Hermaphrodite Logic: A New History of the Intersex Movement (1990-2025)

This talk begins with a reading from the opening of Juliana Gleeson's new book Hermaphrodite Logic, to drop us in medias res at the moment of the intersex movement's unlikely birth (on the streets of Boston). Then will follow a rapid synopsis of the book's arguments:

1) That intersex advocacy followed on rapidly from intersex people meeting one (on and offline) another in the early 1990s.

2) That this new intersex movement developed in conjunction with feminist research, offering a moment of self-consciousness that was spoken to by intersex advocacy's rhetoric, and wit. The bite of that wit was seizing the abject: with intersex advocates declaring themselves “hermaphrodites with attitude” in line with groups like Queer Nation, Lesbian Avengers, and key their allies Transexual Menace.

3) But less often recognized, it was characterized by a style which sardonically appropriated clinical terminology, and derided medic's pretensions of objectivity. (Together, this combination of subversiveness and fluency style that Juliana calls "90s edgy")

4) That their protests from 1996 to the present served as a revelation, which challenged professional authority (specifically claims to clinical "management", and objectivity). The intersex movement thus rewrote the history of sex (in ways still being processed today).

5) The intersex movement today followed two subsequent phases following the edgy 90s incarnation: the 'Intersex Ordinary' in the 00s, then a reframing of their campaigning as a human rights struggle from 2010s-present. Grasping these shifts is a matter of global history and a question of a new science of sex (one attempted in the ruins of sexology).

Organized and moderated by Sasha Johansson and Agata Lisiak, this event is part of Lisiak's PT160 Transnational Feminism Is for Everybody and supported by the Civic Engagement Office.

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Juliana Gleeson is a writer and reader from west London, now based in east Berlin. She has performed readings worldwide, hosts communist cultural salons in her local neighbourhood, and writes for pay across many genres and platforms (especially well known for her sometimes explosive interviews!) Hermaphrodite Logic is Juliana's first book. Previously, she convened Transgender Marxism (with Elle O'Rourke), a pioneering anthology and queer bookstore bestseller since 2021. A well-known lover of two-word titles, she's now working on a follow-up titled Dyke Dialectics, and a collection of dialogue titled Inner Secretions.

Time: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm CET/GMT+1

Location: JJK Hall Cafe (W15)

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