1. History

2. Shifting attitudes

3. See also

4. References

5. External links

Hermaphrodites with Attitude was a newsletter edited by Cheryl Chase and published by the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) between 1994 and 2005.^[1] The full archives are available online. In 2008, ISNA transferred its remaining funds, assets, and copyrights to Accord Alliance and then closed.

History

The newsletter provided a voice for intersex activists for the first time, becoming a resource for intersex people and academics.^[3][4] The title of the newsletter appears in the title of multiple articles describing the intersex movement,^[5][6][7] and was also displayed on banners at the first public demonstration by intersex people and allies, outside a pediatric conference in Boston, on October 26, 1996.^[8][9]

In the early part of the 21st-century, Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) took on staff for the first time and began to engage closely with the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, establishing a North American Task Force on Intersex.^[10] These developments were stated in the newsletter's first issue of the 21st-century, in February 2001, which also marked a change in name to "ISNA News".^[10]

Shifting attitudes

This shift in name of the newsletter reflected a significant shift in the goals of ISNA. Initially, Emi Koyama states that "not only did intersex activists appropriate the medical label "intersex" as part of their identities, they also liberally used the word "hermaphrodite", which is now considered offensive, for example by naming the newsletter of Intersex Society of North America "Hermaphrodites With Attitude" and demonstrating under that name." Koyama argues that the intersex movement could not succeed with that label in addressing peer support needs, while identity politics drew in a different set of goals and interests.^[11] ISNA goals shifted to eradicate nomenclature based on hermaphroditism that was stated to be stigmatizing^[12] to intersex individuals, as well as potentially panic-inducing to parents of intersex children.

The suggested solution put forth by ISNA was to restructure the system of intersex taxonomy and nomenclature to not include the words 'hermaphrodite', 'hermaphroditism', 'sex reversal', or other similar terms.^[13] This "standard division of many intersex types into true hermaphroditism, male pseudohermaphroditism, and female pseudohermaphroditism" was described by ISNA and its advocates as confusing and clinically problematic,^[13] and a replacement term, disorders of sex development was proposed by Alice Dreger, Cheryl Chase and others in 2005.^[14]

ISNA itself folded in 2008, following publication of a clinical paper and new clinical standards that adopted the term disorders of sex development to replace not only hermaphroditism and associated terms, but also the term intersex, in medical settings. ISNA gave a statement saying that "at present, the new standard of care exists as little more than ideals on paper, thus falling short of its aim[s]" to fulfill its goals.^[15] The ISNA decided its best course of action was to "support a new organization with a mission to promote integrated, comprehensive approaches to care that enhance the overall health and well-being of persons [who are intersex] and their families." The ISNA transferred all of its remaining funds, assets, and copyrights to Accord Alliance and then closed.

ISNA has been survived or succeeded by several intersex civil society organizations, including the AIS Support Group USA (now called AISDSD),^[16] the Intersex Initiative,^[19] Bodies Like Ours,^[17] Organisation Intersex International,^[17] (now the Intersex Campaign for Equality) and Advocates for Informed Choice (now interACT).

See also

• Intersex rights in the United States
• Intersex human rights
• Intersex Society of North America

References

External links

• Journal archive (open access)

• The Last Dawn
• The Last Day On Earth
• The Last Day on Earth
• The Last Days (film)
• The Last Days (Masterson novel)
• The Last Days of Animal Man
• The Last Days of Disco Stick
• The Last Days of Dolwyn
• The Last Days of Frankie the Fly
• The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
• The Last Days of Lehman Brothers
• The Last Days of Man on Earth
• The Last Days of Paradise
• The Last Days of Patton
• The Last Days Of Pompeii
• The Last Days of Pompeii (1935 film)
• The Last Days of Pompeii (1950 film)
• The Last Days of Pompeii (1959 film)
• The Last Days of Pompeii (miniseries)
• The Last Days of Pompeii (mini series)
• The Last Days of Pompeo
• The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah
• The Last Days of the Celtic Tiger
• The Last Days of the Late, Great State of California
• The Last Days (Rosenberg novel)