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»Schnitt im Kopf«

Zur Rolle der Kommunikation in der Behandlung »intersexueller« Kinder am Kinderspital Zürich in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts
  • Andrea Althaus , Mirjam Janett , Jürg Streuli , Rita Gobet und Flurin Condrau
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 6. November 2021
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Abstract

In the second half of the twentieth century, the Zurich Children’s Hospital (Kispi) developed into an internationally renowned treatment center for »intersexuality.« Children with ambiguous body-sexual characteristics were given there a clearly male or female identification by means of surgical interventions and/or hormone therapies. This study examines the question of how medical and family communication shaped the (narrated) experience of »intersex« treatments. Our analysis is based on nine oral history interviews with former Kispi patients. We show that communication in connection with the treatments was semi-tabooing and directive. We discuss the mode of communication in its social and medical-historical conditions (tabooing of the clitoris and »intersex,« paternalistic relationship between doctors and patients, concealment of »intersex« diagnoses as a doctrine), examine its biographical effects (ignorance of one’s own body, feelings of shame, stigmatization) and address individual processing strategies (breaking taboos, acquisition of knowledge).

Online erschienen: 2021-11-06
Erschienen im Druck: 2021-09-01

© 2021 by transcript Verlag

Heruntergeladen am 6.12.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.14361/zwg-2021-840207/html
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