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{"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":"<p><em>By Allison Hill-Edgar<\/em> ~<\/p>\n<p>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<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlm.nih.gov\/exhibition\/dream-anatomy\/index.html?path=gallery_slide2\">William Hunter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlm.nih.gov\/exhibition\/historicalanatomies\/smellie_home.html\">William Smellie<\/a>, and Charles Jenty, I came across a volume of Jenty\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.nlm.nih.gov\/permalink\/01NLM_INST\/1o1phhn\/alma992769403406676\"><em>Demonstration de la matrice d’une femme grosse et de son enfant a terme<\/em><\/a> (<em>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>,<\/em>\u201dthe works are unsigned engravings of two intersex individuals.<\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/26\\\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\\\/\"}' id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-31620 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/09\/26\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\/male_2691423r\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R.jpg?fit=199%2C300&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Historical engraving of an artistically posed nude intersex person labeled as male.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R.jpg?w=714&ssl=1 714w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R.jpg?resize=199%2C300&ssl=1 199w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R.jpg?resize=681%2C1024&ssl=1 681w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" data-attachment-id=\"32128\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/09\/26\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\/male_2691423r\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R.jpg?fit=714%2C1074&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"714,1074\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"“Garc\u0327on hermaphrodite”\" data-image-description=\"<p>“Garc\u0327on hermaphrodite vu\u0302 en 1755, et dessine\u0301 d’apre\u0300s nature” in Demonstration de la matrice d’une femme grosse et de son enfant a terme, 1763\u20131764<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #2691423R<\/p>\n\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R.jpg?fit=199%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R.jpg?fit=681%2C1024&ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/09\/26\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\/female_2691423r\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"205\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/female_2691423R.jpg?fit=205%2C300&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Historical engraving of an artistically posed nude intersex person labeled as female.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/female_2691423R.jpg?w=734&ssl=1 734w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/female_2691423R.jpg?resize=205%2C300&ssl=1 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/female_2691423R.jpg?resize=700%2C1024&ssl=1 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 205px) 100vw, 205px\" data-attachment-id=\"32127\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/09\/26\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\/female_2691423r\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/female_2691423R.jpg?fit=734%2C1074&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"734,1074\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"\u201cFille hermaphrodite”\" data-image-description=\"<p>\u201cFille hermaphrodite vu\u0302e en 1751, dessine\u0301 d’apre\u0300s nature\u201d in Demonstration de la matrice d’une femme grosse et de son enfant a terme, 1763\u20131764<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #2691423R<\/p>\n\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/female_2691423R.jpg?fit=205%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/female_2691423R.jpg?fit=700%2C1024&ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>I found myself asking who made these images and why? Why were they bound in this particular volume? As someone who studies gender representations in medical illustrations, I felt that the relationship between the two sets of images was not entirely random. In fact, their juxtaposition informed and expanded the scope of my own research project, <a href=\"https:\/\/videocast.nih.gov\/watch=41222\"><em>Dissecting Gender: Reframing Anatomical History Through the Female Body<\/em><\/a> to include an investigation of the association between non-binary bodies and the binary construct of the female body.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Nicholas Jenty\u2019s <em>Demonstrations<\/em> was first published in England in 1758 and contained six hand colored mezzotint prints copied from the drawings of the artist Jan van Rymsdyk. The prints visually dissect a truncated, pregnant female body in vivid detail, revealing successive interior layers of the abdomen, uterus, fetus, empty uterus with placenta and vagina, and a free-floating womb. The mezzotint prints are much darker and heavier than the original Rymsdyk drawings, but according to Jenty, mezzotints \u201cmay want the smartness of engraving, but the softness that they possess may approach nearer to the imitation of nature\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.nlm.nih.gov\/permalink\/01NLM_INST\/1o1phhn\/alma9915770133406676\">Human Anatomy: a visual history from the Renaissance to the digital<\/a>). During the mid-18th century, there was a significant aesthetic shift in anatomic representation towards objectivity and naturalism, and the \u201cstripping away of artistic niceties, such as imaginative flair and narrative style” (<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.16995\/ntn.783\">Replicating Venus: Art, Anatomy, Wax Models, and Automata<\/a>). \u00a0This clinical, focused, and sometimes \u00a0brutal approach often resulted in a disembodiment and dehumanization of the subject, presenting the pregnant woman as a series of dismembered reproductive parts, described by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.utexaspressjournals.org\/doi\/abs\/10.5555\/gen.1991.12.100?role=tab&journalCode=gen\">Andrea Henderson<\/a> as \u201cbutcher shop meat.