Women's Studies 1021F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, Turner Syndrome, Y Chromosome

• School: Western University
• Department: Women's Studies
• Course: Women's Studies 1021F/G
• Professor: Chris Roulston

Document Summary

Someone who was born with ambiguous genitalia. Almost entirely controlled by the medical establishment. The medical establishment is looking for the normal, binary gender system. It is culture, not the human body that tries to classify people as male and female. Fausto-sterling has written the foundational book on contemporary issues intersexuality at birth, and assigning a male or female gender to newborns with ambiguous genitals. She questions why north american and european cultures insist on (cid:494)fixing(cid:495) (cid:494)diagnosing(cid:495) intersexual newborns. The condition is perceived as (cid:498)a state of emergency(cid:499) (cid:523)(cid:886)(cid:887)(cid:524) (cid:498)before twenty-four hours pass, the child must leave the hospital (cid:494)as a sex(cid:495), and the parents must feel certain of the decision. (cid:499) (cid:523)(cid:886)(cid:887)(cid:524) Fausto-sterling argues that while medical technologies are rapidly advancing, our ideas about gender remain fixed within traditional models. Most doctors are unable to question the sex/gender system when it comes to. The fetus starts off with xx chromosomes (female), and then some will develop xy chromosomes (male)