The politics of family: Abolishing the sex/Gender binary

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The Politics Of Family: Abolishing The Sex/Gender Binary
Intersexuality refers to a situation where an individual does not fit the common binary characteristics of being male or female. Intersex individuals possess several combinations of male and female biological traits such as hormones, genitals, chromosomal patterns, and gonads (Pasley, 510). Some intersex features may be identified in children and addressed by surgery for the individual to fit the binary male or female status. Sex binary refers to the status of being male or female based on one’s physiological and biological anatomy. Gender binary refers to the socially constructed norms associated with men and women. The social and cultural constructs classify people into either feminine or masculine based on their sex.
Intersexuality complicates the traditional binary status of being male or female, which is typically assigned based on an individual's reproductive appearance. Intersexuality acknowledges the existence of sex variations that neither fit male nor female definitions. For instance, an individual may have more than one X chromosome (XXY), meaning that the person is neither male nor female chromosomally. Some of the known intersex conditions include but not limited to testosterone biosynthetic defects, Klinefelter syndrome, and timing defect (Ernst et al.). Although genital surgeries could be done during infancy to assign a binary gender, some people may begin to portray features opposite the assigned gender later in life.
Intersexuality also challenges the typical male and female medical models based on genitalia appearance. The models confine people to binary sex representation, limiting studies of other sexual variations based on genetic or hormonal features. Due to limited knowledge and research, some medics are not sure of how to meet the individualized health needs of intersex people (Bauer et al., 730). In other cases, healthcare workers are surprised at seeing genitals not considered 'normal.'
Robert Stroller defin...