Author to Discuss History of Medical Approaches to Intersex
Posted April 1, 2010
On Tuesday, April 6, at 4:15 p.m. in Carpenter 21, Elizabeth Reis will discuss her new book, Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009), which addresses the origins and implications of today’s medical management of intersex.
Reis, an associate professor of women’s and gender studies and history at the University of Oregon, examines the the history of responses to intersex bodies and argues that doctors have been and continue to be influenced by the worries and anxieties of the larger society, particularly concerning marriage and homosexuality, rendering any medical management a cultural, rather than simply a scientific, endeavor.
Reiss’ talk is sponsored by the Department of History, the Center for Science and Society, the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, and the Class of 1902 Lecture Fund.
