| Intersex topics |
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Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns, "that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".[1] Literary descriptions may use older or different language for intersex traits, including describing intersex people as hermaphrodites,[2] neither wholly male or female,[3] or a combination of male and female.[3] This page examines intersex characters in fictional works as a whole, focusing on characters and tropes over time.
For more information about fictional characters in other parts of the LGBTQ community, see the corresponding pages aboutasexual,pansexual,non-binary,lesbian, andgay characters in fiction.
Intersex people have been portrayed inliterature,television andfilm as monsters,[2] murderers and medical dilemmas.[4] Characters in award-winning literature include Cal Stephanides in the novelMiddlesex byJeffrey Eugenides,[5] Max Walker in the novelGolden Boy byAbigail Tarttelin[6] and Anjum in the novelThe Ministry of Utmost Happiness byArundhati Roy.[7]
Morgan Holmes, Canadian sociologist and a former activist with the (now defunct)Intersex Society of North America, comments on constructions of intersex people as monsters or ciphers for discussions about sex and gender.[2] Holmes describes her weariness "of writers who had contacted me for a number of years during my intersex-activist days, trying to determine if their proposed ‘hermaphrodites’ could do things like impregnate or have sex with themselves", and how depictions of intersex people are "stalled", reifying "the proper place of traditional visions and modes of masculinity in opposition to femininity" or "beyond and outside the realm of gender altogether";[2] the character ofAnnabel/Wayne, in the Canadian novelAnnabel byKathleen Winter, provides an example of monstrous auto-impregnation.
An intersex murderer plot twist trope has been repeated in the TV programsNip/Tuck (Quentin Costa),Passions (Vincent Clarkson) andJanet King.[8] This has been criticized as hackneyed and offensive, characterizing intersex people as deceitful.[8]
Examples of the medical dilemmas trope include the 2010Childrens Hospital episode "Show Me on Montana", the 2012Emily Owens, M.D. episode "Emily and... the Question of Faith",[9] a 2009 episode ofHouse entitled, "The Softer Side", andMasters of Sex episode 3 in season 2, "Fight".[10]
The MTV seriesFaking It marked the first intersex series regular in a TV show, Lauren Cooper,[11] and also the first intersex character played by an intersex person, Raven.[12] MTV worked with intersex civil society organizationinterACT onFaking It; the program was praised for creating a groundbreaking character.[13] AFreaks and Geeks story has also been credited as commendable.[13] In film, the character Rebeca Duarte in the movieBoth was created by an intersex woman, Lisett Barcellos.[14]
Apart from the above-mentioned characters, there are various characters that stand out apart from the rest and are more prominent. One of those is Luca Esposito inAstra Lost in Space, the manga and anime of the same name. He is an artist and talented engineer on board the Astra, who was raised as and mostly identifies as a boy, and comes out as intersex halfway through the story, in the episode "Secret," not considering himself a man or a woman.[15] His characteristics imply he most likely hasKlinefelter's or a milder type ofandrogen insensitivity syndrome, and was described by Michele Liu ofAnime News Network as "unique" since Luca is a main character which is born intersex rather than "altered by sci-fi space diseases or external influence," with Liu also describing Luca asbisexual.[16] While there were intersex characters like Ryo Asuka inDevilman Crybaby[17] and Izana Shinatose inKnights of Sidonia,[18] there are three other series with notable characters. They are Crimvael "Crim" in the controversial seriesInterspecies Reviewers, Iena Madaraba inSeton Academy: Join the Pack!,Ruby Moon inCardcaptor Sakura, andStevonnie inSteven Universe. Crim is a well-endowed intersex angel with a broken halo, that has male and female genitalia, as noted throughout the series.[19] Despite his feminine appearance, he chooses to identify as male upon meeting Stunk & Zel in the first episode, to avoid them trying anything perverted on him. As for Iena, also known as Yena, she is aspotted hyena with a penis and isconfused about her true gender & sexuality. Although she later finds out that she is biologically female, she still allows others to refer to her with either gender pronoun in episodes such as "The Wild Habits of a Troubled Animal."[20] Stevonnie, a fusion of both Steven and Connie, has a gender which is difficult to describe,[21] Series creatorRebecca Sugar describes it as the "living relationship between Steven and Connie."[22] Stevonnie is commonly referred to withgender neutral pronouns (such as thesingularthey), while male and female characters seem to bephysically attracted to Stevonnie.[23]
Comics have their own intersex characters as well. For instance,Comet,[24] and Comet later began relationship with Blithe, since she loved both their forms (revealing that Blithe is bisexual).[24] andRebis[25] are intersex. AdditionallyRichard Plantagenet, later Richard III of England inRequiem of the Rose King[26] andYstina, the Shining Knight inDemon Knights[27] are as well.
While there are very few intersex characters in film, specifically Rebeca Duarte inBoth,[28] Alex Kraken inXXY[29] and Spork inSpork[30] there are various intersex characters in literature. This includesCornelius Brunner inThe Final Programme[31] the protagonist in2312 named Swan Er Hong,[32] Ilario inIlario, A Story of the First History,[33] and Kirsten Lattimer inNone of the Above.[34] Also, Bel Thorne in theVorkosigan Saga[35] and Max Walker inGolden Boy[6] are intersex, to give two examples.
What is masculinity and femininity? I want to hit Hitomi-chan as it is without being swayed by such a thing! If you have a strong feeling and an unbreakable heart, you can overcome any wall! I want to say, but it's a tantrum. Because you are trying to get over it, you're a kuso hyena and a xoratelle.
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