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中間性
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怎樣對待中間性 |
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社會-文化的態度
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法律傳統
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婚
姻 |
傳統上，在絕大多數國家，法律只承認男女之間的婚姻。當各種類型的多配偶婚姻在某些國家得到法律承認之時，婚姻伴侶的確切數目總未有規定。然而，有關婚姻的法律如果始終未有明確規定，就意味著婚姻是發生在不同性別個體之間的結合。的的確確，許多現代西方社會的民法法規已經把一個女人與一個男人的結合定義為婚姻。
然而，就像我們在本教程已經弄明白的一樣，要定義孰男孰女？總是不可能容易獲得答案。現代性學研究在性別領域揭示了許多從前未為人知的複雜現象，並且已經發現在男性與女性之間的性別過渡類型的整個性象譜系，這些過渡的性別與當今法律所載明的性別並不相符。性學研究也顯示，一個人的性別認同可能與他/她的解剖外貌相抵觸。所以，一個人孩童時的性角色指認可能最終不得不作出變更，並且由此可能需要改正個人的身份認證證件。可是，如果這個人在改正身份認證之後始終保持著婚姻，就會派生出這麼一個問題——現在在兩個同性之間的的婚姻是否可能仍然有效。同性婚姻(Same-sex marriages)近來只是在一些西方國家成為可能，可是其他國家和許多宗教仍然激烈地反對同性婚姻。的的確確，在“性別改變”以後，想要獲得新的身份認證證件的已婚變性者，首先不得不與其配偶離婚。
對中間性者來說，這種情形也是一個嚴重的問題，因為他們中的許多人誠實地與另一個性別成員締結了婚約。確實，他們的中間性狀態可能延續多年也未被察覺，直到醫生檢查他們不孕/不育的病因時才被發現。於是，他可能發現在其性角色與生理現實之間會有矛盾。不管這種令人驚訝的診斷如何，如果這個人的性別認同仍舊穩固，新近所發現的“真正的”生理性別問題只是會被忽略。看病的醫生和這對配偶會保守秘密，而法律依舊不予過問。然而，一些個案從一開始就可能經歷磨難和難以隱瞞。如果真相為人所知，他們可能就婚姻會暗暗地提出許多疑問。例如，中間性的援助者會指出，不能生育對婚姻決不會構成障礙，因為甚至於絕經之後的婦女總是會被允許結婚。不能生育對於性交也決不會有妨礙，因為甚至於慢性疾病、嚴重的殘障和十分年老者也會被允許結婚。所以，含蓄的精神之戀、友情、夥伴關係和經濟保障始終被公認為維持婚姻的充足理由。因而斷定婚姻應該限定在不同性別的配偶的理由並不合乎邏輯。那麼，說起來並不令人吃驚，當代社會面臨一個逐漸高漲的訴求：無論性伴侶的生理性別是什麼，他們的婚姻應該是一個普世人權。 |
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Intersexuality - Dealing with Intersexuality |
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Socio-cultural Attitudes - Legal Traditions
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Marriage |
Traditionally, the law in most countries has regarded marriage as possible only between females and males. The exact number of the marriage partners was not always specified, as various forms of polygamy were permitted in some cultures. However, it was always implied - if not always spelled out - that marriages took place
between persons of different sex. Indeed, the civil codes of
many modern Western societies have clearly defined marriage as a union of one woman and one man.
However, as we have seen in this course, it may not always be easy to determine who is a woman and who is a man. Modern sex research has revealed many formerly unsuspected complexities in this area and has discovered a whole spectrum of transitional stages between femaleness and maleness that do not fit the laws as currently written. It has also shown that a person’s sexual self-identifcation can contradict any anatomical appearance. Therefore, an early gender role assignment may eventually have to be changed, and thus it may become necessary to correct the personal identification papers. However, if this person is already married at the time of the correction, the issue arises whether the marriage – now between two persons of the same sex – can remain valid. Same-sex marriages have only recently become possible in a few Western countries, but certain other countries and many religions remain vehemently opposed to them. Indeed, married transsexuals who want new identification papers after a “sex change”, first have to divorce their spouses.
This is a serious issue also for intersexual persons, because many of them marry “in good faith” someone of the other sex. Indeed, their condition may remain undiscovered for years until a doctor looks for the cause of their infertility. He may then find a contradiction between gender role and biological facts. If, in spite of the surprising diagnosis, the person’s sexual self-identification remains unshaken, the issue of the newly discovered “true” physical sex is simply ignored. The doctor and the couple keep it confidential, and the law is none the wiser. However, some cases may, from the very beginning, prove to be more difficult and hard to conceal. If they become publicly known, they may call into question many silent assumptions about marriage. Intersex
advocates will point out, for example, that the inability to produce children has never been an obstacle to marriage, because women have always been allowed to marry even after their menopause. Neither has the inability to have sexual intercourse ever been an obstacle, because even chronically ill, severely disabled, and very old persons have been permitted to marry. By implication, therefore, love, friendship, companionship and economic security have always been recognized as sufficient justifications for marriage. It follows that there is no logical reason why it should remain restricted to couples of different sex. Not surprisingly then,
modern societies face a growing demand that marriage should be a universal human right, regardless of the physical sex of the partners. |
