中间性          

中间性性象谱：身体性别——性特征程度差异的问题

就像第一讲中始终讨论的那样，当审视一个人的身体以确认女性或男性特征的时候，我们需要考虑下面的5个因素：

     1. 染色体性别；
     2. 性腺性别；
     3. 激素性别；
     4. 内部生殖器官的结构；
     5. 外部性器官。

归纳起来，这5个因素整合成一个人的生物学性别，或更精确地说整合成一个人的身体性别(physical sex)。在日常用语中，身体性别常常简单地称为性别(sex)。

在绝大多数的情况下，所有这些因素昭示着男性或女性的正常性发育，而且这个人的性别据此从不会有人提出质疑。但是，却有着反常的例子出现，例如可能这些因素中的一个或数个或全部以某种方式都无规律可循，而且看起来莫凌两可或性发育不鲜明或缺失。于是，要确定这个人的性别就变得困难了。无论如何，这样的案例昭示着一个常常被人忽略的生物学事实：身体性别是性特征程度差异的问题。
 

Intersexuality

The Intersexual Spectrum: Sex - A Matter of Degree

As already discussed in Course 1, when examining a person’s body for its female or male characteristics, one needs to consider the following 5 factors:

     1. Chromosomal sex,
     2. gonadal sex,
     3. hormonal sex,
     4. internal reproductive structures,
     5. external sex organs.

Taken together, these five factors add up to a person’s biological or, more precisely, physical sex. In everyday language, it is often simply called sex.

In most cases, all of these factors show a typically female or male development, and the person’s sex is therefore never in doubt. However, there are some atypical exceptions. For example, one or several or all of these factors may be irregular in some way or appear ambiguous or be underdeveloped or missing. It may then become difficult to determine the person’s sex. In any event, such cases demonstrate a biological truth that is often forgotten:
Physical sex is a matter of degree.