In 1474 in Medieval Europe, a rooster (a male chicken) was put on trial for \u201cthe heinous and unnatural crime of laying an egg\u201d.<\/p>\n
Inside the egg, the villagers believed was a cockatrice, a mythical beast with the head of a rooster and the body of a dragon or serpent. While society has since moved past animal trials, intersex animals and humans alike are still seen as a rarity.<\/p>\n
In a Friday afternoon lecture titled \u201cSex and Gender Have Never Been Binaries,\u201d Cary Gabriel Costello, Ph.D., director of the LGBT studies program at the University of Wisconsin \u2013 Milwaukee, talked to a group of 100 Furman students and faculty members gathered in Patrick Lecture hall about our ideas of what it means to be intersex.<\/p>\n
\u201cBinary sex gender ideology\u2026is the belief that people are born with one of two sets of genitals and this determines their binary gender,\u201d Costello explained. \u201cPeople are born across a wide spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, many societies tend to treat people who deviate from our preconceived spectrum as rarities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen intersex (non-binary genders) appears to happen it is made invisible by the fact that because the ideology behind it isn\u2019t there\u201d Costello said referring to the American society\u2019s general lack of knowledge on the subject.<\/p>\n
However, in many cultures intersex people play a valuable iconic role. In ancient Greece, hermaphrodites were seen as a sign of ultimate beauty. Additionally, in traditional Hawaiian culture, Maha is considered to be the third gender category for intersex individuals and this person is assigned special culture roles. Also, under traditional Jewish halachic law, there are four sexes. Costello explained that while intersexuality isn\u2019t as uncommon as we think, we as Americans have stigmatized it because of our preconceived notions of gender identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to people whose gender identity is not as masculine or feminine\u2026we refuse to validate non-binary gender identities\u201d Costello said.<\/p>\n
Costello stated that society\u2019s desire to hide intersex started from the medical system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have medicalized intersexuality\u2026surgically altering to try to make invisible sex differences that people are born with and then training them and their families to keep it a very shameful secret\u201d said Costello. \u201cSo most people don\u2019t talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In order to raise awareness and encourage acceptance of intersexuality, Costello encouraged the audience to embrace gender diversity and to \u201cstop gender policing people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn general, we should stop gender policing one another and humiliating people,\u201d Costello said. \u201cTreat people by the golden rule.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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