Morland was born with an intersex condition and subjected to numerous surgeries in childhood. Much of his writing focuses on the impact of those interventions, in explorations of the ethics of medical intervention, but also the ethics of touch, "desire's reach" and the relationship between intersex experiences and queer theory. He has a doctorate and formerly lectured in cultural criticism and gender studies at Cardiff University in the UK.
Published works
Morland is widely published in journals and books, as both author and editor. Much of his writing draws upon his personal history. Several articles focus specifically on the issue of sexual sensation, and loss. In "II. Intimate Violations: Intersex and the Ethics of Bodily Integrity", he argues that intersex management through surgical interventions is an intimate violation caused by lack of sensitivity to the modification of intersex bodies. In "What Can Queer Theory Do for Intersex?", Morland contrasts queer "hedonic activism" with an experience of insensate intersex bodies to claim that "queerness is characterized by the sensory interrelation of pleasure and shame". In "The Injured World: Intersex and the Phenomenology of Feeling", Morland describes how one's "capacity to be affected by others" is disrupted by genital objectification and surgery: surgery on intersex genitals are an "injury to flesh" that injure "our capacity to find our feet with each other". Other works theorize about the meaning of intersex bodies. In ‘The Glans Opens Like a Book’: Writing and Reading the Intersexed Body", Morland theorizes of surgeries on infants with intersex genitalia as being a "crisis of signification" and readability. In "Is intersexuality real?"', Morland suggests that "intersexuals need to change what counts as the truth about sex", using "language to describe what their bodies already prove - namely, that maleness and femaleness are not monumental, discrete categories". Faced with assertions that intersex bodies are disgusting, he concludes, "Surgery on intersexuals? Oh, how disgusting". In "Intersex Treatment and the Promise of Trauma" he discusses the social construction of ambiguity and normality, arguing "that medicine has been, conversely and startlingly, traumatic by design". In the book chapter "Between Critique and Reform: Ways of Reading the Intersex Controversy", edited by Morgan Holmes, his essay aimed to analyse activist and clinician narratives about the medical management of intersex, focusing on the reform of medicine, in place of critique. The book has been described as "the "go to source" for a contemporary, international representation of intersex studies," making "contributions that are precise, plainly written and very illuminating... the detail is fascinating and somewhat unnerving... beautifully clear and compassionate", and "an important collection". In Fuckology. Morland critically analyses the legacy of psychologist and sexologist John Money, including his development of gender identity as a concept, and the utilization of scientific theories about the plasticity of human nature to develop controversial but still widespread treatment protocols for the management of intersex conditions. Fuckology is co-authored with Lisa Downing and Nikki Sullivan, and published by University of Chicago Press in 2014. A chapter on "Gender, Genitals, and the Meaning of Being Human" includes material previously published as "Plastic Man: Intersex, Humanism and the Reimer Case" in 2007. New Scientist described the book as "ably capturing" Money's story while Susan Stryker described the book as a "careful, critical and nuanced" analysis of Money's career.
Selected bibliography
Selected peer-reviewed articles as author include:
Books and book chapters include:
Morland has also edited two books:
Intersex and After, an issue of in 2009. Notable contributors included Alice Dreger, Vernon Rosario and Del LaGrace Volcano, as well as Sarah Creighton, Ellen K. Feder, Julie Greenberg and Nikki Sullivan. Morland also contributed an essay, "What Can Queer Theory Do for Intersex?".
