(Im)moral bodies : intersex and auto/biographical documentary

In this paper I question the representation of and ethical responsibilities to young people with intersex (hermaphroditic) conditions in documentary film, and explore the creative practice challenges working with bodies with intersex, embedded in the production of a feature auto/biographical documentary entitled Orchids. Bodies with intersex conditions are often presented as abject, in need of ‘fixing’ during infancy and early childhood, undesirable, and incapable of desire. Seen through the lens of experience and memory, Orchids takes a personal coming-of-age narrative and reconfigures understandings of the (im)moral body in the light of its transformative potential. Just as practice research challenges the dominant hegemony of quantitative and qualitative research, my creative work positions itself as a nuanced performative piece, and through its distinctive distillation and celebration of a new form of discursive rupturing discovers the intersex voice.