Mesosex: a person who has an intersex variation, but one which does not conform to perisex (non-intersex) ideas of what intersex is. For example, people who have intersex traits that are considered “mild”, or who have variations such as PCOS Hyperandrogenism and Poland Syndrome.
Meso- for middle/in between, to refer to the state of being in between what the intersex community accepts as intersex and what the broader public (mistakenly) thinks intersex is.
ALT
This is a revision to the initial definition for the term, which I originally coined a few months back. The revised definition comes from many conversations with both identifying-as-intersex people and identifying-as-mesosex people.
In particular I’d like to highlight this long (but very productive) thread from which the revised definition was first proposed by @queercripintersex
From that thread and private conversations some key takeaways have been:
There was too much ambiguity in the initial definition.
The people I’ve spoken to for whom mesosex has resonated all either have intersex variations, or very good reasons to question that they could be intersex.
And a lot of those people have faced harassment and invalidation by perisex people for experimenting and/or claiming the intersex label. They have expressed a desire for alternate language by which they can communicate their relationship to being intersex.
Not everybody with an intersex variation wants to use the term intersex, or to only use it contextually. Some feel they aren’t “intersex enough”, even people with variations like Klinefelter’s or CAIS that are widely accepted as intersex.
For people who are new to thinking of themselves as intersex, it is valuable to have a microlabel available that can capture their impostor syndrome.
There is a real and legitimate concern that the initial definition of mesosex would lead people with intersex variations like PCOS to think of themselves as neither intersex nor perisex, even though the intersex community is unanimous that PCOS hyperandrogenism is intersex.
Although there is a clear hierarchy of which intersex variations are seen as more legitimately intersex by perisex people, if we validate this hierarchy then we undermine our collective need for pan-intersex solidarity.
I hope that redefining the term reduces rather than adds confusion! And that it’s useful for people! Feedback is welcome. 💜
ALT