Subjects in Doubt: The Ontogeny of Intersex in the Dewey Decimal Classification

A concept that has experienced significant change in the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is "intersex people," historically known as hermaphrodites or the condition of hermaphroditism. The classification of the concept of intersex has changed in 14 out of the 23 editions of the DDC; it has changed in every edition since the twelfth. It has had its own class, been completely removed, re-added, and removed again. It has been moved around, made more specific, made more general, and become a facet. Why has this particular concept experienced so much change, and what does this mean to our libraries' collocative integrity? Why is the understanding of the concept so unstable? Is it the domain itself or the interference and dissonance of popular with scientific understandings? This piece specifically investigates the ontogeny of the concept of intersex/hermaphrodite enriching the discussion by connecting it with epistemic authority and concept theory.