You are looking into Basin Creek Cove. The log cabin 1500 feet below was the home of Martin and Janie Caudill and their 14 children. Martin’s father, Harrison, who fathered 22 children, lived about a mile down the creek in the community of Basin Cove. The nearest settlement was 8 miles distant, reachable half by foot trail and half by road.
In 1916 a natural disaster brought tragedy to the Basin Cove community. Rain began falling one morning and continued through the night, by which time “whole half-acres just started sliding with timber ’til they hit the hollow.” The storm left three persons dead and many homes destroyed. The storm left three persons dead and many homes destroyed. The Basin Cove community never recovered.
Source: NPS
The Road to Wildcat Rock
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“The existence of intersex people proves sex is on a spectrum,” say the Gender Activists. Not true. The vast majority of people labeled by the activists as “intersex” are unambiguously either male or female.
Understanding Intersex Conditions in a Scientific Context
You might have come across statements suggesting that intersex individuals make up 1-2% of the population, equating their prevalence to that of red-haired individuals. This claim has been widely circulated by various human rights organizations, activists, and even some scientists. The primary intention behind this claim is twofold:
To normalize the existence of intersex individuals and promote societal acceptance. (good)
To challenge traditional understandings of biological sex and suggest that male and female categories are social constructs or exist on a spectrum. (bad)
Origins of the 1.7% Statistic
The 1.7% figure originated from Anne Fausto-Sterling, a professor of biology and gender studies. In her work, she aimed to challenge the idea that human sexual anatomy is strictly dimorphic, meaning that all humans fit neatly into male or female categories. To arrive at the 1.7% figure, she and her colleagues defined an intersex person as someone who deviates from the “Platonic ideal” of physical dimorphism at various levels, including chromosomal, genital, gonadal, or hormonal.
Critique of the 1.7% Statistic
However, this definition has been critiqued for being overly broad. Dr. Leonard Sax, a physician and psychologist, pointed out that many conditions included in the 1.7% statistic, such as Klinefelter syndrome and Turner syndrome, are not considered intersex in a clinically relevant sense. In fact, the majority of the conditions that contribute to the 1.7% figure do not result in any sexual ambiguity.
For instance, late-onset adrenal hyperplasia (LOCAH) makes up a significant portion of this statistic (1.515%). Individuals with LOCAH have typical male or female genitalia at birth that align with their sex chromosomes. Therefore, labeling LOCAH as an intersex condition doesn’t align with common clinical definitions.
From a clinician’s perspective, however, LOCAH is not an intersex condition. The genitalia of these babies are normal at birth, and consonant with their chromosomes: XY males have normal male genitalia, and XX females have normal female genitalia.
When we define intersex conditions more narrowly, as conditions where chromosomal sex doesn’t align with phenotypic sex1Phenotypic sex refers to an individual’s sex as determined by their internal and external genitalia, expression of secondary sex characteristics, and behavior. It is the physical manifestation of sex, as opposed to genotypic sex, which refers to the genetic makeup of an individual. Phenotypic sex can be influenced by developmental processes, hormone treatment, and/or surgery. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10943/ or where the phenotype isn’t clearly male or female, the prevalence drops significantly. According to Dr. Sax, the true prevalence of intersex, when defined in this clinically relevant manner, is about 0.018%.
The Takeaway
While the prevalence of intersex conditions, as defined in a clinically relevant sense, is relatively low, it’s crucial to understand the rights and treatment of individuals should not be based on their prevalence within a population.
But to use the unfortunate circumstances of 0.018% of the population to justify the belief that “sex is on a spectrum” or that “there are more than two sexes” is clearly a gross mischaracterization of the Truth, scientific or metaphysical.
Pass this info to others. Please.
It is often claimed by gender activists that 1.7% of the population are neither male nor female.
But 88% of the 1.7% number involves Late Onset CAH, which involves unambiguous males or females who are almost always fertile.
The Brinegar Cabin at Doughton Park is an unassuming little structure, a window into a bygone era, a time when life was simpler, and hard.
Brinegar Cabin, Doughton Park
Built by Martin Brinegar in the 1880’s over a three year span, it was made from chestnut logs, sturdy and unpretentious. It’s a testament to his craftsmanship that the cabin still stands today, albeit with a bit of help from the National Park Service.
Martin and his wife, Caroline, raised their three children in the small cabin. Together they faced the unpredictable nature of the mountains.
Caroline was a woman of many talents. Not only did she manage the household and raise the children, but she was also an accomplished weaver. Visitors to the cabin today can still see her original loom, a contraption of wood and strings that looks more like a medieval torture device than a tool for making cloth. But under Caroline’s skilled hands, that loom was not just a tool; it was a lifeline, a means of survival. She augmented their income by gathering medicinal plants like bloodroot, snakeroot, and black cherry bark and selling them to nearby drug merchants.
Brinegar Garden, Doughton Park
The Brinegars were subsistence farmers, eking out a living from the rocky Appalachian soil. They grew corn, beans, and other staples, like flax and sorghum, and kept a few animals for milk and meat. Life was not easy, but it was honest. Every meal, every piece of cloth, every warm night by the fire was earned.
Today, the Brinegar Cabin stands as a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the Appalachian people. It’s a place where you can step back in time, feel Martin’s rough-hewn handywork, and imagine the sound of Caroline’s loom or the smell of sorghum syrup on a billowy biscuit.
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Brinegar Cabin & Gardens, Doughton Park
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