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32815\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32815\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"32815\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/09\/26\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\/demonstrations-series_2691423r\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?fit=1048%2C290&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1048,290\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"demonstrations-series_2691423R\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Mezzotint illustration series by artist Jan van Rymsdyk in Demonstration de la matrice d’une femme grosse et de son enfant a terme, 1763\u20131764 by Charles Nicholas Jenty<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #2691423R<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?fit=300%2C83&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?fit=840%2C232&ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32815\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?resize=840%2C232&ssl=1\" alt=\"Collage of six illustrations of anatomical dissection of a pregnant woman.\" width=\"840\" height=\"232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?resize=1024%2C283&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?resize=300%2C83&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?resize=768%2C213&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?resize=840%2C232&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/demonstrations-series_2691423R.jpg?w=1048&ssl=1 1048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32815\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mezzotint illustration series by artist Jan van Rymsdyk in <em>Demonstration de la Matrice d’une Femme Grosse et de son Enfant a Terme<\/em>, 1763\u20131764 by Charles Nicholas Jenty<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.nlm.nih.gov\/permalink\/01NLM_INST\/1o1phhn\/alma992769403406676\"><em>National Library of Medicine #2691423R<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In contrast to Jenty\u2019s mezzotint prints, the two engravings of \u201chermaphrodites\u201d included in the back are overflowing with such \u201cartistic niceties\u2026, imaginative flair and narrative style.\u201d Each shows a full figure, perched on a bed with flowing sheets, gilt details, and accoutrements such as draped clothes and mirrors. Although the figures are nameless, they are represented as actual individuals with expressions, gestures, personalities, and specific physical features. The overall impression of the prints is celebratory, erotic, and very much in keeping with the fashionable aesthetic of the time exemplified by the French painter Francois Boucher (1703\u20131770).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32133\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32133\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"32133\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/09\/26\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\/odalisque_brune_boucher\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?fit=1519%2C1200&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1519,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"\\u0426\\u0438\\u0444\\u0440\\u043e\\u0432\\u0430\\u044f \\u0440\\u0435\\u043f\\u0440\\u043e\\u0434\\u0443","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1239066000","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Odalisque_brune_Boucher\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>L’Odalisque Brune 1743 by Fran\u00e7ois Boucher<br \/>\nMus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?fit=300%2C237&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?fit=840%2C664&ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32133\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?resize=840%2C664&ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"840\" height=\"664\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?resize=1024%2C809&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?resize=300%2C237&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?resize=768%2C607&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?resize=840%2C664&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg?w=1519&ssl=1 1519w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32133\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>L’Odalisque Brune<\/em>, 1743 by Fran\u00e7ois Boucher<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Brunette_Odalisque#\/media\/File:Odalisque_brune_Boucher.jpeg\"><em>Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The figures are labeled as \u201chermaphrodites\u201d because they each exhibit elements of both male and female external genitalia, though in different configurations. The term hermaphrodite originates from the Greek myth of Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who was physically joined in one body with a nymph. At the bottom of the \u201cgar\u00e7on\u201d print, there is a handwritten note in Greek explaining the term: from Hermes and Aphrodite.