from " The Androgyne dichotomy "
introduction dissertation /01/2003
I have been fascinated in the subject of hermaphrodism for many years, it started with an interest in Alchemy, the melting together of extremes and led me to this most fascinating phenomena. As my research moved towards a more medical/clinical understanding of hermaphrodism, my passion deepened, along with a firm conviction that here lies a subject worthy of my complete involvement as a medical artist.
When painting I tried to melt black and white together to create green, rather than the grey one had been told to expect. I found that with certain blacks and certain whites, the mixture was indeed closer to green than grey and further, that outcomes were not always predictable or conforming. The melting together of two extremes continued to fascinate me and I made several paintings exploring the philosophy that between extremes lies a world that is equally potent and powerful in its own right. I feel that the most successful of these was a triptych in which Adam and Eve stand alone on either side of the middle panel where they are gloriously rejoined as hermaphrodite. I had brought them back to their original perfect state of being.
Within this brief essay, I will attempt to shed some light upon a subject that has been kept in the dark for far too long. I will travel through history, mythology, alchemy and religion in an attempt to discover how those known as the androgyne, hermaphrodite or, in modern terminology - intersexual, were perceived in different cultures and in our own society. I will try to formulate a comprehensive definition of the condition and the various possibilities of sexual differentiation.
To understand the term intersexual one has to have a good knowledge of how gender is perceived. Our culture regards sexual anatomy as having only two possibilities whereas it can be argued that anatomic sex differentiation occurs on a male-female continuum and there are several dimensions. These dimensions return me to contemplate once again what I call my green area, applied here to the world of the intersexed, the in-between of the two sexes, considered as a positive state of being and known as the third gender. I will explore what it means to be considered of the third gender today and how the individual's situation is assessed both sociologically and psychologically.
In considering the mainstream point of view, I will delve into the difficult problems faced by specialists as they decide which gender to assign to a new-born intersexed child. Next must be decided if and when to start surgical and hormonal treatment. The inevitable questions arise; is it better to wait until the child is older so it can give its own consent, or should the infant be operated on straight away in order to fit in to society? Some argue that these operations are mere surgical disguise and do not constitute a gender assignment, whilst others are convinced that action has to be taken to prevent turmoil. The pressure on doctors to "heal my child" should be answered, the sceptics suggest, by "I cannot heal this child, I can only help disguise this child into one or other of the socially accepted sexes." Might it then be society that needs fixing?
With these questions I realise that I am opening a can of worms, for I am researching a subject that has been long regarded as ' the dark secret '. Through statements of patients, surgeons and parents I will take you through an evolution that has almost become a revolution. Having attended seminars on gender assignment and having witnessed corrective genital surgery, I realise that undoubtedly both parties have the intersexed child's' highest interests at heart.
There is a great deal of work that needs to be done, to bridge the gap that exists between these two diverse lines of thought. Much needed follow-up and quality-of-life studies of the intersexual should be undertaken, for without that valuable data,society will never know if early corrective medical intervention results in suffering or happy endings.
![androgyne [3k]](media/thumbnails/androgyne.jpg)