Intersex: A Perilous Difference

Holmes (sociology, Wilfrid Laurier U.) uses her work in cultural studies, specifically the performance character of gender and the marginalization of persons with atypical bodies and abilities, to enrich her personal experiences with intersexuality. She shows how those labeled "hermaphrodites" exist in an arbitrary binary of strictly male and female identities, bodies and roles, and how medical practice is obsessed with making all bodies confine to an arbitrary configuration. She describes the "trouble" with intersexuality to be social and not biological, and advocates turning from medicalization to acceptance of intersexuals as complete, viable and beautiful humans. Distributed by Associated University Presses. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)