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  • L.J., romantic toilerljwrites@writeout.ink
    Oct 2, 2026, 11:35 AM

    #Christian theology of late antiquity promoted the idea of “primal androgyny,” that is, that human beings were created as androgynous beings (Adam before the separation of Eve) and that this non-binary state was the ideal state for humanity.

    This concept fell from popularity around the 12-13th centuries, as androgyny became conflated with dual-bodied hermaphroditism and thus with monstrosity.

    – Heather Rose Jones, Angelic Androgyny (discussing Chapter 1 of Leah DeVun, The Shape of Sex: Nonbinary Gender from Genesis to the Renaissance) alpennia.com/blog/angelic-andr

    #intersex #religion #HistoryOfIdeas #NonBinary

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  • L.J., romantic toilerljwrites@writeout.ink
    Oct 2, 2026, 12:37 PM

    Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) brought the most widely distributed Arabic philosophy on the topic, building on Greek writings but synthesized in different ways. This stream built on humoral theory, which held that an individual’s sexual expression resulted from their balance of qualities (hot, cold, wet, dry). Although this balance generally resulted in distinct categories of male and female (with their associated behavioral and social features), it also allowed for intermediate forms.

    – Heather Rose Jones, Historic Classification of Sexual Ambiguity (discussing Chapter 4, The Shape of Sex) alpennia.com/blog/historic-cla (intersex-phobia and sexism discussed)

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