Eric - thanks for writing vulnerably and boldly about your body. Our bodies.
I wonder with you about what the world would be if all those born intersex were recognized as other-sex. I wonder what societal pressures would be eased, what other unknowns could be explored and endured, what role we'd be expected to fill - in a healthy culture that recognizes and values our differences.
I wonder about the intersex woman who touched Yeshua's robe and was healed - the only instance of Yeshua's healing power being accessed without his consent.
And I'm finally speaking vulnerably and personally to those in my circles about my body. Our bodies.
The rest with the blacklight and the hawk was cool too.
Thank you, BJ. I’ve been thinking about this interpretation of the story of the woman with the issue of blood since you posted. I’ve done some digging and can’t find any other reference about her being intersex, but this feels so resonant. I’ve found lots of interesting (and lots of disturbing) commentary about it in the last couple of days, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I haven’t found anything that would indicate that she was intersex. Can you point me to some resources for this? I’d really love to know more. Personally, I’ve always thought of Daniel and the three Hebrew children, possibly Jonathan, original Adam, and the Ethiopian Eunuch as possibly intersex, but I’d love to know more about this in religious and theological history. Even though I went to seminary, I’d never even heard of the Sarasim (and other Hebrew sex/gender expression) until you brought it to light, so I have a feeling there is a whole world to explore here.
I simply understand her as intersex from the fact that by bleeding constantly for over a decade, her reproductive system wasn't functioning typically. This excluded her from religious life, family life, romantic life - it made her a (typical for intersex) non-entity. Sean in the film Every Body says it really well, something like: culture gave me no 'me' to discover.
Eunuchs are intersex (by technology) for the same reason, their reproductive and hormonal situation is abnormal. I think it was culturally understood then that infertility made you a non-participant in the human endeavor, so infertile and intersex were probably synonyms for ancients.
Daniel and friends, maybe - Joseph maybe? which makes the story with Potiphar's wife really strange... but generally it was probably common for those conquering powers to castrate captured slaves.
There's definitely a lot in subtext about saris/enuchs throughout the Hebrew scriptures - their law restricted Israel from even castrating animals... so they looked with disgust on castrated men in other cultures. That guy who got the stake through his head, the text apparently ridicules him for being castrated. Lots of themes about who bears and does not bear children - which I read as likely intersex conditions. Prophecies for 'the barren.'
Sophie Strand's book The Flowering Wand discusses a lot of male(-ish) figures in myth who don't follow the Campbell male hero journey: Dionysus (the previous wine god before Jesus - who also makes an appearance in Narnia) is gender-bending, Orpheus has no sword, of course neither does Yeshua (my favorite person to imagine as intersex, hence my substack sketches).
Eric - thanks for writing vulnerably and boldly about your body. Our bodies.
I wonder with you about what the world would be if all those born intersex were recognized as other-sex. I wonder what societal pressures would be eased, what other unknowns could be explored and endured, what role we'd be expected to fill - in a healthy culture that recognizes and values our differences.
I wonder about the intersex woman who touched Yeshua's robe and was healed - the only instance of Yeshua's healing power being accessed without his consent.
And I'm finally speaking vulnerably and personally to those in my circles about my body. Our bodies.
The rest with the blacklight and the hawk was cool too.
Thank you, BJ. I’ve been thinking about this interpretation of the story of the woman with the issue of blood since you posted. I’ve done some digging and can’t find any other reference about her being intersex, but this feels so resonant. I’ve found lots of interesting (and lots of disturbing) commentary about it in the last couple of days, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I haven’t found anything that would indicate that she was intersex. Can you point me to some resources for this? I’d really love to know more. Personally, I’ve always thought of Daniel and the three Hebrew children, possibly Jonathan, original Adam, and the Ethiopian Eunuch as possibly intersex, but I’d love to know more about this in religious and theological history. Even though I went to seminary, I’d never even heard of the Sarasim (and other Hebrew sex/gender expression) until you brought it to light, so I have a feeling there is a whole world to explore here.
I simply understand her as intersex from the fact that by bleeding constantly for over a decade, her reproductive system wasn't functioning typically. This excluded her from religious life, family life, romantic life - it made her a (typical for intersex) non-entity. Sean in the film Every Body says it really well, something like: culture gave me no 'me' to discover.
Eunuchs are intersex (by technology) for the same reason, their reproductive and hormonal situation is abnormal. I think it was culturally understood then that infertility made you a non-participant in the human endeavor, so infertile and intersex were probably synonyms for ancients.
Daniel and friends, maybe - Joseph maybe? which makes the story with Potiphar's wife really strange... but generally it was probably common for those conquering powers to castrate captured slaves.
There's definitely a lot in subtext about saris/enuchs throughout the Hebrew scriptures - their law restricted Israel from even castrating animals... so they looked with disgust on castrated men in other cultures. That guy who got the stake through his head, the text apparently ridicules him for being castrated. Lots of themes about who bears and does not bear children - which I read as likely intersex conditions. Prophecies for 'the barren.'
Sophie Strand's book The Flowering Wand discusses a lot of male(-ish) figures in myth who don't follow the Campbell male hero journey: Dionysus (the previous wine god before Jesus - who also makes an appearance in Narnia) is gender-bending, Orpheus has no sword, of course neither does Yeshua (my favorite person to imagine as intersex, hence my substack sketches).
I love this. Thank you so much for this thoughtful (and thought-provoking) reply.