The Gender Anthropology and Psychology of Intersex Bodies: A Cuban Study

biomedical dynamics and contexts to the representation of the body of people intersex with genital modifications. Recent Finding The article finds that both alternatives—modification and non-modification of bioanatomy—require further reflection on the key issues related to the body in healthcare for intersex people. Among the participants, the body image is more compromised, and they have more difficulties in constructing an identity; the negative consequences of genital interventions hinder the experience of satisfying sexuality. Internalization of the normative ideal of 'normal' physicality permeates the physical self-concept and influences the subject's affective-erotic sexual life, the integration of physical difference into identity, and the possibility of developing a positive relationship with one's own body. Summary The body is central to human subjectivity; it is intimately linked to sexuality, gender, identity and health. The body image construction of intersex people with genital variations is poorly documented. A qualitative study based on an analytic-interpretive approach involving twenty-one intersex people aged sixteen to forty-nine, all with genital variations at birth, eighteen of whom had undergone genital surgery, while three had not. A general, sexual and health data form, an indepth interview guide and a projective psychological test were used as data collection instruments. All ethical aspects were considered together along with a gender anthropological interpretation.