Hermaphrodite Logic: A History of Intersex Liberation

by Jules Joanne Gleeson

How the intersex liberation movement exposed medical harms and became an inspiration to rethink sex and gender

HERMAPHRODITE LOGIC is a bold examination of intersex liberation. Juliana Gleeson reveals how a movement challenged systemic medical abuses to reshape our understanding of sex. Blending philosophical insights and personal testimonies, Gleeson argues that intersex people have been harmed not just for therapeutic reasons but to ease professional and parental anxieties.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, History, Queer, Gender Studies, Intersex

256 pages, Paperback

Published June 17, 2025

Reviews

[Yuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who is intersex and a trans woman living in a place where we're not usually mutilated due to lack of medical resources, This book is incredible for addressing the fact that mutilations and interventions are part of the colonial project, and that those of us who live in countries where these practices are not performed live a different reality than intersex people in Europe and the United States—not better, just different
There are many things I already knew about intersex history, but we're usually demonized or treated as exotic beings in all the books I've read. I feel relieved to be able to read a book about us that's truly about our lives

[jolene piercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent history of the intersex movement. Gleeson has an excellent and clear wit, which makes the book really entertaining to read. Both accessible to a lay audience and deep, informative, and argumentative to an expert audience.

[Helen King · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a history of how movements for change actually happen, and how they develop over time. The author traces the shift from trying to make variant bodies ‘fit’ into what people think male and female should look like, to realising that surgery can in fact make bodies look even more different and can add in issues with scar tissue. It was particularly interesting to me to find out the changes in the first decades of this century; also, to see the classics of writing about intersex, such as Dreger and Reis, put into a much wider context. Fascinated by the different ways relationships between intersex people and their non-intersex allies have played out - and this can be applied to other inclusive movements too.

[JC Sevart · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting and incredibly detailed history of the intersec movement and about the various challenges that movement faces, especially from cruel and outdated medical practices