Gentile-hermaphrodites-presentation-final

1. An Exploration of the History behind
Perceptions of Intersex People in
America
Presentation by Joanie Gentile

2. Intro to Presentation
This presentation is an exploration of
the history of intersex people in
America from 1620 until 1960. The
presentation is based of Elizabeth
Reis’s article “Impossible
Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America,
1620-1960”

3. Intro to Presentation Continued
This presentations aims to provide an
overview of the main points and
arguments of Reis’s article as well as
providing information on the most
important case studies and publications
discussed in the article

4. Presentation Goals
•The main goal of this presentation is to
break down Reis’s article in a way that is
easy for an audience outside of the field of
sex and gender to understand.
•The presentation will begin with the
1600’s and move through each decade
ending with a look into the future

5. •This article was published in the Journal of
American History, a leading scholarly
publication on American history.
•Reis’s article is an exploration of the cultural
and social history of intersex people in America
from 1620-1960 and how the perceptions of
intersex people has changed throughout the
years.
Intro to Article

6. About the Author
•She received a PHD in history
from the University of California
at Berkeley.
•Her research focuses on the
history of sexuality, women and
religion, and women in early
America.
•Elizabeth Reis is an assistant professor of
Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of
Oregon.
Image from University of Oregon

7. •Hermaphrodite- an animal or
plant having both male and
female reproductive organs
•Intersex- intermediate in
sexual characters between a
typical male and a typical
female
Definitions
From Merriam-Webster dictionary
Image from logresfarm.com

8. Definitions Continued
•Since 1741 with James Parsons publication of
“A Mechanical and Critical Enquiry into the
Nature of Hermaphrodites”, it has been
generally accepted that no true hermaphrodites
exist in the human race.
•What we find within the human race are
intersex people who have ambiguous genitalia,
but not complete male and female anatomy.

9. Confused Definitions
• Although the terms hermaphrodite and intersex are not
analogous, these terms are often incorrectly used as
synonyms
•Reis’s article uses the term hermaphrodite because that
is the term that was used in the case studies and
publications she is referring to
•Be aware that the article is generally referring to intersex
people when the term hermaphrodite is being used

10. Aristotle’s Masterpiece
•Written in 1684, The Masterpiece was the most
popular medical manual throughout the
American colonies and influenced early
American beliefs about intersex births
•This publication links intersex people to
mythological monsters setting the stage for the
view of intersex people as monsters

11. Masterpiece
Image from Aristotle's Master-Piece, 1697

12. Masterpiece Continued
This publication suggested that the thoughts
and actions of pregnant women could result in
birth deformities (including intersex births)
Image from Showhistory.com

13. •The punishment was
usually linked to
anything considered to
be against social norms
(women who were
fighting for more rights,
those who questioned
the church)
The 1600’s-1700’s
•Based of the Masterpiece, early Americans believed
intersex births were monstrous and a punishment from god
for deserving parents
Image from Suite101.com

14. •The idea of intersex babies being a
punishment for parents lead to the belief
that these children were not real humans
but instead somehow subhuman.
•This same argument was often used for
people of different races during this time
period.
1600’s-1700’s Continued

15. Thomas/ Thomasine Hall
•In 1629 Thomas/ Thomasine Hall was brought
before the Virginia General Court for being a man
dressed in women’s clothing.
•During the trial it came to light
that Hall had ambiguous
genitalia and had lived some
years as a man and others
years as a women.
Image from apfn.org

16. …Continued
•After much consideration the court agreed to
acknowledge that Hall embodied physical
qualities of both sexes.
•Instead of choosing a sex for Hall (which was
common at the time), Hall was ordered to wear
men’s clothing but also wear a bonnet on his head
and an apron as to alert everyone around that he
was not fully a man.

17. Conclusions on Hall
As Reis points out, the courts decision was
probably not a case of a progressive court
accepting intersex people, but more likely the
court trying to make Hall out as a public
embarrassment discouraging others to follow his/
her example.
Image from Uen.org

18. “A Mechanical and Critical Enquiry into the
Nature of Hermaphrodites” (1741)
•In his publication Dr. James Parson
“maintained that hermaphrodites could be
found among earthworms, snails, and some
reptiles, but not among humans” (420).
•Therefore intersex births were not a case of
hermaphrodites but simply a case of mistaken
sex.

19. Parsons Continued
•Parsons believed that mistaken sex was generally
due to the fact that there was very little known
about female anatomy particularly the clitoris.
•He claimed that most cases of mistaken sex was
simply a woman with an enlarged clitoris

20. Parsons Conclusions
He concluded that a sex must be chosen for all
intersex babies based on the the male or
female anatomy they most closely matched.

21. 1800’s-1900’s
•During this time period the emergence of
information sharing and medicine as a
profession moved the issues of intersex people
into a medical discipline
•Intersex births are now seen as a medical
condition rather than a punishment from god.

22. 1800’s-1900’s Continued
Even with the advances in
medicine, intersex people still
carry the stigma of monsters
and are generally viewed as
deceitful, untrustworthy, and
unnatural people.
Image from letthedogin.com

23. The New Masterpiece
•In 1806 a new edition of Aristotle’s Masterpiece was
reprinted
•This new edition discussed the similarities between the
clitoris and penis
‘“The next thing is the clitoris . . . [which] in the same
manner as the side ligaments of the yard [penis] suffers
erection and falling in the same manner, and both stirs
up lust and gives delight in copulation’” (421).

24. The New Masterpiece
Continued
This edition of the book suggested that the way in
which to determine a persons true sex was by
whether they experienced sexual pleasure from the
clitoris or the penis.

25. •Although this eventually forced people into
choosing one sex or another, it also granted
the patient some right to determine their own
sex based on sexual pleasure.
•This also allowed intersex children the
opportunity to wait until puberty to fully commit
to one sex or the other.
The New Masterpiece
Continued

26. John North
•Following the lead of other scholars such as
Samuel Farr and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, in
1840 John North published a two part article
asserting that true hermaphrodites were
impossible among humans.
•With this assertion that hermaphrodites were
impossible, intersex people began to be
labeled as "hybrid,” "impostor," "unfortunate
monstrosity” (423).

27. 1900’s
•With the continued idea of the impossible
hermaphrodite 20
th
century doctors established a
precedent of “correcting” intersex births.
•It became the doctors job
to determine the best fit sex
of an intersex baby and to
use surgery to correct the
ambiguous genitalia.
Image from vosizneias.com

28. Conclusions
•Early misconceptions and fears about intersex
births have lead to a continued negative view
towards intersex people
•This negative view has influenced to belief in and
push towards a rigid two sex system
•As we have seen throughout time this two sex
system does not correctly define the various
sexual conditions found within the human race.

29. Looking Ahead
•Modern activists are now fighting against the idea of
a rigid two sex system.
•It is becoming more apparent that there are more
sexual categories than simply male and female
•The role of surgery as the best option for dealing
with intersex conditions is currently being argued
against

30. References
Reis, Elizabeth. Impossible Hermaphrodites:
Intersex in America, 1620-1960.
The Journal of American History 92 (2005):
411-441.  Print.  reis-intersex-us-1620-1960.pdf