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Sexing the Body

Sexing the Body. Anne Fausto-Sterling. Lynnea Brumbaugh 2011. That sexe which prevaileth. Turn to page 30 1843: Levi Suydam’s story Conveys “political weight” our culture places on ascertaining “correct” sex

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Sexing the Body

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  1. Sexing the Body Anne Fausto-Sterling Lynnea Brumbaugh 2011

  2. That sexe which prevaileth Turn to page 30 1843: Levi Suydam’s story • Conveys “political weight” our culture places on ascertaining “correct” sex • Conveys deep confusion that arises when “correct sex” cannot be easily determined • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  3. Why such deep confusion? Because we are “deeply devoted to the idea that there are only two sexes” (30).

  4. Why do we insist on the dichotomy . . . . . . when in nature (and some cultures), there is none? • Our entire social order is built upon the dichotomy. Why do we Why do we

  5. Look at page 44 What are three unexamined assumptions behind physicians’ humanitarian desire to help intersexuals? • There should be only two sexes. • Only heterosexuality is normal. • Gender roles define psychological health.

  6. Of Gender and Genitals • In era of The Feminine Mystique, medical views coalesced: intersexed babies must be normalized. (p. 46) (surgery pictures on pp. 62-63) • In 2000, intersexuality was still a medical emergency (p. 44) • Chapter Two • ChapterThree • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  7. Even Beyond Surgery . . . • “If we choose to eliminate mixed-genital births through prenatal treatments . . . We are also choosing to go with our current system of cultural intelligibility. • “If we choose, over a period of time, to let mixed-gender bodies and altered patterns of gender-related behavior become visible, we will have, willy-nilly, chosen to change the rules” (p. 76). • Chapter Two • ChapterThree • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  8. Of Gender and Genitals • Two lies: • Intersex condition is extremely rare • There’s no one to talk to about it • Truth: • 1.7 percent of all births are intersexual (p. 51) • There has been since 1993 an Intersex Society of North America (http://www.isna.org/) • Chapter Two • ChapterThree • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  9. What if you had an intersexual child? • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  10. Transsexuality and Transgenderism • Transsexuality • By requesting surgery, transsexuals “enact the logical extreme” that body, sex, and gender must conform (p. 107) • Transgenderism: • More radical revisioning of sex and gender • Accepts kinship among those with gender-variant identities • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  11. Sexing the Brain • The Brain “remains a perfect medium on which to project, even unwittingly, assumptions about gender” (118). • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  12. Sexing the Brain • “The specialized research article, which presents numbers and extracts meaning from them, is really a defense of a particular interpretation of results” (136). • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  13. Sexing the Brain • CC is a highly variable piece of anatomy • Scientists work hard to “fix” it. • It won’t hold still. • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  14. Sexing the Brain • To “know” if there is a gender difference will mean to find a way to make the CC say the same thing to a bunch of investigators • Fausto-Sterling thinks this unlikely (144) • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

  15. Sexing the Brain • Must achieve social and cultural peace about gender equity before we can trust even our scientific frameworks (145) • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five

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