CRM/LAW C113 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Pseudohermaphroditism, Hegemonic Masculinity, Herma
25 Apr 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Law ignores the many gradations from female to male, requiring a binary . Herms = true hermaphrodites; both egg and sperm producing organs; as a matter of physical sex, they have both. Merms = male pseudo-hermaphrodites; people who have testes, sperm producing organs, and some aspects of female genitalia but no ovaries to produce eggs; you have an xy chromosomal make-up. Ferms = female pseudo-hermaphrodites; have ovaries and some aspects of male genitalia, but they don"t have testes to produce sperm; have female xx chromosomal make-up (sterling) This is about as common as having red hair. From a campus of 6000 elite undergrads, there were 240 intersexuals. The legal system requires that we select categories in a binary: you are male or female. To protect the child because the assumption is if you"re a hermaphrodite or inter-sex individual, you are doomed to a life of misery. Happiness is based on being placed in one of these two categories (male/female)
