Intersex Matters : Biomedical Embodiment, Gender Regulation, and Transnational Activism

226 Pages·2017·1.279 MB·English

by  David A. Rubin

Intersex Matters
SUNY series in Queer Politics and Cultures
—————
Cynthia Burack and Jyl J. Josephson, editors
Intersex Matters
Biomedical Embodiment, Gender Regulation,
and Transnational Activism
DAVID A. RUBIN
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2017 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Diane Ganeles
Marketing, Michael Campochiaro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rubin, David A., 1978– author.
Title: Intersex matters : biomedical embodiment, gender regulation, and
transnational activism / David A. Rubin.
Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [2017] |
Series: SUNY series in queer politics and cultures | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016059171 (print) | LCCN 2017020893 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438467566 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438467559 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Intersex people—Identity. | Intersexuality. | Gender identity.
Classification: LCC HQ78 (ebook) | LCC HQ78 .R83 2017 (print) | DDC
306.76/85—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016059171
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my parents,
Terrill Kay Eliseuson and Jerome Leon Rubin
And for Max Beck and Berky Abreu, in Memoriam

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
Intersex Matters 1
Chapter 1
“An Unnamed Blank That Craved a Name”: A Genealogy of
Intersex as Gender 21
Chapter 2
Intersex Trouble in Feminist Studies 49
Chapter 3
“Stigma and Trauma, Not Gender”: A Genealogy of
US Intersex Activism 71
Chapter 4
Provincializing Intersex: Transnational Intersex Activism,
Human Rights, and Body Politics 97
Chapter 5
Intersectionality and Intersex in Transnational Times 121
Conclusion
Thinking Intersex Otherwise: Disorders of Sex Development,
Social Justice, and the Ethics of Uncertainty 141
Notes 153
Bibliography 185
Index 205

Acknowledgments
This book owes its livelihood to friends, family, advisors, and colleagues
who generously gave their time, feedback, advice, and encouragement along
the way. I am profoundly indebted to the individuals and communities
who helped to make this project a reality.
The book saw its beginnings nearly a decade ago in my disserta-
tion project for the Women’s Studies department at Emory University.
I am grateful to my chair, Lynne Huffer, and my committee, Rosemarie
Garland-Thomson and Holloway Sparks, for taking me under their wings,
commenting on countless drafts, and sharing their wisdom when I needed
it most. Lynne has been and remains a mentor without parallel. For her
invaluable advice and steadfast support, I cannot thank Lynne enough.
Thanks are due as well to my master’s thesis advisor, Miranda Joseph,
for her remarkable generosity and kindness, and to Sandra Soto, Charlie
Bertsch, and Laura Briggs for their formative inspiration and support. I
thank my undergraduate teachers Sue Ellen Jacobs, Tani E. Barlow, Priti
Ramamurthy, Aimee Carrillo Rowe, Shirley J. Yee, Steven J. Shapiro, and
Matthew Sparke for nurturing my interest in feminist inquiry. Phil Tobin
and Stacy Yee, two other early mentors, deserve special thanks for their
abiding support and warmth.
Most of this book was written and rewritten while I was teaching in
the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Vanderbilt University and at
my current institutional home, the Department of Women’s and Gender
Studies at the University of South Florida (USF). At Vanderbilt, thanks are
due to Charlotte Pierce-Baker, Houston A. Baker, Ellen Armour, Katharine
Crawford, Rory Dicker, Julie Fesmire, and the one and only Barbara R.
Kaeser. I am tremendously grateful to my colleagues in Women’s and Gender
Studies at USF—Diane Price Herndl, Elizabeth Bell, Kim Golombisky,
Michelle Hughes Miller, Milton Wendland, Jessie Turner, Rondrea Mathis,
and Jennifer Ellerman-Queen—for welcoming me into the department with
open arms and supporting my work. It is a true honor to be a member of
ix