Sexing the Body

Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality is a 2000 publication authored by sexologist Anne Fausto-Sterling. The book explores the social construction of gender alongside the medical management of intersex individuals. Fausto-Sterling advocates for an integrated theoretical framework that combines biological and social perspectives to enhance comprehension of human development.

Background

Released in the same year as As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto, which critically examined John Money’s gender theories, Sexing the Body offers a critique of Money’s contributions but does not incorporate insights derived from Colapinto’s research.

Synopsis

Drawing on empirical studies involving intersex children, Fausto-Sterling evaluates medical protocols addressing intersexuality. She contends that cultural preconceptions about gender significantly influence scientific investigation and societal norms, emphasizing that medical practitioners frequently operate within a binary sex framework. For instance, doctors often inform parents that determining the sex of an intersex newborn requires time, reflecting prevailing societal expectations.

Fausto-Sterling also points to geographical variations in treatment methods to demonstrate how sex is constructed through social context. She references Saudi Arabian doctors managing XX intersex patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), who encountered parental opposition to European-based recommendations advocating raising these children as girls, due to entrenched local preferences favoring males.

This case exemplifies how cultural environments shape gender assignment decisions, particularly among intersex individuals.

Critical reception

In Politics and the Life Sciences, Laurette T. Liesen challenges the book’s central argument that science functions as a social construct generating "fabricated truths" about sex and gender. Liesen observes that Fausto-Sterling employs a circular argument to illustrate gender bias in genetic, hormonal, neurological studies, and medical practices concerning intersexuality. Meanwhile, a review in Hypatia by Heidi E. Grasswick commends Fausto-Sterling’s use of the möbius strip metaphor to depict the intricate interplay between social and material dimensions in research on sex and gender.

Publishers Weekly acknowledges Fausto-Sterling’s extensive incorporation of scientific, medical, social, anthropological, and feminist theories to assert that choices about sex determination are socially constructed rather than grounded in definitive scientific criteria. Conversely, Stephanie H. Kenen’s assessment in Isis suggests that although the text is approachable and engaging for general audiences, it may fall short for scholars seeking comprehensive scientific detail.

References

• Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2000). Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and Construction of Sexuality. New York: Basic Books.