Fleshing out the self Reimagining intersexed and trans embodied lives through (auto)biographical accounts of the past Marie-Louise Holm Linköping Studies in Arts and Science No. 712 ISSN 0282-9800 Faculty of Arts and Sciences Linköping 2017 Linköping Studies in Arts and Science No. 712 At the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Linköping University, research and doctoral studies are carried out within broad problem areas. Research is organized in interdisciplinary research environments and doctoral studies mainly in graduate schools. Jointly, they publish the series Linköping Studies in arts and Science. This thesis comes from Gender Studies at the Department of Thematic Studies. Distributed by: TEMA - Department of Thematic studies Linköping University 581 83 Linköping Sweden Marie-Louise Holm Fleshing out the self: Reimagining intersexed and trans embodied lives through (auto)biographical accounts of the past Edition 1:1 ISBN 978-91-7685-551-5 ISSN 0282-9800 Linköping studies in arts and science, no. 712 ISSN 0282-9800 © Marie-Louise Holm Department of Thematic Studies 2017 Printed by: LiU Tryck, Linköping 2017 Cover design: Marie-Louise Holm Images on cover are (not in order of appearance): Photo by Marie-Louise Holm of the entrance to the Danish National Archive. Photos by Marie- Louise Holm from Billedbladet May 18th 1954 and July 24th 1962, and of archival material from Manglende sager i tidligere afleveringer (1922-1956) case no. 261/35 and Ka-sager (1929-1968) no. 944/62. Revisions and design by Marie-Louise Holm.Archival matrial reproduced with kind permission from the Danish National Archives. I make no promises of answers, but offer the belief that it is only by reconfiguring thought that we can move on to potentially more creative modes both of becoming in ourselves and of encountering others, whatever form those others might take. * Margrit Shildrick, Embodying the Monster: Encounters with the Vulnerable Self Contents Acknowledgements 11 Prelude: On reading, singing, and writing the voices of others 15 Preface: How this research project emerged 17 Part I: Introduction 27 Topic and aim of the thesis 29 Disputed subjects in current Danish debates about 35 trans and intersex medical care Postmodern and queer historical research on intersex 50 and trans in medico-legal contexts The historical source material and the method of its 59 collection Choice of cases and anonymisation 65 Central concepts 68 Experience 69 Gendersex and bodyself 75 Trans, cis, and intersex(ed) 76 Personal pronouns used in the thesis 78 Chapter overview 83 Part II - A delicate endeavour: Developing an analytical approach which acknow- 87 ledges intersex and trans experiences Possibilities and perils in articulating intersexed and trans 89 experiences and life stories 1 Trans and intersex as contested subjects in 95 feminist activism and research Radical feminist perspectives on trans embodiment 96 Sexual-difference and transfeminist perspectives on sexual 99 differences Dealing with difference in Bernice Hausman’s postmodern 106 historical study on transsexualism Hausman’s approach to trans and intersexed embodiments, 109 bodily practices, and identities On making analyses at a discursive versus an individual 113 level 2 Rethinking analytical approaches in intersections 117 between queer, trans, and intersex studies Rethinking queer theoretical approaches to intersex 118 embodiment and sexual desire Deconstructing the psychiatric trans narrative through 124 articulations of trans people’s life stories Rethinking queer theoretical approaches to trans life stories 129 Queering queer notions of the normative and the subversive 136 3 Analytical tools and practices of the thesis 141 Dialogical narrative analysis 143 Micro-genealogical analysis 152 The concepts of fitting and misfitting as analytical tools 156 Central questions and structure of the analysis of the cases 163 Part III - Fleshing out the self: Rearticulating life stories, multiplying perspectives 169 4 Two life stories rearticulated 171 Vigga Heidi - Viggo Klausen’s story 173 Peter Ole – Petra Oda Fischer’s story 177 5 The context of the production of the autobiographical accounts Perceived significance of autobiographical accounts in 185 the evaluation of gendersex status Procedures and processing of applications regarding 190 aspects of gendersex status Knud Sand: Knowledge producer, gatekeeper, and 192 negotiator over four decades Sand’s perspective on and approach to persons diagnosed 199 as sexually abnormal The context of Danish eugenics politics 202 Abbreviations used for referencing archival material 206 6 The case of Vigga Heidi – Viggo Klausen 209 6.1 Autobiography A story about hesitating over a difficult choice 211 The mother’s story about Klausen’s corporeality 212 Living a different, changing, and fragile body 217 The introduction of the narrative of erroneous sex 224 Imagined futures in Klausen’s accounts 229 6.2 Negotiations and decisions Sand’s determination of Klausen’s gendersex 237 The transformation of Klausen’s