As an openly intersex person participating in this fandom, I feel strongly about responding to the anon who wrote to this blog about the ending of the novel feeling too āfarfetchedā in comparison to the film. The truth is, neither of the takes on Vincentās intersex variation, neither the way itās presented in the book nor the way itās been adapted in the movie script, is farfetched in any way in the context of him not learning until middle age that heās different. Youād be amazed how many of us have no fucking clue thereās something different going on until weāre in our 30s, 40s, or beyond. Even just mildly ambiguous genitalia (as in the book: the way his genitalia is described suggests an enlarged clitoris/small phallus with labial structures fused such that they convincingly appear, to him and to his parents and likely everyone else around him that got a glimpse, as a scrotum) can pass as so-called normal genitalia along the accepted binary; in this instance, anon is arguing that there would be no so-called typical urethral function, but the truth is that varying degrees of hypospadias still can cause the urethra to run through the clitoral/phallic structure as with a typical penis, and for the opening to be normal. Erectile function? You bet. Some individuals with XX chromosomes and a situation like book-Vincentās and film-Vincentās DO have it. Whatās most fascinating to me, as far as where book and film diverge, is in the difference to the proposed surgery being described: the book says he was going to be sent for a procedure to *unfuse the labial structures and reduce the clitoral size*, and comments NOTHING on removing a uterus and ovaries (in fact, we do not know if book-Vincent has them, although we may presume so); meanwhile, the film procedure he was going to be sent for was to remove his uterus and ovaries, but NOT to alter his external genitalia to make them more typically feminine (and likely ruin function; believe me, the book procedure wouldāve had a higher chance of being irreparably damaging) in form and function. This is not to lecture, but merely to point out that intersex variations are complex. The film was somewhat kinder to him when it came to the proposed surgical intervention, in my estimation; it did not attempt to impose a cosmetic fix that essentially wouldāve forced him *visibly* into a female binary in the same fell swoop as leaving the priesthood/Church. And his genitalia, even in the book, was clearly NOT any more ambiguous than in the film, especially in a context as modest as seminary. The only hard fact we donāt really know is if presence of uterus/ovaries is the same across both. Anyway, I can tell you at least one person has thought a lot about this, and I lost enough sleep to need to write in with this. Intersex people: weāre varied, complex, and we often DONāT know how weāre different until a surgery for some other issue uncovers it. My variation is different from Vincentās, both internally and externally, but it still took abdominal surgery in my mid-30s to expose what was happening. Itās a life-altering experience. My marriage of almost a decade ended because of it (the trash took itself out). Iām happy to know this about myself; thereās a reason Vincentās story was so astonishing to see onscreen. Iām grateful for it.
