“Castrazioni culturali”. Riflessioni sociologiche a partire dalla normativizzazione binaria del sesso e la medicalizzazione del corpo intersex

Abstract

The article aims to discuss how and when the social construct of sex as a binary concept was built and spread over the last two centuries and how it affected the condition of intersex people. It will also address the role played by the medical community in creating practices that reproduce sex anatomical st andards, thus the medical legitimization of some forms of violence and social marginalization by which bodies that go beyond the sex and gender binary are medicalized and treated. Guidelines adopted in Italy will be the case study. Current situation of int ersex people will be analyzed, considering the demands of the intersex international community and addressing whether the measures taken in western countries are useful tools to liberate non normative identities or if they are inadequate and still embodied in a heteronormative approach.