Levi Suydam: Difference between revisions
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'''Levi Suydam''' was |
'''Levi Suydam''' was a property-holding African American [[intersex]] person who lived in the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = The Five Sexes|url = http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2326-1951.1993.tb03081.x/abstract|journal = The Sciences|date=1993–1994|issn = 2326-1951|pages = 20–24|volume = 33|issue = 2|doi = 10.1002/j.2326-1951.1993.tb03081.x|language = en|first = Anne|last = Fausto-Sterling}}</ref> In 1843, at a local election in [[Salisbury, Connecticut]], Suydam was presented to the town selectmen as a male property holder, the requirements for being validated as a voter. The [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|19th Amendment]] (women’s suffrage) wouldn’t happen for another 76 years, so while there was no question that Suydam owned property, the opposing party raised challenges on grounds that Suydam was more female-looking than male-looking, and therefore ineligible for voting. |
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After a medical examination, Suydam, who apparently had [[male genitalia]], was pronounced male and allowed to vote.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SMRXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA57#v=onepage&q&f=false|title = Case of Doubtful Sex|last = Barry|first = William|date = 1847|journal = The New York Journal of Medicine and Collateral Sciences, Volume 8|doi = |pmid = |access-date = 12 March 2015}}</ref> The [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]] won the election by a majority of one. Upon further examination after the election, however, doctors found that while Suydam had male genitalia, there was also a [[vagina]]l opening and evidence of regular [[menstruation]]. Whether or not the new findings changed the outcome of the election is unknown. |
After a medical examination, Suydam, who apparently had [[male genitalia]], was pronounced male and allowed to vote.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SMRXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA57#v=onepage&q&f=false|title = Case of Doubtful Sex|last = Barry|first = William|date = 1847|journal = The New York Journal of Medicine and Collateral Sciences, Volume 8|doi = |pmid = |access-date = 12 March 2015}}</ref> The [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]] won the election by a majority of one. Upon further examination after the election, however, doctors found that while Suydam had male genitalia, there was also a [[vagina]]l opening and evidence of regular [[menstruation]]. Whether or not the new findings changed the outcome of the election is unknown. |
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Revision as of 01:41, 26 January 2017
Levi Suydam was a property-holding African American intersex person who lived in the 19th century.[1] In 1843, at a local election in Salisbury, Connecticut, Suydam was presented to the town selectmen as a male property holder, the requirements for being validated as a voter. The 19th Amendment (women’s suffrage) wouldn’t happen for another 76 years, so while there was no question that Suydam owned property, the opposing party raised challenges on grounds that Suydam was more female-looking than male-looking, and therefore ineligible for voting.
After a medical examination, Suydam, who apparently had male genitalia, was pronounced male and allowed to vote.[2] The Whigs won the election by a majority of one. Upon further examination after the election, however, doctors found that while Suydam had male genitalia, there was also a vaginal opening and evidence of regular menstruation. Whether or not the new findings changed the outcome of the election is unknown.
Significance
The case of Suydam holds special significance because of the interaction of medical, legal, and social discourse. The physicians performing the medical examination, for example, did not seem to differentiate sex from gender, finding Suydam's anatomical features just as telling as "his feminine propensities, such as a fondness for gay colors, for pieces of calico, comparing and placing them together, and an aversion for bodily labor, and an inability to perform the same."[2] Legally, the disputed, arbitrary determinations of the doctors held great consequences in that the legitimacy of a vote and the outcome of an election depended entirely on their perspective. And socially, the case holds great cultural and political significance in a society where rights and sexual anatomy are interconnected. The importance of these issues was recognized at the time[3] and continues to have consequences to this day.[4]
References
- ^ Fausto-Sterling, Anne (1993–1994). "The Five Sexes". The Sciences. 33 (2): 20–24. doi:10.1002/j.2326-1951.1993.tb03081.x. ISSN 2326-1951.
- ^ a b Barry, William (1847). "Case of Doubtful Sex". The New York Journal of Medicine and Collateral Sciences, Volume 8. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ^ "Hermaphroditism: Sex Not Identified till Twenty-First Year." Supplement to the British Medical Journal. Published 21 March 1891. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ Bloom, Anne (2010). "To Be Real: Sexual Identity Politics in Tort Litigation". North Carolina Law Review. 88. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
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