Intersex , in humans and other animals, describes variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes , gonads , sex hormones , or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights , "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".[ 1] [ 2] [page needed ] Intersex people were historically termed hermaphrodites , "congenital eunuchs",[ 3] [ 4] or even congenitally "frigid".[ 5] [page needed ] Such terms have fallen out of favor, now considered to be misleading and stigmatizing.[ 6]
Intersex people have been treated in different ways by different cultures. Whether or not they were socially tolerated or accepted by any particular culture, the existence of intersex people was known to many ancient and pre-modern cultures and legal systems, and numerous historical accounts exist.
^ "Free & Equal Campaign Fact Sheet: Intersex" (PDF) . United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights . 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016 .
^ Domurat Dreger, Alice (2001). Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex . USA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00189-3 .
^ Mason, H.J., Favorinus’ Disorder: Reifenstein's Syndrome in Antiquity?, in Janus 66 (1978) 1–13.
^ Nguyễn Khắc Thuần (1998), "Việt sử giai thoại (History of Vietnam's tales), vol. 8, Vietnam Education Publishing House, p. 55"
^ Richardson, Ian D. (May 2012). God's Triangle . Preddon Lee Limited. ISBN 9780957140103 .
^ Dreger, Alice D; Chase, Cheryl; Sousa, Aron; Gruppuso, Phillip A.; Frader, Joel (18 August 2005). "Changing the Nomenclature/Taxonomy for Intersex: A Scientific and Clinical Rationale" (PDF) . Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism . 18 (8): 729–33. doi :10.1515/JPEM.2005.18.8.729 . PMID 16200837 . S2CID 39459050 . Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016 .