Passing and the maintenance of sexual identification in an intersexed patient.

Abstract

Introduction Out of many problems which have held our attention in our studies of disorders in sexual identification in intersexed patients, one that has especially interested us is the question of how a person maneuvers in order to pass from one sex to the other. It is evident that this is an issue which must almost continuously preoccupy a person so driven to attempt to pass. Of the several “passing” patients whom we have been studying in detail, we wish to concentrate on one. She presents a rare combination of physical anomalies in a person who nevertheless has been making an active attempt to comply with socially structured requirements of a “normal life.” As with all our patients, she is of interest in the same way that a cultural stranger is of interest; the stranger must bring a great deal of awareness, skills, aptitudes, rehearsals,