Genitalia, gender and surgery - A historical perspective.

Anthony J Casale
Indiana, USA

The presentation is a review of how western civilization has regarded intersex states since antiquity and relies on the depiction of intersex in art, mythlology and law.
The dichotomy of public fascination of the concept of intersex is contrasted with intolerance of the individual born with ambiguous genitalia in many societies.
These intersex is contrasted with intolerance of the individual born with ambiguous genitalia in many societies. These issues are followed throughout history to the present.
Paralelling the changing attitudes of society for the past century is the development of genital surgery for intersex. The lecture highlights the major contributions to the development of surgical reconstruction of ambiguous genitalia up to the present.
This is a very visual lecture that relies on classic art and original surgical illustrations from historical documents.