Intersex and Television

In her presentation a few days ago, Mary Alexander mentioned an episode of House in which the title character lets loose a barrage of sexist and insensitive remarks toward a woman with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. I have seen that episode before, and while I agree that House's remarks were completely inappropriate, the rest of the characters in the show reacted in a sensitive manner and were horrified as well at House's comments. This presentation got me thinking, as an amateur TV aficionado who reads and writes about television, of shows which feature intersex characters in a positive and insightful manner. I came up with two completely different shows (one crime drama, one teenage dramedy) set in completely different time periods.

As soon as I mentioned our discussion of intersex to a friend, her first response was, "You mean like that Law and Order: SVU episode?" She meant an episode entitled "Identity," in which a botched circumcision leads to the transformation of a genotypic and phenotypic boy into a girl, while his identical twin brother remains the same since birth. The "girl" ends up a victim of sexual assault, and DNA tests reveal "her" true male genotype. Later on, their doctor (a thinly veiled version of John Money) is found dead, and DNA evidence proves that one of the twins killed him, but the police have no way of proving which boy is guilty. Intersex Initiative describes the final scene as "pan[ning] out as [the twins], now wearing similar clothes and hairstyles, feel each other's presence through the holding cell wall." This episode was by no means a completely inoffensive portrayal of intersex. The two twins, for instance, are played by the same actor who merely wears a wig when portraying the girl in an almost comical oversimplification. Also, one might assume after viewing this episode that intersex people often turn to violence, which is simply not the case. Still, I (and the Intersex Initiative) believe this episode did an excellent job of portraying the betrayal, remorse, and rage that intersex individuals might feel after discovering their true identity. To read the Intersex Initiative's recap and review of this episode, go here: http://www.intersexinitiative.org/news/000172.html. To watch the whole episode, go here: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/law-and-order-svu/videos/29000

Another sensitive portrayal of intersex comes from one of my favorite shows, the now-cancelled Freaks and Geeks (the title refers not to the intersex population, but to two unpopular cliques in a 1980s high school). In the penultimate episode, underachiever Ken finds out that his tuba-playing girlfriend, Amy, was born with ambiguous genitalia. At first, he questions his own sexuality, and some immature jokes are mentioned between him and his friends. Later, however, he realizes how illogical and insensitive he was being, marches onto the football field where Amy's marching band is giving a performance, and proclaims, "I'm sorry, and I don't care, and I'm sorry." This episode got nominated for GLAAD's "Outstanding TV Episode" Media Award in 2001. I find it interesting that Amy's family followed the concealment paradigm, but this show is set in 1980, making Amy born in the 1960s. This period would have been the heyday of Money's "nurture" theories. Additionally, Amy, despite this confession, had been on the show all season and introduced as a typical well-adjusted girl. When I first watched this episode in middle school, I distinctly remember thinking, "Wow. I never would've guessed." I think this is common of most of the intersexual community: genitals are a private matter, so why should anyone attempt to medically change someone into something they're not?

While much of television displays negative images of anything varying from traditional gender dichotomy, I feel that these two shows, while not perfect, did a good job of portraying intersex individuals as human, not freaks.