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32136\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32136\" style=\"width: 351px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R_detail_fig10.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"32136\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/09\/26\/gendering-the-non-binary-1763-part-i\/male_2691423r_detail_fig10\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R_detail_fig10.jpg?fit=351%2C105&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"351,105\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"male_2691423R_detail_fig10\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>handwritten note in Greek explaining the term: from Hermes and Aphrodite.<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R_detail_fig10.jpg?fit=300%2C90&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R_detail_fig10.jpg?fit=351%2C105&ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-32136\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R_detail_fig10.jpg?resize=351%2C105&ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail of handwriting in Greek in the margin of an engraving.\" width=\"351\" height=\"105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R_detail_fig10.jpg?w=351&ssl=1 351w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R_detail_fig10.jpg?resize=300%2C90&ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 351px) 100vw, 351px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32136\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A handwritten note in Greek explaining the term hermaphrodite: from Hermes and Aphrodite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Whereas in contemporary biology, the term hermaphrodite is used to describe animals or plants that have both male and female reproductive organs, structures, or tissues, before the 20th century, it was used more broadly to describe anyone whose sex was ambiguous or in doubt. From the mid-20th century onwards, the term intersex has been used to describe anyone whose body does not fit binary conceptions of male or female.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being labeled \u201chermaphrodites,\u201d which implies being both male and female, the figures are gendered by binary titles, \u201cfille\u201d and \u201cgar\u00e7on,\u201d as well as elements of their features and surroundings. The \u201cfille\u201d has breasts and an appearance typically used to depict women of the time, such as narrow shoulders, wide hips, voluptuous thighs and abdomen, elegant limbs, and delicate facial features. Her hairstyle and scant garments are similarly stereotypically female. The \u201cgar\u00e7on\u201d has wider shoulders, narrower hips, and a muscular physique. He is shown with a shorter haircut and cross-body strap, often seen in artistic representations of male hunters, archers, and shepherds. He is shown gazing into a mirror, however, which is a twist on a traditional binary gender attribute. Looking into a mirror historically has been an artistic convention generally associated with female subjects. Furthermore, a popular, though undocumented, theory claims that the hand mirror is an attribute of Venus, the female goddess of love, sex, and beauty. According to that <a href=\"https:\/\/info.umkc.edu\/womenc\/2013\/06\/25\/what-do-our-gender-symbols-really-mean\/\">theory<\/a>, the symbol for female, \u201c\u2641\u201d is a stylized version of her hand mirror. William Stearn explains in <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.2307\/1217734\">\u201cThe Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology<\/a>,\u201d that this symbol was originally used in ancient Greece to reference a planet and its corresponding deity (Venus). In the 18th century, the botanist Carl Linnaeus began using this symbol to reference the female gender of plants, thus establishing \u201c\u2641\u201d as female in science. These images explore and bring to light the natural non-binary spectrum of both sexual anatomy and gender.<\/p>\n<p>But the questions remain, why were these images bound together in this particular volume and was there a meaningful association in the juxtaposition? One explanation for the linkage is that both sets of images would have been intended for a mid-18th century scientific audience interested in reproductive anatomy.\u00a0 Printed only a decade apart in France, their divergent aesthetic qualities embody the shift in scientific philosophy and medical representation that took place during the Enlightenment. The intersex images reflect the pre-Enlightenment approach to atypical or unique bodies described by Lorraine Daston and Katharine Park in their book, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/wondersorderof00dast\"><em>Wonders and the Order of Nature, 1150\u20131750<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em> In this work, the authors explore the complex history of physical anomalies, which in different historical periods might have been called wonders, monsters, prodigies, or marvels, and included references to hermaphrodites, giants, dwarfs, conjoined twins, and excessively hairy women and children. These labels generally have been replaced by more medically accurate and less derogatory and stigmatizing descriptors. Whether they elicited pleasure, horror, or a combination of both, such individuals were notable subjects of European Courts, universities, academies, and Wunderkammern. Intersex bodies were of particular interest to the medical community who wanted to better understand and document the full spectrum of