Intersex characters in fiction

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns, "that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".[1] Literary descriptions may use older or different language for intersex traits, including describing intersex people as hermaphrodites,[2] neither wholly male or female,[3] or a combination of male and female.[3]

See also: List of intersex people and List of fictional intersex characters
Intersex topics
Society and culture

For more information about fictional characters in other parts of the LGBTQ community, see the lists of lesbian (with sub-pages for characters in anime and animation), bisexual (with sub-sections for characters in anime and animation), non-binary, trans, and asexual characters.

Intersex characters and tropes
Further information: Films about intersex, Literature about intersex, and Television works about intersex

Intersex people have been portrayed in literature, television and film as monsters,[2] murderers and medical dilemmas.[4] Characters in award-winning literature include Cal Stephanides in the novel Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides[5] and Max Walker in the novel Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin.[6]

Morgan Holmes, Canadian sociologist and a former activist with the (now defunct) Intersex Society of North America, comments on constructions of intersex people as monsters or ciphers for discussions about sex and gender.[2] Holmes describes her weariness "of writers who had contacted me for a number of years during my intersex-activist days, trying to determine if their proposed ‘hermaphrodites’ could do things like impregnate or have sex with themselves", and how depictions of intersex people are "stalled", reifying "the proper place of traditional visions and modes of masculinity in opposition to femininity" or "beyond and outside the realm of gender altogether";[2] the character of Annabel/Wayne, in the Canadian novel Annabel by Kathleen Winter, provides an example of monstrous auto-impregnation.

An intersex murderer plot twist trope has been repeated in the TV programs Nip/Tuck (Quentin Costa), Passions (Vincent Clarkson) and Janet King.[7] This has been criticised as hackneyed and offensive, characterizing intersex people as deceitful.[7]

Examples of the medical dilemmas trope include the 2010 Childrens Hospital episode Show Me on Montana, the 2012 Emily Owens, M.D. episode Emily and... the Question of Faith,[8] a 2009 episode of House entitled, The Softer Side, and Masters of Sex episode 3 in season 2, Fight.[9]

The MTV series Faking It marked the first intersex series regular in a TV show, Lauren Cooper,[10] and also the first intersex character played by an intersex person, Raven.[11] MTV worked with intersex civil society organization interACT on Faking It; the program was praised for creating a groundbreaking character.[12] A Freaks and Geeks story has also been credited as commendable.[12] In film, the character Rebeca Duarte in the movie Both was created by an intersex woman, Lisett Barcellos.[13]

See also

References
  1. United Nations; Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2015). Free & Equal Campaign Fact Sheet: Intersex (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-03-04.
  2. Holmes, Morgan (August 16, 2007). "Cal/liope in Love: The 'Prescientific' Desires of an Apolitical 'Hermaphrodite'". Journal of Lesbian Studies. 11 (3–4): 223–232. doi:10.1300/J155v11n03_05. ISSN 1089-4160. PMID 17954458.
  3. Australia; Parliament; ComLaw (July 2013). Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Act 2013. Canberra. Archived from the original on 2016-01-15.
  4. Carpenter, Morgan (April 8, 2016). "Celebrating intersex firsts on TV". Organisation Intersex International Australia. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  5. Gilpin, Sam (September 28, 2003). "Paperback pick of the week: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides". The Times. London. Archived from the original on February 21, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  6. Thornton, Jeanne (May 21, 2013). "Book Review: 'Golden Boy'". Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014.
  7. ""Janet King" recap (2.8): Her Majesty The King". After Ellen. May 16, 2016. Archived from the original on May 21, 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  8. Guccini, Jill (November 28, 2012). ""Emily Owens, M.D." recap (Ep. 6): God and Gender". After Ellen. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  9. ‘Masters of Sex’ Recap 2×3: ‘Fight’ Archived 2014-10-21 at the Wayback Machine, New York Observer, July 28, 2014.
  10. Covington, Carter (May 13, 2016). "Carter Covington Explains Why MTV Is Ending 'Faking It' With Season 3 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 16, 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  11. Pidgeon Pagonis (2016). "The Significance of MTV's Intersex Representation". Interact Advocates for Intersex Youth. Archived from the original on 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  12. Peitzman, Louis (September 24, 2014). "Meet Television's Groundbreaking Intersex Character". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  13. Dunne, Susan (November 3, 2005). "The Taboo Of Intersexuality". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
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