Between XX and XY

April 20, 2009
Combining passion with current scientific information, Callahan, an immunologist/pathologist at Colorado State University, explains why our conception of two sexes is more a social than a biological construct. He argues that there are no simple, foolproof ways to determine sex. For example chromosomal structure, XX for females and XY for males, is not fully predictive because of various genetic disorders that can play a larger role. Similarly, genitalia can be quite varied and represent a continuum of difference rather than two discrete points. Callahan does a good job of exploring intersex individuals, who are neither male nor female, and argues that they need to be accepted for what they are and not viewed as defective. Further, he provides provocative evidence that surgical gender reconstruction is often unsuccessful. Although Callahan attempts to make the case that some non-Western societies have a less bipolar view of gender, his abbreviated presentation is not very convincing. He is, however, persuasive that better understanding of and respect for sex and gender variability would be far healthier for the 65,000-plus intersex people born each year and society in general.

July 1, 2009
With this slender volume, and possibly without intending to, Callahan may create quite a disturbance among those who prefer to view the world in stringent black and white. Because if, as he explains, it is impossible to define exactly what a man or a woman is, then legislating marriage as only a man-woman endeavor becomes problematic. Dont misunderstand. Immunologist-pathologist Callahan isnt confrontational on this point in any way. He simply enumerates the myriad possibilities in which chromosomes can combine (e.g., XXY, XXX, XYY, etc.) to create humans who arent strictly classifiable as of one sex or the other. Nothing wrong with that. Many of these chromosomal combinations go undetected, since hormones and nurture compensate for subtle differences. Many, however, fall into a vast gray area, in which sexual distinctives can be ambiguous. This, plus the fact that human history and the animal kingdom disprove current male-female mythology, can bring comfort to those who let their worldviews be broadened by informed discourse.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)