SOC100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Intersex, Sexual Dysfunction, Human Sexuality
13 Nov 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The oxford dictionary of sociology explains that the study of sexuality was not a key area of interest within sociology until late in the twentieth century. Could be that sex was considered taboo until the late twentieth century. When sociologists write about sex, they are referring to biological facets associated with being born male or female (anatomical facts, hormonal facts, etc. We generally tend to differentiate people as male or female, despite the knowledge that these categories are not mutually exclusive. Those who are intersex possess bodies that do not fit with our traditional discourses of sexual difference. An umbrella term used to describe individuals with some combination of sex characteristics that do not fit within the male/female binary. Encompasses both chromosomal and external ambiguity in sex characteristics. While intersexuals may be biological exceptions, they nonetheless exist universally and cases of intersexuality have been recorded throughout world history.
