Summary of Fausto-Sterling 3-4

In the third chapter, Fausto-Sterling delves deep to look at the standard practices for intersex babies and individuals, from birth to later life.  Approximately 1.7% of births across all populations and countries are intersex births, to varying degrees.  The different diseases and genetic combinations that can cause intersex births are discussed, often in great detail.  In many cases, there is no standard operating procedure for children who are born with intersex conditions, allowing the doctor(s) to decide what the right path is for the child.  The majority of cases usually show that the doctor does what is easiest, based on appearance to others.  Internal organs are less of an issue.  Instead, doctors believe that outside appearance trumps hormones in terms of what a child would prefer should they have the option.  Doctors then advocate that position to parents, often portraying the mishap as a child who “didn’t mature fully before birth,” as opposed to fully letting the parents know what is truly wrong with their child.  In most cases, the parents are fully consulted, yet apparently there are certainly times when the parents do not receive the whole truth.  The chapter looks first at the views of psychologist John Money, who worked on the issue of intersex babies as an attempt to gain a better view into how society molds the typical routes of sex and gender.  Fausto-Sterling gives several example cases that Money worked on, such as that of John/Jane, who was born as a man but lost his penis during a circumcision accident.  Money was consulted, who advocated turning the child into a woman, removing all external genitalia, and hoping that the child would take on completely female characteristics.  At an early age, it appeared as though this hypothesis was right, as the child enjoyed “wearing dresses” and hated “being dirty.”  However, other doctors took interest in the case and disagreed with Money’s treatment plan.  Some doctors ended up reporting on Jane later in life and noted that she “walked like a boy, felt that boys had better lives, and wanted to be a mechanic,” giving more proof to the idea that sex and gender roles are not completely social.  Instead, it would appear that some level of a person’s sex is known and set before and during birth, rather than all learned through social construction.  Fausto-Sterling also briefly looks into sexual preference, noting that it is hard to define normal for most intersex babies.  In fact, results are completely varied when it comes to intersex individuals choosing partners down the road.

            The fourth chapter deals with the idea of replacing our current dual sex system with a five sex system.  The additional three designations are herms (for true hermaphrodites), merms (for male pseudo-hermaphrodites), and ferms (for female pseudo-hermaphrodites).  When Fausto-Sterling originally published an article stating these new sex designations, it received a lot of pushback and press.  The chapter continues on to push new ideas for intersex babies moving into the future.  Fausto-Sterling outlines several individuals that were seriously traumatized either as children or adults when they learned of their dual identity and surgery when they were babies.  To rectify this, Fausto-Sterling pushes for doctors to stop surgeries on intersex babies upon delivery unless the condition is life threatening, and allowing the babies to develop as individuals, noting hormones and tendencies before advocating surgery, if that route is even chosen at all.  She believes that parents should also keep their children in the loop from an early age, to prevent them from trying to figure out on their own what happened during their childhoods to make them “different.”  Fausto-Sterling also looks into the downsides of multiple surgeries, which often leads to scarring and sometimes more serious medical issues.  To conclude the chapter, she addresses transsexual individuals, using them as a study point for future methodologies.  The main point from both chapters revolves around Fausto-Sterling’s desire to ensure that individuals are valued, treated, and celebrated as individuals, not as problems from the norm.