Sexing the Body

by Fausto-Sterling, Anne

• ISBN13: 9780465077137
• ISBN10: 0465077137
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-11-01
• Publisher: Perseus Books

Summary

Why do some people prefer heterosexual love while others fancy the same sex? Is sexual identity biologically determined or a product of convention? In this brilliant and provocative book, the acclaimed author ofMyths of Genderargues that even the most fundamental knowledge about sex is shaped by the culture in which scientific knowledge is produced.Drawing on astonishing real-life cases and a probing analysis of centuries of scientific research, Fausto-Sterling demonstrates how scientists have historically politicized the body. In lively and impassioned prose, she breaks down three key dualisms - sex/gender, nature/nurture, and real/constructed - and asserts that individuals born as mixtures of male and female exist as one of five natural human variants and, as such, should not be forced to compromise their differences to fit a flawed societal definition of normality.

Author Biography

Anne Fausto-Sterling, Ph.D. is Professor of Biology and Women's Studies at Brown University.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Dueling Dualisms	1	(29)
``That Sexe Which Prevaileth''	30	(15)
Of Gender and Genitals: The Use and Abuse of the Modern Intersexual	45	(33)
Should There Be Only Two Sexes?	78	(37)
Sexing the Brain: How Biologists Make a Difference	115	(31)
Sex Glands, Hormones, and Gender Chemistry	146	(24)
Do Sex Hormones Really Exist? (Gender Becomes Chemical)	170	(25)
The Rodent's Tale	195	(38)
Gender Systems: Toward a Theory of Human Sexuality	233	(24)
Notes	257	(124)
Bibliography	381	(70)
Index	451