Model takes up cudgels for the intersex
Print Edition
BELGIAN model Hanne Gaby Odiele is accustomed to the bright lights of high fashion but has stepped into a different sort of spotlight after revealing she is intersex.
Intersex people have characteristics, such as chromosomes or sexual organs, that don’t clearly fit typical male or female definitions.
The 29-year-old said in interviews published this week that she wants to raise awareness and end taboos surrounding the topic. “At this point, in this day and age, it should be perfectly all right to talk about this,” said Odiele, who has modeled brands such as Chanel and Prada.
According to the United Nations, between 0.05 and 1.7 percent of the population is intersex, a term used to describe a range of variations. Some are apparent at birth, others become noticeable at puberty, while those linked to chromosomes may not be physically evident.
Odiele has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, meaning she is genetically male, with one X and one Y chromosome, but resistant to male hormones. She was born with undescended testes and without a uterus or ovaries. “I will never know how it is to have a period, have a baby ... I am intersex, but I am much more female,” she told Vogue magazine.
“It was important for me to make this declaration now, based on where I am in my life. I want to live authentically as who I am and help to break down the stigma that intersex persons face.”
In particular, she said she was speaking out against the practice of performing surgery on children too young to give consent in order to make them conform to traditional notions of male or female.
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