human reproductive anatomy. From the 16th century onward, medical treatises catalogued case studies, \u201cin an attempt to order [them] as an understandable, if not natural, phenomen[a]\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.nlm.nih.gov\/permalink\/01NLM_INST\/1o1phhn\/alma9918351083906676\"><em>Exceptional bodies in early modern culture: concepts of monstrosity before the advent of the normal<\/em><\/a><em>). <\/em>Interest in intersex bodies intensified into the early 18th century and dissections were regularly reported in scholarly journals. The \u201cfille\u201d and \u201cgar\u00e7on\u201d engravings are such visual case studies and the accompanying text that documents the date when they were seen and that they were drawn from life is a testament to their authenticity and accuracy. They are examples of the variation inherent in human anatomy in a world in which, to quote Daston and Park, \u201cnature had room for exceptions.\u201d The Jenty images reveal the philosophical and aesthetic shift towards empiricism through their focused surgical narrative of the \u201cstandard\u201d female uterus. In these examples, visual objectivity, verisimilitude, and naturalism provide their own verification.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, the two sets of images were likely considered related investigations of sex, reproduction, and gender and linked as such. Whereas the Jenty images document and attempt to demystify the site of human development, the added engravings display the remarkable spectrum of sexual presentation. Furthermore, this juxtaposition highlights the shifting mindset and aesthetic in anatomical representation at this critical juncture in medical history.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_21233\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21233\" style=\"width: 100px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"21233\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2021\/05\/27\/dissecting-gender-reframing-anatomical-history-through-the-female-body\/allison_hill-edgar\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?fit=1515%2C1200&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1515,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}\" data-image-title=\"Allison Hill-Edgar\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?fit=300%2C238&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?fit=840%2C665&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-21233\" title=\"Allison Hill-Edgar\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar-300x238.jpeg?resize=100%2C79&ssl=1\" alt=\"A white woman poses between two artworks featuring human figures by a table with paintbrushes.\" width=\"100\" height=\"79\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?resize=300%2C238&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?resize=1024%2C811&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?resize=768%2C608&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?resize=1200%2C950&ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?resize=840%2C665&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allison_Hill-Edgar.jpeg?w=1515&ssl=1 1515w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-21233\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Xanthe Elbrick Photography<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/allisonhill-edgar.com\/\">Allison Hill-Edgar<\/a>, MD, MFA, is an Artist and Independent Scholar and a Lecturer at the New York Academy of Art, NY, NY, Saint Lawrence University, Canton, NY, and the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY and a 2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlm.nih.gov\/hmd\/get-involved\/debakey-fellowship.html\">NLM Michael E. DeBakey Fellow in the History of Medicine<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NLM History Lecture - Dissecting Gender: Reframing Anatomical History Through the Female Body\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oEByOwzm3Rg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Watch her NLM History Talk from June 3, 2021 on the topic of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/videocast.nih.gov\/watch=41222\">Dissecting Gender: Reframing Anatomical History Through the Female Body<\/a>.\u201d Watch previous NLM History Talks in the <a href=\"https:\/\/videocast.nih.gov\/PastEvents?c=221\">NIH Videocast Archive<\/a>, or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL7dF9e2qSW0b4qoikqa58YQErSmZVOOg7\">NLM YouTube Channel<\/a> and stay informed about about future ones on Twitter at <a id=\"anch_26\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NLMHistTalk?src=hash&lang=en\">#NLMHistTalk<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Allison Hill-Edgar ~ For those of us who enjoy immersing ourselves in libraries and special collections, especially those that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19605840,"featured_media":32132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42333869,12763,51014],"tags":[26371,177,678875806,58980,97077],"class_list":["post-31620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives-manuscripts","category-collections","category-guests","tag-anatomy","tag-art","tag-lgbtq","tag-fellowship","tag-womens-history"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/male_2691423R_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xcDk-8e0","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19605840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31620"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36417,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31620\/revisions\/36417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |