Contesting Intersex
The Dubious Diagnosis
Format:Paperback
Publisher:New York University Press
Published:11th Sep '15
Should be back in stock very soon
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£74.00(9781479814152)
This book offers a personal perspective on intersex identities, exploring the impact of medical diagnoses on individuals and communities. Contesting Intersex challenges traditional views and advocates for change.
In Contesting Intersex, sociologist Georgiann Davis shares a deeply personal narrative about her journey with intersex identity. Diagnosed with XY chromosomes in her teenage years, Davis's doctors chose to withhold this information from her, believing it would protect her gender identity development. This decision reflects a broader trend in medical practice that often leaves intersex individuals feeling isolated and misunderstood. The book sheds light on the emotional and social implications of such medical decisions, emphasizing the need for transparency in healthcare.
Davis explores the historical context of intersex medical treatment, highlighting the stigma and secrecy that have long surrounded intersex identities. Through interviews with intersex individuals, their families, and medical professionals, she examines how the classification of intersex as an abnormality has been challenged by recent activism and increased visibility. This shift in perspective is crucial, as it not only impacts individual lives but also the larger societal understanding of gender and biological diversity.
Ultimately, Contesting Intersex advocates for a rethinking of how intersex is framed within medical discourse. Davis argues that the label 'disorder of sex development' perpetuates harmful stereotypes and reinforces medical authority over intersex bodies. By fostering dialogue and collaboration within the intersex community and its allies, she hopes to create a more inclusive future for intersex individuals, where their identities are recognized as valid and deserving of respect.
Davis presents a compelling and beautifully-crafted text about the complex issues of gender and sexual identity. How medicine and diagnosis can either come in aid of, or brutally disrupt the experience of intersexuality is an important paradox, worthy of reflection and debate. With this book, Davis gets the ball rolling and demands our attention. It is well-worth the read. -- Annemarie Jutel,author of Putting a Name to It: Diagnosis in Contemporary Society
Through piercing interviews and astute analysis, and in a readable style, Contesting Intersex gets at the heart of recent controversies about the medical management of intersex and perceptively tracks the political engagement of intersex activists. -- Elizabeth Reis,author of Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex
With refreshingly honest prose and an insider's insight, Georgiann Davis illuminates the ongoing, heated, and often painful debate about how best to respond to the naturally occurring diversity of sex development in human beings. This is groundbreaking work that is sure to become required reading for scholars of gender and the social history of medicine. -- Sharon Preves,author of Intersex and Identity: The Contested Self
The histories of medicine, social movements, and gender productivity collide in sociologist Daviss compelling account of how activists, parents, assorted medical specialists and institutions, and people with intersex traits respond to the diversity of human reproductive development...[T]his book will inspire and inform the wide readership it deserves. * Choice *
Davis provides her readers with a concise overview of her research as well as lists calls to action. Daviss strengths lie in the seamless blending of research, ethnography, interviews, and personal activism. * American Book Review *
Contesting Intersexis an essential update to studies of the intersex and a must-read for those interested in social movements, gender, medicalization, diagnosis, and the relationship between science and culture. * American Journal of Sociology *
Contesting Intersex is an unapologetic coalescence of Davis first-hand experiences of an intersex diagnosis and her academic inquiry into the topic. Whilst this, as she acknowledges, & may make the book read like an autoethnography at certain points, theory, politics and practice have never been discrete in intersex studies. Daviss own history and current participation in the intersex community help her to provide a circumspect consideration of the tensions at play. * Sociology of Health & Illness *
ISBN: 9781479887040
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 363g
240 pages