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中間性
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導言 |
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定
義
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墨丘利神（希神：赫耳墨斯——為眾神傳信並掌管商業、道路、科學、發明、口才、幸運等的神，譯者注）的占星神符。底部的十字代表女性，頂部的盈月代表男性。圓環代表操持男女要素平衡的這個希神。這個神符現在也常常用來代表人類的中間性。
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中間性是指個體的性器官天生有顯著的不尋常性發育或者有某些染色體異常所致的症狀。這種不尋常的性發育可能導致不確定的身體外觀而難以直接和明確地做出性別確認。這種生理狀態常常影響到外部性器官並因此在出生的當口就會被人辨別出來。而其他一些病例，外部性器官一受到影響，症狀在出生時就可能被“隱藏”起來，直到好久以後通過醫學檢查才暴露出症狀的真相。還有一些病例，外部和內部性器官都受到影響或外部性器官和內部性器官與染色體性別相矛盾(XY
女性)。所出現的某些症狀通過早期的外科手術可能得到矯正。在其他複雜的病例，這樣的外科手術和別的治療手段可能不得不完全地避免或延至許多年之後。
某些作者使用術語“中間性”非常寬泛，把它擴展到一些相比而言相對簡單的生理結構特徵的改變，譬如把非常突出的陰蒂頭或非常細小的陰莖或尿道下裂甚或隱睾症等也稱為“中間性”。然而，在此我們並不苟同這樣的用法。只要沒有進一步的解剖結構的異常，後面所列舉的這些生理結構狀態最好以其自身的特性做出評斷。陰蒂頭或陰蒂體或陰莖“適當的”尺寸是一個看法不同的問題，並且所謂“矯治的”干預措施因而也許是多餘的甚或有害的。相反，能夠用外科手術修補的單純性尿道下裂應該毫不遲疑和毋庸過多地爭論，給予修補手術治療好了。隱睾症也需要及時的醫學診療，以避免後續嚴重的併發症。 |
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Intersexuality - Introduction |
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Definition
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Astrological sign for Mercury (gr. Hermes). The cross at the bottom represents femaleness, the crescent moon at the top maleness. The ring represents the individual holding the female and male elements in balance. This sign is now also often used for human intersexuality
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Intersexuality is the condition of persons born with a significantly atypical development of their sex organs or with certain chromosomal irregularities.This can result in an indeterminate physical appearance and make an immediate and definite sex assignment difficult. The condition very often affects the
external sex organs and is therefore promptly recognized at birth. In other cases, when the
internal sex organs are affected, the problem may at first be “hidden” and revealed much later by a medical examination. In still other cases both the external and internal sex organs are affected or they are formed in contradiction to the person’s chromosomal sex (XY females). Certain problems can be corrected by early surgery. In other, more complicated cases, such surgery and other treatments may have to be avoided altogether or postponed until many years later.
Some writers use the term “intersexuality” very broadly and extend it to cover relatively simple conditions such as a very prominent clitoral glans or a very small penis or
hypospadia or even
undescended testicles. However, we do not follow this usage here. As long as there are no further anatomical irregularities, these latter conditions are better evaluated on their own merits. The “right” size of a clitoral glans or body or of a penis is a matter of opinion, and “corrective” interventions may therefore be superfluous or even harmful. In contrast, a simple hypospadia that can be surgically repaired should be repaired without much soul-searching and extended discussions. Undescended testicles also require timely medical attention in order to avoid later serious health problems. |
