Body Problems: What Intersex Priest Sally Gross Teaches Us about Embodiment, Justice, and Belonging

"M. Wolff's Body Problems theorizes the embodied reality and political work of renowned South African intersex scholar-priest and activist Sally Gross (1953-2014), whose body was policed and problematized from birth. Gross was designated male at birth and conditionally white as a Jewish person under apartheid in South Africa. She became engaged in pro-Palestinian activism in Israel, was misdiagnosed as transgender while serving as a Catholic priest in England, and ultimately returned to South Africa to become an intersex activist. The Apartheid Museum commemorates Gross for participating in the African National Congress and for having founded Intersex South Africa, accomplishments which significantly shaped public policy. This is the first book-length project to document the various nuanced aspects of Gross's life, including her devotion to her Jewish heritage, Christian communities, and Buddhist practices. Wolff sheds light on the under analyzed aspects of Gross's life and spirituality, as well as theorizes Gross's literal intersexuality and bodyliness as sites of both pain and resistance. Body Problems presents Gross as a helpful companion for constructing justice-oriented embodiment"--