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"Androgyne: a person whose gender identity is not exclusively male or female and who may or may not have an intersex condition." (IFAS*, February 2002). An androgyne is a type of transgender person who might or might not also be intersex. This term refers to how a person thinks of themself.

"Intersex: a condition where a child is born with reproductive organs, genitalia and/or sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female." (IFAS, February 2002). It is thought that most intersex people are probably not androgyne or transgender---they think of themselves as exclusively male or female.

Please be aware that the terminology in this area is in a constant state of flux. There are dozens of terms with no universally-agreed definitions, including all the gender terms used above (that is, including male, female, transgender, gender identity, androgyne, and intersex).

Estimates and study results on the incidence of intersex conditions vary widely between 0.02 per cent and 2.00 per cent of the population. In Australia that is anywhere from 4,000 to 400,000 people. Most intersex people are perfectly healthy, are unaware of their intersex status and require no medical treatment.

The courtesy title 'Mx' or 'Mix' is an abbreviation for 'mixture' and should be pronounced as 'mix'. 'Mx' is recognised by (Australian) Federal government agencies. Most of my mail, including bills, financial statements etc, arrive addressed to Mx Margaret Jones. I respond to female pronouns, so please use 'she' and 'her'.

The precise cause for me being an androgyne is not proven, but I suspect in utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) as I have a list of features consistent with exposure to an artificial oestrogen. None of these features is a health concern in my case.

Special Note: in classical music circles you may one day come across other M D Joneses. One M Jones also did a MusB at the University of Western Australia (UWA), in guitar and other fretted instruments. Another also has a Bachelor of Music in composition, from somewhere in the eastern states (of Australia).

For more information on androgynes and intersex people, see these web sites:

Androgyne sites:

My favourite email list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Intersex-Androgynous
Another androgyne email list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/androgynes

People affected by diethylstilbestrol in utero or neo-natally (DES is an artificial oestrogen):

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/des-sons

Outstanding book on endocrine (hormone) disruptors

with a foreword by former USA Vice President Al Gore (1996):

www.ourstolenfuture.org/

Major intersex sites:

www.vicnet.net.au/~aissg/
www.isna.org/

Infant (or Intersex) Genital Mutilation (IGM): email to and from the Minister for Health:

IGMKucera2002.html

TransWest: the Transgender Association of Western Australia (Inc.):

www.transwest.org.au

* The International Foundation for Androgynous Studies (IFAS):

www.gendercentre.org.au/21article1.htm

Brain autopsy studies showing that a sense of being a man or a woman is reflected in brain structure. The subjects included some transsexuals. Unfortunately, no androgyne or intersex brains have yet been studied:

A Sex Difference in the Human Brain and its Relation to Transsexuality (1997): link down. Try Google.

Male-to-Female Transsexuals Have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus (2000): http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/85/5/2034

Sexual Differentiation of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis in Humans May Extend into Adulthood (2002): www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/3/1027

As at 8 June 2010. Page first uploaded to old site 20030128

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