Graduation Year
2018
Date of Submission
4-2018
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Literature
Second Department
Neuroscience
Reader 1
Dr. Nancy Williams
Reader 2
Dr. Ellen Rentz
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2018 Jasmine E Shirey
Abstract
Individuals who do not fit neatly into the expected genetic and phenotypic XX/XY binary have been misrepresented, ignored, operated on without consent, denied legal rights, and gaslighted by multiple spheres of dominant society including, but not limited to: medicine, popular culture, and the justice system. Using Michael Foucault’s conception of 'counter-discourse' in conversation with the work of Gayatri Spivak, I ask how online intersex communities (OICs) have participated in counter-discourse by examining forums, blogs, comments, organization websites, memoirs and social media pages.
Major examples of phenomena OICs respond to, engage with, and critique include: surgery on intersex infants; the introduction of the term 'DSD'; intersexuality in popular television shows; chromosomal primacy; and legal standings of intersex individuals in different countries. I found that 'counter-discourse' within OICs include efforts to: redefine the 'truth' against common problematic appeals to medicine, morals, or nature; advocate acceptance of all bodies; and create of a sense of belonging where there is space for people to heal and organize on a foundation of affinity.
Recommended Citation
Shirey, Jasmine, "Systems of Expression: Counter-Discourse in Online Intersex Communities" (2018). CMC Senior Theses. 1964.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1964
Included in
Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Social Media Commons
Comments
Best Senior Thesis in Gender Studies