What does this research mean for the field?

Eighteenth-century cultural texts reveal concerns about reproduction and the regulation of intersex bodies, highlighting both medical anxieties and literary representations of imagined futures for intersex individuals. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To explore how eighteenth-century cultural texts engage with the reproduction of intersex bodies and the implications of medicolegal views.

February 21, 2026

Doubtful Reproduction and the Medicolegal Regulation of Intersex Bodies

Key Points

To explore how eighteenth-century cultural texts engage with the reproduction of intersex bodies and the implications of medicolegal views.
Analysis of historical cultural texts including legal documents and memoirs.
Examination of medical treatises focused on intersex individuals.
Interpretive reading of queer and intersex literary characters.
Medical treatises often portray intersex individuals negatively, focusing on nonreproductive aspects.
Literary representations highlight moments of hope and future possibilities for intersex characters.
Cultural texts reflect societal concerns around reproduction and gender identity in the eighteenth century.

Abstract

Abstract: This essay examines eighteenth-century cultural texts, including legal and medical documents, that discuss reproduction of people with atypical anatomy and illuminates concerns regarding (non)reproduction in the period’s memoir and literature. While medical treatises on intersex individuals can be interpreted as texts that work actively against any future, as they emphasize nonreproductive function and aesthetics, I find possibility in the numerous ways queer and intersex literary characters are given moments where they anticipate their imagined futures.

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Doubtful Reproduction and the Medicolegal Regulation of Intersex Bodies

Key Points

Abstract

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