She has had this conversation forty times.
The nurse calls her name from the doorway. The document reads “DSD — disorder of sex development.” She walks in, sits down, and gently corrects the file: “I’d prefer ‘variation,’ not ‘disorder.’” The nurse smiles politely, nods, and makes no note. Next visit, the paper will read the same thing.
This story is not new, and it’s just one example of many cases where the language intentionally or unintentionally becomes another layer of discrimination toward intersex people. For an intersex person sitting in a clinic, on a school form, or in a job interview, it’s the difference between feeling like a person and feeling like a case.
So what’s the right way to say about intersexuality?
This article is a short, practical guide to the words to use, especially for people living and working with intersex people.
A Three-Term Concept
There are essentially three terms in active circulation today. Knowing what each one means and where it comes from is most of the work.
- Intersex. The community’s preferred umbrella term. It describes people born with sex characteristics (chromosomes, hormones, genitals, gonads) that don’t fit typical definitions of male or female. It’s identity-friendly, neutral, and the term that nearly every intersex-led organization in the world uses today.
- DSD — Differences (or Disorders) of Sex Development. Coined in a 2006 medical consensus statement published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The doctors who introduced it argued that “intersex” and older terms were “particularly controversial.” Many intersex adults have pushed back ever since, citing the obvious problem: disorder pathologizes a natural variation. Some have softened the term by replacing “disorder” with “difference,” but interACT and most advocacy groups now avoid DSD altogether (interACT).
- Variation in sex characteristics (VSC). The United Nations’ preferred neutral term, common in human-rights documents and in the work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The most important rule, however, is to let the individual choose what fits them. Some embrace “intersex.” Some may use “DSD” or “VSC” in some circumstances because it helps explain things to family. Some use both depending on the room. Your job isn’t to police but to follow their lead.
The Retirement List
Here are some of the terms that should be retired and avoided.
If you can only memorize one thing from this table, start with the first one. Dropping “hermaphrodite” from your vocabulary and defaulting to “intersex” is the single biggest upgrade you can make today. And remember not to stigmatize any term casually.
The Takeaway
It would be easy to declare “intersex good, DSD bad” and call it a day, but the truth is more complicated than that. Some clinicians may find “DSD” useful for medical clarity, or parents may find it less frightening than “intersex” when they’re hearing the news for the first time. The rule isn’t to police anyone’s language. The rule is:
- 1. Default to “intersex” in general writing, media, and conversation.
- 2. Drop pathologizing language (“disorder,” “ambiguous,” “abnormal”) unless you’re quoting a medical document or being suggested by an intersex person themselves.
- 3. Follow the person’s lead when an intersex individual tells you what fits them.
That’s it. Three rules. You’ll get it right 95% of the time. Words are cheap, but the respect they communicate is not. To learn more or research about intersex-related terminology, head to Intersex Asia’s The Purple Key glossary page.