gendersex 240 Positive indications for permitting a change in Klausen’s 247 legal gendersex status The narrative of erroneous sex as gate-opener to a change 254 of legal gendersex status The aligning of Klausen’s gendersexed body, mind, and 261 sexual inclinations The Ministry of Justice’s perception of reproductive risk 264 Re-positioning Klausen’s social gendersex status and the 267 issue of employment 7 The case of Peter Ole – Petra Oda Fischer 273 7.1 Autobiography A story about finding ways to realise the dream of one’s 275 life Growing up with different feelings, desires, and interests 277 The reconfiguration of the narrative of erroneous sex 284 Hormonal and sexological theories as an explanatory 290 framework for Fischer’s experiences Attempting to enhance the possibilities of negotiating 295 one’s future Experiments with self-medication 299 7.2 Negotiations Sand’s views on the possibilities and politics of medical 305 transformation Breaking the isolation and enabling oneself to live partly 314 as a woman Turbulent years and renewed negotiations 319 7.3 Decisions Reconfiguring arguments for permitting the surgical 325 removal of the gonads The Medico-Legal Council’s criteria for who should be 337 recognised as a woman Finding love, seeking legal recognition, and being 345 positioned as a swindler Stürup’s rearticulation of Fischer’s life story 355 8 Epilogue: Medico-legal criteria for granting a change of 361 gendersex status after Klausen’s and Fischer’s cases 9 Conclusion: Lived lives, liveable lives 377 Bibliography 383 Unpublished archival sources 405 Appendix: 423 Translation of the terms of permission to see material at the Danish National Archive for which there is restricted access Acknowledgements Like the articulation of any text that is privileged to circulate among a wider public, the coming into being of this thesis has been dependent on the encouragement, provision of time and space, and continuous support of a multitude of generous people. I am deeply grateful to all of these because, had it not been for them, I would not have been able to engage with this project, or to carry it through. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors, Margrit Shildrick, Jens Rydström, and Ailbhe Smyth. Thank you, Margrit, for your never-failing support, for always moving my thinking yet further, and for encouraging me to explore in my own way research areas with which few engage, as you do yourself. Thank you, especially, for supporting my experiments in pushing the genre limits of academic writing. And thank you for your ethical sensitivity and extraordinary ability to apply a feminist postmodern bioethics to your work and to your relations with others, from which I have learned and benefitted immensely. Thank you, Jens, for your enthusiasm about my ideas and texts, your careful reading, and inspiring discussions, particularly about our shared passion for historical subjects. Also, thank you for your invaluable guidance and for encouraging me to engage with the initially difficult task of archive work. And, not least, thank you for returning my focus to the historical source material, which has become the heart of the thesis, as it should be. Thank you, Ailbhe, for providing me with a creative space for writing and thinking in the borderlands between academic, fictional, and poetic texts, as well as for your warm personal way of relating to me. I wish to thank the employees at the Danish National Archive who permitted me access to the case files of the Danish Ministry of Justice and the Medico-Legal Council as well as assisting me in collecting them for my research. A very special thanks to Ulf Kyneb, whose expertise has guided me throughout the collection process in finding cases that I would have never been able to locate myself. Without your help and support, this thesis would not have existed. Nor would this thesis have been created without the initial support of friends and colleagues in Copenhagen, who encouraged me to apply for a PhD in Linköping and assured me that this would be a great place 11 for me to be. Thank you for helping me to engage on this journey – you know who you all are. I also want to thank the Danish historians, my former supervisor, folklorist Karin Lützen, gender researcher Bente Rosenbeck, and historian of medicine Jesper Vaczy Kragh, each for of their belief in my project when it was still just a vague outline, and for their interest and support along the way. Thank you especially to the trans and intersex activists and researchers, here and in other places, who inspired and supported the making of this project. At difficult times, I always thought of your remarks that you were waiting impatiently to read the thesis, and that, for many different reasons, you needed it. Andi, Axel, David, Del, Elias, Emmi, France, Iwo, Kat, Kim, Kris, Luca, Ludo, Marianna, Mons, Nadzeya, Peter, Sade, Sam, Sami, Suzi, Tara Naja, Tobias, Tony, Vanessa, Vick, Wibke, Yoon, Zafire, Zinta – and anyone else who might need these (hi)stories – this is for you.