TG History — TG Myths: IS JAMIE LEE CURTIS INTERSEXED?

“No. Are you?” — Reputedly Marlene Dietrich’s response
to a reporter asking if she was really a man.

For those of you not immediately familiar with this, go ahead and Google it. We’ll wait.

Welcome back. My, but this is one persistent little rumor, so let’s get straight to the facts. First we’ll examine the eyewitness testimony verifying Ms. Curtis’ alleged intersexed condition:  _________________________

Well, that was easy. Still, intersexualism is a physical condition so no investigation can be conclusive without hard medical evidence. Here are the names of all the lucky doctors who physically examined Ms. Curtis and confirm the intersex rumor: _______________________________________________________

And here’s all the expert medical testimony proving Ms. Curtis’ intersexualism: ___________________________

You know, I wish all columns were this easy to write. So let’s recap: we have (1) absolutely no credible eyewitness evidence and (2) absolutely zero medical evidence, credible or otherwise. The Jamie-Lee-Curtis-is-intersexed hearsay embodies all the elements of the classic rumor: nobody knows where it came from; nobody can quote a valid source, yet everybody who hears it tends to accept it at face value. Even college professors who should know better sometimes blindly cite it as fact. There’s also false testimony — respected intersex expert Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling has been falsely quoted as supporting this rumor, a claim she has vigorously denied.

Like computer viruses, rumors also tend to spawn variations of themselves, in this case “Jamie-Lee-Curtis-is-a-hermaphrodite,” “Jamie-Lee-Curtis-has-androgen-insensitivity-syndrome,” and “Jamie-Lee-Curtis-is-a-transsexual.” So far there doesn’t seem to be a “Jamie-Lee-Curtis-is-a-crossdresser” rumor (yet) but the century’s still young.

Why pick on Ms. Curtis? Some speculate this rumor sprang from her being one of the first female stars to highlight bodybuilding as a method for keeping fit, starting with her 1985 film Perfect. It’s taken the public a long time to accept muscularly developed women (witness the kafuffle over Michelle Obama’s biceps) so perhaps it’s continuing backlash from that. But that’s how it is with most rumors — nobody ever really knows.

But the rumor did receive a kick start courtesy due a of 1996 article in Baltimore Sun titled: “What Are You: Male, Merm, Herm, Ferm or Female?”  by William O. Beeman, an associate professor of anthropology at Brown University.  It contained this little observation: “The film star Jamie Lee Curtis is one well-known individual who is genetically male, but phenotypically female.” Yet Beeman was forced to later delete the statement which had no attributed sources, saying attempts to track down the plastic surgeons allegedly involved were “totally unsuccessful.” (Gee, makes you wonder what else in his article was based on unsubstantiated gossip)

Unfortunately, the old truism still holds true: a bell can’t be unrung. Take a trip online and you can find well written accounts debunking this rumor on snopes.com and about.com — but you can also find Beeson’s original unedited text as well.

In truth, there’s also no evidence Jamie Lee Curtis isn’t intersexed but that’s hardly the point. One of science’s guiding principals is that you don’t prove a negative. Look at it this way: if you can’t prove you’re not an axe murderer does that prove you really are one? For this to be true it must be conclusively shown Ms. Curtis is intersexed and not the other way around. Aliens might be visiting Earth’s cornfields; the Mafia might have killed Marilyn Monroe; Elvis might still be alive; heck, robots might be stealing your luggage. But accepting anything without question is always dangerous. There’s no infallible source for information (including this column) and that certainly applies to unsubstantiated rumors and anonymous emails. Anytime you hear something that sounds incredible that’s when the skeptic in all of us needs to rise up and say: “OK then, where’s your proof?”

Category: All TGForum Posts, Transgender History