Shifting syndromes

Sex chromosome variations and intersex classifications

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11924973
AutoresD A Griffiths (0000-0002-4099-3110, University of Surrey, autor de correspondencia)
Año2018
Volumen48
Número1
Páginas125-148
Fecha de publicación2018-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Studies of Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0306312718757081
PMID29424285
OpenAlexW2786150925
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas35
Referencias citadas66

The 2006 'Consensus statement on management of intersex disorders' recommended moving to a new classification of intersex variations, framed in terms of 'disorders of sex development' or DSD. Part of the rationale for this change was to move away from associations with gender, and to increase clarity by grounding the classification system in genetics. While the medical community has largely accepted the move, some individuals from intersex activist communities have condemned it. In addition, people both inside and outside the medical community have disagreed about what should be covered by the classification system, in particular whether sex chromosome variations and the related diagnoses of Turner and Klinefelter's syndromes should be included. This article explores initial descriptions of Turner and Klinefelter's syndromes and their subsequent inclusion in intersex classifications, which were increasingly grounded in scientific understandings of sex chromosomes that emerged in the 1950s. The article questions the current drive to stabilize and 'sort out' intersex classifications through a grounding in genetics. Alternative social and historical definitions of intersex - such as those proposed by the intersex activists - have the potential to do more justice to the lived experience of those affected by such classifications and their consequences

Biology · Epistemology · Evolutionary biology · Gene · Sociology · Y chromosome · Assisted Reproductive Technology and Twin Pregnancy · Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities · Philosophy · Sexual Differentiation and Disorders · Genetics