{"id":31620,"date":"2024-09-26T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T19:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=31620"},"modified":"2024-10-01T12:52:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T16:52:41","slug":"gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/09\/26\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Gendering the Non-Binary, 1763, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Allison Hill-Edgar<\/em> ~<\/p>\n

For those of us who enjoy immersing ourselves in libraries and special collections, especially those that hold medical treasures such as the National Library of Medicine, there is perhaps no greater thrill than finding an unexpected inclusion in a published work. Finding two prints of intersex individuals inserted in the back of a 1763\u20131764 atlas of female reproductive anatomy was certainly one such thrill. This particular juxtaposition illuminated the complexity of medical representation and the longstanding struggle between defining an idealized norm and recognizing the reality of human diversity.<\/p>\n

As a 2020 DeBakey Fellow, I had the opportunity to pursue my research on the visual history of female anatomy at the National Library of Medicine in the few months before the world shut down. Reviewing several 18th century obstetrical atlases, in particular those by William Hunter<\/a>, William Smellie<\/a>, and Charles Jenty, I came across a volume of Jenty\u2019s Demonstration de la matrice d’une femme grosse et de son enfant a terme<\/em><\/a> (Demonstrations of a pregnant uterus of a woman at her full time<\/em>) from 1763\u20131764 that had two additional images bound in the back. Not only were these two prints not a part of Jenty\u2019s original work, but also they were quite different in content, medium, and style from his atlas. Entitled \u201cGarc\u0327on hermaphrodite vu\u0302 en 1755, et dessine\u0301 d’apre\u0300s nature,\u201d\u00a0 and \u201cFille hermaphrodite vu\u0302e en 1751, dessine\u0301 d’apre\u0300s nature,<\/em>\u201dthe works are unsigned engravings of two intersex individuals.<\/p>\n