Say it ain't so

Q: What do the following actresses have in common?

1. Halle Berry

2. Hilary Swank

3. Frances McDormand

4. Angelina Jolie

5. Mira Sorvino

A: Each has won an oscar in the last ten years and, apparently, none have been pregnant.

In an unrelated development, David B discusses the scurrilous claim from a gossip website that, according to "her" doctor, one "Oscar-winning Hollywood superstar" was born with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, that is: genetically male, with undescended testes in place of ovaries, but outwardly female in appearance.

Comments

[Abiola Lapite]

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Halle Berry's only 5' 7", so it's most unlikely that she suffers from AIS.
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[Abiola Lapite]

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There *is* one actress/singer I know of who definitely has AIS, but it's unlikely most people have ever heard of her - do a Google search for Eden Atwood.

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[Frank McGahon]

I would find it very hard to take if Halle turned out to be Hall-He!

[Frank McGahon]

Then again, while googling for Ms Atwood, I came across this homepage which suggests that the average height for AIS women is...5'7"!

[Abiola Lapite]

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Actually, that statistic about the average woman being 5'4" is somewhat misleading. Going by the NHANES III survey data, the average height for black women currently in their early 30s is supposedly 168cm, while for white women in the same cohort it's about 166cm. Once we start factoring in social class and whether or not an AIS sufferer recieved HRT while growing up, the picture gets even murkier.

I have a suspicion that all this gossip about a famous actress who's an AIS sufferer is just an urban legend anyway. I've heard the same rumor bandied about with regards to Wallis Simpson, though in her case it's hard to interpret as anything other than malicious gossip, as she's said to have thoroughly enjoyed sex - it was Edward VIII who seems to have had "performance" issues.

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[razib]

swank is the obvious one, she's the most "mannish." i'm skeptical that supposedly large-cocked billy bob would have been with angelina if she was a he-she, and i think quentin tarantino would have blabbled by now if it was mira. similar with abusive ex-hubby david justice and halle.

[Frank McGahon]

The thing is: AIS are not really "He-She"s and in many ways are more feminine than "real" women. Real women aren't immune to testosterone, unlike AIS women. So although AIS tend to be taller, they also tend to have finer hair, smoother skin etc.

Assuming she had the requisite surgery -remember this is just to deepen the "vagina" and doesn't tend to involve exterior modification - I doubt whether anyone could tell, Billy Bob, Quentin or not.

My guess is that your impression of Ms Swank is strongly influenced by her film role. I'd say it is an urban legend but if there is one, I'd be most suspicious of any woman of child-bearing age who chose to adopt...

[razib]

well, swank looked mannish in the karate kid movie she was in too.

[Peter Nolan]

I won't hear a word against my ideal woman!

She's got a MA in Chinese from Harvard too.

[eoin]

Couse that rumour comes from www.popbitch.com, its well worth a look occasionally, this rumour has been doing the rounds for years which is why jamie lee curtis was in brackets at the end of the q.
Tangentally this is a surprisingly relevant post considering that I'm about 1/2 way through Middlesex which deals with a similar theme, could this be the initial rumblings behind a screenplay?

[Eden Atwood]

He/She's???

This is the ignorant type of balthering that led me to come out as a semi-public person with AIS. I did it for young girls like me...so that un like me they would have someone to look up to while have to endure the ignorance of others.

Eden Atwood

[Frank McGahon]

Thank you very much for your comment