Book contents
- Reviews
- Unmaking Sex
- Unmaking Sex
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction Gender Revolution Before Intersex or Transgender
- Part I A Cultural Prehistory of Intersex from the Archives
- Chapter 1 Prescribed Fictions
- Chapter 2 Outlaws from Birth
- Part II Contextualizing High and Low Literary Narratives
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Chapter 2 - Outlaws from Birth
“Doubtful Sex” and the Civil Code
from Part I - A Cultural Prehistory of Intersex from the Archives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 March 2022
- Reviews
- Unmaking Sex
- Unmaking Sex
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction Gender Revolution Before Intersex or Transgender
- Part I A Cultural Prehistory of Intersex from the Archives
- Chapter 1 Prescribed Fictions
- Chapter 2 Outlaws from Birth
- Part II Contextualizing High and Low Literary Narratives
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Chapter 2 examines the largely overlooked writings of nineteenth-century clinicians, scientists, lawyers, and jurists who actually called for a third sex to be added alongside the ranks of “male” and “female” because, quite plainly, there were individuals for whom no “true sex” could be identified. The inflexibility of the Napoleonic Code, which required that all infants be sexed as either male or female at birth, was challenged by doctors and legal forensics experts who believed either that the Code was out of step with scientific progress, or that it did not do enough to protect citizens from “hermaphrodites.” In sensationalized court cases that riveted domestic and international audiences – both scientific and lay – doctors and jurists struggled to reconcile cases of “doubtful sex” with scientific evidence, social welfare, and the Code itself. Intersex people came into conflict with the law from the moment of their birth. Jurisconsults enthusiastically contradicted one another about the veracity of sex determinations, while influential men labored to revise laws regarding birth certificates, marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Ultimately, the only party remaining silent on “hermaphrodism” was the Code itself, ensuring that a legal blind spot only increased the visibility of those it tried not to see.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Unmaking SexThe Gender Outlaws of Nineteenth-Century France, pp. 55 - 88Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022