5 Articles

1. Thoughts on Hermaphroditism: Miyatake Gaikotsu and the Convergence of the Sexes in Taishō Japan. By: Algoso, Teresa A.
The article examines the implication of the book "Thoughts on Hermaphroditism," by Miyatake Gaikotsu, on hermaphroditism in Japan. The book recorded around 40 instances of hermaphroditism. Gaikotsu broke down physiological hermaphroditism into five classes based on the presence or absence of external and internal reproductive organs namely, true, false, doubtful, hollow and quasi. He noted that hermaphroditism was not avatism but evolution. Gaikotsu advised that parents not to be ashamed of their children who are hermaphrodites.
This is interesting in relation to our topic because this talks about how hermaphroditism is a good thing and to NOT "fix it" by choosing one or the other, but to accept it as a positive thing.

2. "Is It a Boy or a Girl?" Introduction to Special Issue on Intersex (Vernon A. Rosario, MD, PhD). By: Rosario, Vernon A.
The authors introduce this special issue on intersexuality. A history of the designation of the term, hermaphrodites, which was used for people with genital variations, is given. A definition of the term "intersex" and the frequency of cases is mentioned. Various definitions of intersexuality by clinicians, intersex activists and the socially conservative media are given. Public attention to the plight of intersex people from the "John/Joan" story is discussed. John/Joan's identity was later revealed as David Reimer. A brief summary of the articles about intersexuality in this issue is given.
This article is really close to what we are doing pretty much. This will be dead on to what we need.

3. Intersexuality in the Family: An Unacknowledged Trauma. By: Lev, Arlene Istar.
People born with intersex conditions experience trauma and stigma that have not been fully recognized by the medical and therapeutic professions. Current treatment protocols require rapid diagnosis followed by surgical alteration of infants born with ambiguous genitalia which has led to a lack of thorough attention to the psychosocial issues faced by these children and their families. Histories of surgery and silence have left children and families unable to address many of the traumas associated with intersexuality, including stigma, shame, surgical complications, and potential questions about sexual and gender identity. This article outlines recommendations for alternative treatment protocols. In addition to withholding unnecessary surgeries until children born with disorders of sex development are old enough to be involved in decisions regarding their medical treatment, this approach calls for the inclusion of social workers and other mental health experts as part of an interdisciplinary treatment team to serve as advocates, educators, psychotherapists and family systems experts, addressing ongoing issues in the lives of families and children living with intersex conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
This will help our project in researching how these things have affected families and children from prior experiences.

4. Impossible Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America, 1620-1960. By: Reis, Elizabeth.
This article explores the changing definitions and perceptions of hermaphrodites from the colonial period to the early twentieth century in the U.S. Medical observers agree that hermaphrodites did not exist in the human species and that patients with confused or ambiguous external and internal reproductive organs were not really hermaphrodites, but cases of mistaken sex. Corrective surgery for anatomical ambiguity became routine by the mid-twentieth century. The evolving determination of the biological and social foundations of sexual identity and the anxiety, expressed differently in different eras, was explored.
The history of this is just what we need to develop our topic and refer to it with the history of how it has become what it is to society's way of thinking.

5. Corrections.
The section presents a correction to the article "Impossible Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America, 1670-1960," by Elizabeth Reis, which appeared in the September 2005 issue of "The Journal of American History."
This is interesting because it "corrects" what was said in the historical article.

6. AMBIGUOUS BODIES AND DEVIANT SEXUALITIES: hermaphrodites, homosexuality, and surgery in the United States, 1850-1904. By: Matta, Christina.
Focuses on hermaphrodites, homosexuality and surgery in the U.S. from 1840 to 1904. Need for normalizing surgery on intersexed individual; Dimorphic model of human sex.
Perfect. The not to distant history of hermaphrodites which will help us determine the progression of the situation.