex, Variations of Sex Characteristics, DSD Critical approaches
People with variations of sex characteristics (VSC) are born with chromosomal, gonadal and/or anatomical diversities that do not fit the typical definition of male or female. This book develops a social science of VSC, Intersex, and Disorders of Sex Development (DSD).
Issues of bodily autonomy, sex, gender and sexuality are highly topical. Yet, little is heard about people with VSCs, or the unique issues they face. This book is a collaborative project between intersex and endosex (non-intersex) authors that gives uninitiated readers a way into the complex debates surrounding IVSC. It breaks new ground theoretically whilst also presenting novel empirical material from a range of international sources. Issues of power, discrimination, identity, and agency are key to understanding the current situation for people with VSCs.
Bridging between intersex studies, medical literatures, and broader social science debates, this text will be of interest to those working in practice and policy positions, as well as students and scholars across a range of disciplines, especially those studying social inequality, embodiment, healthcare, sex and gender, LGBTQ+ issues, disability, globalisation, and political change.
1. Introduction to Variations of Sex Characteristics, Intersex, and DSD
Surya Monro
2. Intersex, Variations of Sex Characteristics, DSD: Understanding people’s lived experiences
Surya Monro and Adeline Berry
3. Intersex, Variations of Sex Characteristics and DSD: Social Theories
Surya Monro and Sean Saifa Wall
4. Intersex, Variations of Sex Characteristics and DSD: Critical approaches to medicine and healthcare
Surya Monro and Daniela Crocetti
5. Intersex, Variations of Sex Characteristics, DSD: Activism, Advocacy and Alliances
Daniela Crocetti and Surya Monro
6. Intersex, Variations of Sex Characteristics and DSD: International dynamics
Surya Monro
7. Intersex, Innate Variations of Sex Characteristics, and DSD: Human Rights, Equalities and Citizenship
Morgan Carpenter and Surya Monro
Biography
Surya Monro is a Professor in Sociology and Social Policy based at Loughborough University, UK. Surya has published substantially in the fields of gender, sex and sexuality, notably on LGBT and on Intersex issues. She is the author of Gender Politics: Citizenship, Activism, and Sexual Diversity (2005) and co-editor of Queer in Africa (2018).
Adeline Berry is a transgender and intersex research fellow at the University of Huddersfield. Their PhD research focuses on the life experiences and needs of older European intersex people. Their research interests include mental health, healthcare, gender, sex, sex work and epistemic injustice.
Morgan Carpenter is an Associate Professor of Practice at Sydney Health Ethics in the University of Sydney School of Public Health. His doctorate focused on epistemic injustice and the human rights and health of people with innate variations of sex characteristics.
Daniela Crocetti is a Research Fellow in medical anthropology at Bar-Ilan University. Their research has addressed the social history of the gendered body, genetic testing, rights mobilization in medical contexts, intersex rights, and parenting journeys.
Sean Saifa Wall (he/him/his) is a Black queer intersex activist and rising scholar. Since graduating from Williams, he has worked on many research projects that amplify the voices of queer, transgender and people of colour communities. Saifa was a Marie Skłowdoska-Curie fellow on the INIA project and received his PhD from the University of Huddersfield in April 2024.
