Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Intersex: A Manifesto Against Medicalization

Intersex: A Manifesto Against Medicalization

Morland, Iain

Paperback

PhilosophyGeneral Gender StudiesSexuality

ISBN10: 0231221770
ISBN13: 9780231221771
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: Dec 16 2025
Pages: 296
Weight: 0.85
Height: 0.90 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English

Finalist, 2026 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Studies

When children are born with sex attributes that do not fit expectations about male and female anatomy, it is standard medical practice to make their bodies look as normal as possible. Doctors seek to reduce or remove intersex characteristics through early childhood surgery--cutting down clitorises, remaking penises, and even performing sterilizations. For decades, intersex medicine has sparked outrage from patient groups, lawmakers, intergovernmental organizations, and scholars. It has been condemned for causing trauma, scars, nerve damage, and the loss of bodily autonomy. Yet it continues.

Iain Morland, an intersex scholar and advocate--and a former patient--explores why medicalization is so embedded in contemporary society and how to challenge it. He provides breakthrough accounts of the traumatic effects of surgery, the consequences for attachments between children and parents, and the paradoxes of the pursuit of normality. Weaving together theoretical analysis with autobiographical insights, Morland grapples with the complexity of dismantling intersex medicine. Accessibly written and passionately argued, this book exposes the contradictions of the medical management of intersex. With a bold mix of critical theory, psychology, queer theory, and philosophy, it provides fresh insights for scholars of intersex, gender, sexuality, and science, as well as for activists and their allies.

1 different editions

Also available

Also from

Morland, Iain

View All

Also in

General Gender Studies

View All