Intersexuality and the Subjective Definition of Gender ()
Abstract
Intersexuality
questions how human gender definition occurs. As a baby is born, a sex, boy or
girl, is assigned through genital observation. However, the simplicity to
assign the gender disappears when, as the genitals are observed, their
conformation is not clear. Genitals are ambiguous when their appearance imposes
difficulties, or even an impossibility to assign a sex to a child. This is the
case for children born with some degree of deformity or any Sexual
Differentiation Disorders (SDD). Such fact places a strain, both on the parents
and on those who will assist the child. The complexity of the problem demands
that the child be assisted by an interdisciplinary team composed of a
pediatrician, an endocrinologist, a surgeon and a psychologist in addition to a
team of diagnostics experts. A study is undertaken in order to understand what
caused the Genital Ambiguity (GA) and, therefore, make sex definition possible.
When the SDD diagnosis is established early in life, it can cause severe angst
on the parents or even the family. That is because it is the family who will be
held responsible for what happens to the child. The name choice and the civil
registry is the parents’ responsibility. They must make a choice. The parents
decide if there will be an investigation in order to make the biological sex
clear, or if they will allow the child to grow so that they can define their
own sex, based on the assumption that nature itself may decide the path towards
sexual clarity. Although possible, that is a perilous path to follow, since
biology has already given hints that something has happened that prevented the
sexual identification already at birth. The article deals with the main
discoveries and psychoanalytic concepts in relation to sexual constitution and
its workings in order to clarify the question that has guided and accompanied
us along the way: does sexual ambiguity interfere in the assumption of sex made
by the subject? Clinical medicine teaches us how the subjects have answered the
question: Am I a boy or a girl?
Share and Cite:
Paula, A. & Vieira, M. (2014). Intersexuality and the Subjective Definition of Gender.
Psychology, 5, 1143-1149. doi:
10.4236/psych.2014.59127.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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