In her new book, Who’s Afraid of Gender?, feminist philosopher Judith Butler explains how gender and sex are socially constructed, while fighting critics who see gender as a threat to the social order.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Intersex
Displaying 1 - 20 of 28 articles
Spanning evolutionary biology, genetics, development, neurobiology, endocrinology and psychology, as well as current events and sports, students explore the complexities of the biology of sex.
‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills claim to use science to justify a binary definition of sex based on certain traits. But the biology of sex and gender is not so simple.
The first transgender medical clinic opened in the US in the 1960s. But cisgender and intersex children began receiving similar treatments even earlier – often without their consent.
The thorny issue of testosterone testing has made news, not just the growing skills on the field.
Early surgeries can cause lifelong harm, including impaired sexual function and sensation, shame, and a need for ongoing interventions or treatment.
Millions of people do not fit neatly into male or female sex designations at birth, and wrong identification can set them up for a lifetime of physical and mental harm.
With no clear biomedical basis for most early surgery on intersex children, interventions should be postponed until a child is competent to decide for themselves.
Around two in every 100 people have sex characteristics between the male-female binary definitions. Training for doctors and other health workers needs to reflect this.
Few trans kids in the early 20th century had access to information about trans life. That they still faced down the judgment of parents and doctors is a testament to the truth of their dysphoria.
A new finding in mice rewrites the textbook explanation of the male sex-determining gene, Sry. It might also help us better understand how males and females come to be.
Attempts to find brain structures responsible for supposed cognitive sex differences have not succeeded.
Kenya’s decision holds the promise of inclusivity and liberalisation of the legal and policy environment.
Athlete Caster Semenya will need to take hormone-lowering agents, or have surgery, if she wishes to continue her career in her chosen events. But the decision to ban her is flawed on many grounds.
Arbitration case between athlete Caster Semenya and the IAAF centres on eligibility to compete based on testosterone – but there are other factors in play.
New evidence suggests the 18th-century cavalry officer Casimir Pulaski was a woman or intersex. While we know little of intersex soldiers, there is a fascinating history of women dressing as men to fight.
Donald Trump is seeking to amend laws that prevent discrimination against Americans based on their sex. It’s all just another attempt to fire up the Republican base for the mid-term elections.
Allowing for more gender options in the public sphere isn’t political correctness gone awry. It’s just a small shift in the evolution of how we understand, categorise and define gender.
Bigender, gender fluid, cisgender? Emerging gender categorizations are important – for your health.
Until we safeguard every child from all forms of violence, opposition to genital cutting will not be an Australian value.
Top contributors
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Associate professor, Queen's University, Ontario
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Presidential Professor and Director of Graduate Studies for biology programs; Director, Cellular & Behavioral Neurobiology Graduate Program, University of Oklahoma
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Professor of Sexual Politics, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Director, Yale-Hastings Program in Ethics and Health Policy, University of Oxford
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Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Adelaide
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Jenny Graves is a Friend of The Conversation.
Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Vice Chancellor's Fellow, La Trobe University
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Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University
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Visiting Research Fellow, Goldsmiths, University of London
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Senior Lecturer, International Law; Asian Business Law, Monash University
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Professor of Communications, Howard University
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Postdoctoral research fellow in English, University of Sydney
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Research Associate, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
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Deputy Director of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
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Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria
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Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
