Abstract

SANTOS, Ana Lúcia. Beyond Binarism? Intersex as Epistemological and Political Challenge. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais [online]. 2013, n.102, pp.3-20. ISSN 2182-7435.  https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.5421.

Sexual difference involves various aspects (from biological to social), which, once defined, reduce people to two political categories: woman and man. Although these categories are not naturally fixed, most societies reject diversity - taken as pathological deformation - for the sake of preserving a binary sexual system. This article proposes to deconstruct such binarism, arguing that there is extensive empirical and theoretical ground to claim the need to speak of multiple sexes. Based on feminist theory, queer theory, and philosophy, the text develops a reflection on intersex, showing how it has been considered over time. It also addresses the history of sexual regulation and discusses its causes and effects. Reflection on the concept of human being, which so far has excluded intersex - placed beyond the limits of the possible - leads to the interconnection of Butler’s definition of livable life with Derrida’s notion of unconditional hospitality, which may be the key to the recognition of intersex as a human category.

Keywords : hospitality; human being; intersexuality; sexual identity; sexual system.

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