Between XX and XY: Intersexuality and the Myth of Two Sexes

by Gerald N. Callahan PhD

Overview

What makes someone a boy or a girl? Is it external genitalia, chromosomes, DNA, environment, or some combination of these factors? Not even doctors or scientists are entirely clear. What is clear is that sex is not girl/boy or XX/XY, switching between two poles like an on/off switch on a radio.

Rather, sex is like the bass and treble knobs on that radio. In this eye-opening exploration of the science of sex, Gerald N. Callahan, PhD, challenges our notion of two opposite sexes. Human sex is more than it appears to be. Using a brief history of sex from the ancient Greeks to the geneticists of the twentieth century, he shows us how our understanding of the sexual development of human beings is constantly evolving.

By sharing the extraordinary stories of people living with intersex conditions such as hermaphroditism, Klinefelter syndrome, and androgen insensitivity syndrome, Between XX and XY reveals that the path of sexual development is as varied as humans themselves

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613736548
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Gerald N. Callahan, PH.D is an immunologist and pathologist with more than thirty years of experience in biomedical research. He is the author of Infection: The Uninvited Universe and Faith, Madness, and Spontaneous Combustion: What Immunology Can Teach Us About Self-Perception. He is currently a professor at Colorado State University and lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction ix

1 The Puzzle of Intersex: The Story of Lenore 1

2 A Brief History of Sex 9

3 Sex Versus Reproduction: Why Are We So Married to the Idea of Two Sexes? 33

4 Where Our Sexes Come From: The Abridged Version 47

5 Where Our Sexes Come From: The Rest of the Story 59

6 What We Do About the Ambiguous Child 115

7 Outcomes: Sex, Surgery, and Satisfaction 127

8 Alternatives: Other Cultures, Other Sexes 143

9 Choices: Exploring the Options 155

Epilogue: Untying the Knot 161

Endnotes 165

Glossary 175

Resources 183

Index 187

Editorial Reviews

"Callahan does a good job of exploring intersex individuals, who are neither male nor female, and argues that they need to be accepted for what they are and not viewed as defective." —Publishers Weekly


"Immunologist Callahan takes a fascinating look at the biology and human experience of intersexuality, a state in between male and female." —Discover Magazine


"Callahan's writing style is both accessible and engaging; it reads more like creative non-fiction, a la Malcolm Gladwell." —Ms. Magazine


"This is a fascinating, easily understandable journey into why we are born male or female and examines our age-old obsession with sex." —Fort Collins Coloradoan


"There are lots of interesting nuggets here—for example, Callahan's description of biological sex as a spectrum, not a binary system." —Double X


"The book is really beautifully written, highly accessible, and visionary in its own right." —Feministing


"This book takes readers through an alphabet of gender and gender variations. Callahan shows readers that rather than either/or scenarios, there have always been variations; his book shatters our society's take on pink and blue." —Advocate.com


“This book takes readers through an alphabet of gender and gender variations. Callahan shows readers that rather than either/or scenarios, there have always been variations; his book shatters our society’s take on pink and blue.” —Advocate

From the Publisher

Combining passion with current scientific information, Callahan, an immunologist/pathologist at Colorado State University, explains why our conception of two sexes is more a social than a biological construct. He argues that there are no simple, foolproof ways to determine sex. For example chromosomal structure, XX for females and XY for males, is not fully predictive because of various genetic disorders that can play a larger role. Similarly, genitalia can be quite varied and represent a continuum of difference rather than two discrete points. Callahan does a good job of exploring intersex individuals, who are neither male nor female, and argues that they need to be accepted for what they are and not viewed as defective. Further, he provides provocative evidence that surgical gender reconstruction is often unsuccessful. Although Callahan attempts to make the case that some non-Western societies have a less bipolar view of gender, his abbreviated presentation is not very convincing. He is, however, persuasive that better understanding of and respect for sex and gender variability would be far healthier for the 65,000-plus intersex people born each year and society in general. (July)

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Publishers Weekly

This book takes readers through an alphabet of gender and gender variations. Callahan shows readers that rather than either/or scenarios, there have always been variations; his book shatters our society's take on pink and blue.

Advocate.com

The book is really beautifully written, highly accessible, and visionary in its own right.

feministing.com

There are lots of interesting nuggets here—for example, Callahan's description of biological sex as a spectrum, not a binary system.

doubleX

This is a fascinating, easily understandable journey into why we are born male or female and examines our age-old obsession with sex.

Fort Collins Coloradoan

Immunologist Callahan takes a fascinating look at the biology and human experience of intersexuality, a state in between male and female.

Discover Magazine

Callahan's writing style is both accessible and engaging; it reads more like creative non-fiction, a la Malcolm Gladwell.

Ms. Magazine