Write a PREreview

This paper presents a critical genealogy of the sociomedical treatment of intersex bodies in the Western tradition, analyzing the epistemic and ontological transformations that have defined their understanding, classification, and intervention from Ancient Greece to the present day. Through a methodological approach that combines Foucauldian genealogical analysis with feminist epistemologies, the research examines how perceptions, discourses, and practices surrounding intersex corporealities have been historically constructed and regulated through complex power-knowledge entanglements. The analysis identifies three fundamental historical moments: the "Age of pre-medicalization" (Ancient Greece and Middle Ages), characterized by mystical and religious interpretations; the "Age of medicalization" (18th-20th centuries), marked by the rise of biological determinism and the emergence of sexology; and the "Age of post-medicalization" (late 20th century onwards), defined by technological advances, internet activism, and feminist and queer theoretical critiques. This genealogical exercise reveals how each epoch has constructed its own devices of corporal regulation, specific taxonomies, and intervention technologies, exposing the historical contingency of categories that claim to define "correct" ways of being and living a body. Drawing on contributions from feminist theorists including Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, Monique Wittig, Elizabeth Grosz, and Anne Fausto-Sterling, the work demonstrates how intersex bodies constitute a key site of contestation against hegemonic norms about sex and gender. The research employs the analytical framework of health-illness-care processes to examine how biomedicine has established itself as the dominant model for defining and treating intersexuality, while also considering practices of self-care and emerging alternative narratives.