book was interesting I like the way it was written and a lot of the metaphors were very compelling, however it is a biology book like its not really a “social issues” book so be prepared for a lot of talk about specific enzymes and karyotypes.
There were some tangents about bonobos I didnt really understand but I enjoyed the “case study” approach to talking to intersex people and presenting information that way.
"sex is not an either/or proposition, switching between two poles like an onn/off switch on a radio, rather, sex is like the bass amp treble knobs on that radio, " I want to give this more it is a very readable, very interesting introduction to many forms of intersex conditions.
Unfortunately, some of the scientific information is incorrect and/or poorly written throughout, For someone who is interested in learning about intersex conditions, and won't likely remember every scientific detail, this would be a good book.
I wanted it to be great, as I really wanted to use it in a class I teach, Unfortunately, the factual errors will prevent me from assigning it to students, Hopefully a second printing will include factual corrections,
It IS a highly readable, very interesting book on an important topic that everyone should be aware of.
This book really opened my eyes to the amazing genetic and physical diversity that exists in the human sexes, There were also interesting chapters on how other cultures perceive the sexes and how intersex people feel about their own situations.
The book is very clearly written and not overly technical, I gave it five because this is an area I knew very little about and I came away from this book thinking, "Wow!" I don't think anyone could read this and not be amazed at how little is openly discussed in our culture about gender/sex variability and how damaging this is, to the people who have such differences and even to those of us who are supposedly "normal.
" I loved this book. It was very interesting to not only read about different variations of sex chromosomes in people, but to read firsthand accounts from people with these variations.
Seeing how these people were affected by decisions made for them by surgeons and parents and how these decisions shaped their lives physically and mentally was very eyeopening.
I also enjoyed reading about other cultures and how they view intersex people compared to our culture, The sections on the role of sex in other species was also very interesting,
Really makes you rethink how we look at gender, How is gender really determined Two quantities with a long and sordid history are biology and ideology, I imagine we all have some familiarity with their children: racism, sexism, eugenics, social darwinism, That was why when it came to educating myself about this controversial topic I tried to select a book that was as free from ideological slanting as possible.
Just the facts, ma'am, please,
I think this book mostly succeeded in that respect,
In my opinion the subtitle 'the myth of two sexes' is unnecessarily clickbaity, It isn't so much that there are more than two sexes as it is that between the two mythological ideals the so called 'real man' and the female counterpart there exists a continuum, a line is made of dots.
At one end, there is a dot, At the other end is a dot, And in between, composing the entire line, are a whole lot of other dots, Each dot that is farther removed from one pole is necessarily closer to the other pole, Right in the middle of the line there is also a dot, So it is with human sexuality, There are people diametrically opposed to each other on ideological grounds that would deny this, People who reduce sexuality to a simple matter of what you have under the hood everything is determined by genetics and people who deny that what you have under the hood in any way, shape, or form impacts your cognition and sexuality everything is determined by culture.
This book argues that neither of these positions are in keeping with the empirical evidence,
For example, consider the simple notion that your sexual organs are the be all and end all of your identity.
What happens when a child is born with ambiguous genitalia then The common practice has been to assign a designation to the child either male or female and then begin a series of surgeries to bring them in line with that particular choice.
The parents then raise the child as if they were the sex they have been assigned,
Problem solved.
Well, no. What if the child genetically skews more to male than female and they were arbitrarily designated as female and surgically altered to fit that designation Would there be some disconnect between their biology nature and the way they are being raised nurture Would they feel comfortable in their skin These are the kinds of questions that this book prompts, questions for which there are no easy answers.
Sometimes it isn't even as obvious as external genitalia, Some people have one set of external genitalia and a second underdeveloped set of internal genitalia, Some people have an extra chromosome, Some people are missing a chromosome, Some people, due to the onset of puberty and the surge in hormones it precipitates, suddenly begin to exhibit physiological and behavioural changes that cause them to make a sudden jump further away from one sexual pole and closer to the other.
This book presents many of the different conditions along the sexual spectrum in a clear and easy to understand way.
One of the most interesting and perhaps thought provoking for those who wonder what it means to be a human being is the chimera.
Most people develop from a single zygote, A chimera is the result of two zygotes fusing and developing into a single fetus, Two distinct sets of cells with their own set of chromosomes inhabiting a single body, What could have potentially been two distinct humans with differing bodies and minds actually existing as one distinct human with one body and one mind.
I expect that this is a book that may make some people uncomfortable, It is understandable. As humans we like to keep things within nicely compartmentalized borders, We don't like chaos, we desire order, It is either this or that, You are either this or that, Woe betide the unfortunate individual who does not fit within those simple parameters, Life, however, is far messier than that, Any artist can tell you that between black and white there are far more than, . well, fifty shades of grey, Indeed, a black and white picture is only a representation of reality, No subtlety, no nuance, just a skeleton of the real,
Last word to Nicky Philips, a sixty four year old lady with a condition known as androgen insensitivity syndrome:
I happen to have AIS, which is a condition passed down through the X chromosone.
If it were color blindness, which is passed the same way, no one would think it is a big deal.
Because it is tied to issues of sexuality and gender, it becomes something to be laughed about or discussed with discomfort.
This book made me realize how decidedly uncomplicated my own life is, If you are interested in the science related to intersex individuals, this is a great book! Dr, Callahan explains it very clearly and helps make sense of the physical, psychological, and social aspects of the lives of those who are intersexed.
I ended up ordering several other books he has written!
Interesting read, While I had read some of its material before, there is a lot for people, especially cisgender, genderconforming people, to learn in this book.
I noticed some editing mistakes some repetition, and an intended page reference that didn't exist, However, the book detailed a lot of historical references, personal stories, cultural legends, and scientific studies that kept my attention.
I appreciate the discussion about those with disorders of sexual development and how ourgender binary system puts them in a difficult position.
I wish our society would show more compassion, especially for people with ambiguous genitalia who identify with the gender they were not assigned at birth.
great, very educational and lots of food for thought but i didnt really care so much for the personal stories This is a short read and I did learn some new things from this book.
For a long time I've had a sort of fascination with and doubt about "gender" and that's grown since I was a child.
I don't remember how long it's been, but at some point I also became fascinated with hermaphrodites, Even though I've learned of the reality of hermaphrodites, human and otherwise, I understood it more as a sort of symbolism that was free of the confines of man or woman.
I know my fascination with hermaphrodites didn't reflect reality and I sometimes wonder how normal people think of it, My main reason for looking into this book was to gain a more realistic idea of what intersex is socially and emotionally.
The stories relayed in the book were very moving, One to a point I got so angry I was almost physically ill,
There was new knowledge in the book for me, but I was already more or less familiar with the genetic conditions.
I've also already read Middlesex, which was mentioned in this book,
Since I'm already interested in the subject and just wanted to know more, the tone the author sometimes took didn't suit my tastes.
Obviously, he wrote from the expectation of his readers being very new to the idea of more than two sexes.
If there was any goal for this book it was to destroy the "two sexes", He wrote feeling, maybe knowing, that some people would still reject the notion,
Overall, I think he did do a great job, I got what I wanted out of the book, And, previously, I've read scattered information about intersex and genetic differences, but this kind of puts it all in one place.
This book has a lot in it for how short it is,
I ended up giving it three, I may change my mind later, I just finished the book and I think I need more time to digest before I can decide, His tone in the book did get a little tiresome, There was also maybe more information than I was looking for, I sometimes felt like "this is overdoing it", I feel thoroughly educated though, This book is very problematic, The author is obviously an outsider, who lacks gender and sexualityknowledge, The first part of the book was devoted to sex the act and the author could really use
some education on the different between intersex/ transgender and sex/ gender.
The "personal stories" throughout the book felt clinical and not personal at all, Quite frankly, this book made me sick to read and I would not recommend it, I think this book would be triggering to a lot of people and there's much better books to get more researched and accurate information from.
I've done a bit of research in the last few years about intersex people and I'm familiar with different aspects of queerness, so I don't think I can say I learned anything new from reading this book.
A bit disappointing as I definitely know there's a lot more to learn, Some of the language seems outdated then again I'm also not sure what some of the current accepted terminology is.
I'm not sure how much of this is due to the author's ignorance or because it was published in,
Overall I'd call this a decent starting point for someone with very little familiarity with intersex issues wanting to learn more.
If you've never thought beyond the concept of "opposite sexes" this is a really great primer, If you're a gender and sexuality nerd like me, you won't learn a whole lot of brand new stuff from this book.
Callahan spends a lot of time debunking the myth of the two sexes there's slightly more in the book about that than there is about disorders of sexual development or intersex.
If you're looking for a really indepth read that focuses on intersex, this isn't that book, But if you're looking for some more general stuff about the science of the differences between men and women and genetic variations that will tweak your concepts of "men" and "women", this book is very much worth your time.
Callahan was able to write a very readable book that didn't bore me or confuse me at all, even when he writes about chromosomes and karyotypes and stuff.
In addition to good content about human sexuality, he devotes a good amount of time to writing about hermaphroditic animals, which is fascinating stuff and will further erode your notions of a twosex model.
The case studies of intersex people included in the book are also engaging, though also pretty heartbreaking,
If you are up for something heavier, more theoryladen and more advanced about the differences among the sexes see what I did there implying that there are more than two sexes with grammar, check out Anne FaustoSterling's sitelinkMyths of Gender: Biological Theories About Women and Men.
That book was originally published in, updated inso some of the science is a little our of date, but it's a really great and challenging read.
Between XX and XY: Intersexuality and the Myth of Two Sexes by Gerald N, Callahan is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in midOctober,
Where this book could have simpered, been emo, or cloyingly sympathetic, Callahan shines with his wit and simple scientific prose.
He also allots large spances of his chapters for intergender interviews and biographies, Between XX and XY Gerald Callahan
We read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides in book club.
What defines a person's gender This book details a range of 'intersex' gender that is far wider and more common than is usually understood.
The book is an interesting mix by turns of biology, history, human behavior, medical and surgical text, personal history, animal behavior, cultural anthropology, medical ethics and opinion, all in one compact package.
This is a good reference source, clear as an introduction that can get pretty technical at times, The science portions of this book were very strong, with the author showing how today's scientific 'fact' is often soon replaced with a better understanding.
I was astounded with all of the things that have only recently been learned,
The author does have a perspective, largely balanced, and always clear in the few parts where he expresses a point of view.
If you have an interest in an open examination of the continuum of human sexual existence give this book a look.
I found it an important read,
My one small request for a later addition would be to have a few pages about the variety of sexuality that exist in what has traditionally been put in the category of 'normal'.
.