You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
9 reviews for:
Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality
Anne Fausto-Sterling
4.02 AVERAGE
9 reviews for:
Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality
Anne Fausto-Sterling
4.02 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
slow-paced
An honest revision of a profoundly important text, which in fact doesn’t update any of the original work to suit contemporary terminology or perspectives, but rather offers an afterword that introduces the developments in the fields of research being explored. This approach to “revision” in fact serves to strengthen and reinforce the argument of the original work, that scientific research is unavoidably shaped by socio-cultural factors and researcher bias. Should be required reading for everyone but especially every TERF that insists upon the sanctity of “biological sex”. Binary logics are a tool of control under colonialism and white supremacy, and are logics to which the natural world stubbornly refuse to conform.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma
Chooses to use dated terminology now considered offensive and inappropriate by the intersex community, when that terminology is historically relevant or the terminology used in the study being explicated.
This was such a big brain book I am afraid I didn't properly get a lot of the sciency and biological explanations, i'll try my best. Mostly I think I went into this book unprepared cause I swore it would be a mostly social theory book and whoop in came the medical/biological part slapping me in the face. It was still interesting though, reason why I continued reading.
So, Anne Fausto-Sterling uses her career as a biologist to enter and explain the acts of "sexing the body". By doing this her main thesis becomes one of the way sex, the supposedly biological and fixed objective identity of the baby, is still something inherently social as most definitions are found with a biased point of finding differentiation. In other words, the only reason we know what male and female look and how they are divided is because we assimilated a social distinction and searched for "objective" proof of that difference. The first chapters speak about the external evidence we use to make this difference, and the existence of intersexuals that present the grey area for this supposed polar. The amount of times I gained proper knowledge of the subjetivity of science in these chapters is amazing, gaining the clear arguments to go against the close minded about the manipulation of sex and gender investigations based on personal and socio-temporal beliefs. Fausto-Sterling does a good job presenting every way in which these beliefs changed with time and, as such, the way information and science changed with it.
And yet, it's a 4 stars. I am sorry but chapters 7 and 8 went so completely over my head all I remember is that they were hormones, but my art history ass could not fucking get any of the technical words and explanations. Also, chapter 8 about rat experiments, like I get it but also why did you have to exist I only got more confused.
Either way, a very good and interesting read, I learned a lot, I hate society, goodbye.
So, Anne Fausto-Sterling uses her career as a biologist to enter and explain the acts of "sexing the body". By doing this her main thesis becomes one of the way sex, the supposedly biological and fixed objective identity of the baby, is still something inherently social as most definitions are found with a biased point of finding differentiation. In other words, the only reason we know what male and female look and how they are divided is because we assimilated a social distinction and searched for "objective" proof of that difference. The first chapters speak about the external evidence we use to make this difference, and the existence of intersexuals that present the grey area for this supposed polar. The amount of times I gained proper knowledge of the subjetivity of science in these chapters is amazing, gaining the clear arguments to go against the close minded about the manipulation of sex and gender investigations based on personal and socio-temporal beliefs. Fausto-Sterling does a good job presenting every way in which these beliefs changed with time and, as such, the way information and science changed with it.
And yet, it's a 4 stars. I am sorry but chapters 7 and 8 went so completely over my head all I remember is that they were hormones, but my art history ass could not fucking get any of the technical words and explanations. Also, chapter 8 about rat experiments, like I get it but also why did you have to exist I only got more confused.
Either way, a very good and interesting read, I learned a lot, I hate society, goodbye.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
This was an *exhaustive* overview of the intersection between biological, social, and cultural constructions of gender. It was very thorough and well-researched, though the writing was dry at times. Written by a biologist, it nevertheless interrogates what we know to be “true” about the human body through a range of critical lenses.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Sex is as normal as it can be for human being, yet it’s enigmatic all at once. Despite “doing it” for centuries, there are things about sexuality and gender that remained hidden, confusing, and odd at times, but Anne Fausto-Sterling has done the mammoth task of finding the answers for us.
There isn’t an aspect of sexuality that she doesn’t touch. Spanning time periods, gender, orientation, science, and so much more. I found the part of intersexuality interesting, exploring the dilemma of choosing a child’s gender when they don’t fit the normal boy or girl. Fausto-Sterling gave so many thought provoking facts that really stayed with me. The depth of research was astounding to witness, and I would recommend this book to anyone, who has an interest in gender studies, or what it means to be a man or woman, or neither.
My only issue was that the writing style is very dry. Don’t expect an easy read. Fausto-Sterling goes through so many case studies that it’s almost dizzying.
Sex is as normal as it can be for human being, yet it’s enigmatic all at once. Despite “doing it” for centuries, there are things about sexuality and gender that remained hidden, confusing, and odd at times, but Anne Fausto-Sterling has done the mammoth task of finding the answers for us.
There isn’t an aspect of sexuality that she doesn’t touch. Spanning time periods, gender, orientation, science, and so much more. I found the part of intersexuality interesting, exploring the dilemma of choosing a child’s gender when they don’t fit the normal boy or girl. Fausto-Sterling gave so many thought provoking facts that really stayed with me. The depth of research was astounding to witness, and I would recommend this book to anyone, who has an interest in gender studies, or what it means to be a man or woman, or neither.
My only issue was that the writing style is very dry. Don’t expect an easy read. Fausto-Sterling goes through so many case studies that it’s almost dizzying.
challenging
informative
fast-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Extremely interesting insights into the way culture and science interconnects to the point where even the binary of biological sex (and other dualisms) can be shown to be somewhat of a "lie" as well as a fiercely protected aspect of life. It felt like Fausto-Sterling's conclusion didn't really...conclude, as such; the ending sort-of fizzled out. However, I largely enjoyed this book despite its reliance on scientific materials due to the relaxed writing style, and the use of illustrations did help make it seem less daunting as well. It's clearly well-researched, as more than half seems to be Notes at the back! A strongly-recommended read, particularly if you are interested in the ethics of the medical, psychological or sociological community with regards to experiments on sexuality and gender.
challenging
informative
slow-paced