Morgan Carpenter

Thanks so much to my-coauthors, reviewers, and the publisher for this new book introducing key issues affecting people with innate variations of sex characteristics (intersex variations/differences of sex development) in social, legal and health policy.

People with variations of sex characteristics (VSC) are born with chromosomal, gonadal, and/or anatomical diversities that do not fit the typical definition of male or female. This book develops a social science of VSC, Intersex, and Disorders of Sex Development (DSD).

Issues of bodily autonomy, sex, gender, and sexuality are highly topical. Yet, little is heard about people with VSCs, or the unique issues they face. This book is a collaborative project between intersex and endosex (nonintersex) authors that gives uninitiated readers a way into the complex debates surrounding IVSC. It breaks new ground theoretically whilst also presenting novel empirical material from a range of international sources. Issues of power, discrimination, identity, and agency are key to understanding the current situation for people with VSCs.

Bridging between intersex studies, medical literatures, and broader social science debates, this text will be of interest to those working in practice and policy positions, as well as students and scholars across a range of disciplines, especially those studying social inequality, embodiment, healthcare, sex and gender, LGBTQ+ issues, disability, globalisation, and political change.

My contribution to the book is a section on human rights – including a case study on Australia – in a chapter on human rights, equalities and citizenship, co-authored with Surya Monro.

What reviewers are saying about the book:

“Stunningly far-reaching and extensively researched… Uniquely intersectional and interdisciplinary” – Celeste Orr, Wendy J. Robbins Professor in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of New Brunswick Fredericton Campus, Canada

“On the one hand, it places their lives in the broadest possible frame, investigating issues of health, power, injustice, activism, embodiment, and human rights, all while resisting reductionist simplifications. On the other hand, it makes an emphatic claim for what a reconceived critical intersex studies” – Steven Epstein, Professor of Sociology and John C. Shaffer Professor in the Humanities at Northwestern University, USA

Available online and in print – consider asking your library to stock a copy.