While many today agree that gender can be expressed in a variety of ways which need not conform to particular physiologies, sex is still often conceived as some sort of natural, essential truth about a person's body. However, just as “gender” is defined by sociologists as a socially constructed set of meanings given to the identities and behaviours that individuals perform, the concept of “sex” cannot be divorced from cultural context. Sociologists reject that biology and science are not informed by social interactions and meanings. Biologists attempt to define sex in solely physical terms, as the presence of proper organs, hormones, brains, chromosomes, and other physical characteristics that neatly conform to one branch of the sex dichotomy
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Kessler argues that, even though deciding whether an intersexed baby is a boy or girl is supposed to be a matter of biology, the decision is influenced by “such cultural factors as the “correct” length of the penis and capacity of the vagina” (3). Even when the physical evidence suggests that the categories of “male” and “female” are not mutually exclusive, medical practitioners are adamant that the “natural” state of affairs is for bodies to conform to one or the other (4). Kessler explains that the primary factor in determining whether to surgically reconstruct an intersexed baby to conform to either a female or male body is the responsiveness and developmental capacity of the phallus (11). She suggests that this is due to the presence of cultural norms which enforce “rigid aesthetic and performance criteria for what constitutes maleness,” and, by extension, femaleness (20). Because there is no meaningful, reliable method of distinguishing between a biological “female” and “male,” sociologists conclude that all people are ambiguously sexed, and are all intersex (Thomas, June 06). The presence of particular hormones in the body, or the size and appearance of particular organs, are arbitrary ways of assigning a sex to a body, since nothing is inherently “male” or “female” about hormones or about being born …show more content…
This pertains to both the gender and the sex binary, and serves to perpetuate a heteronormative picture of the world in which men and women are seen as physical and social complements. This picture depends on widespread gender and sex “essentialism,” the belief that men and women have intrinsically different physiologies, intellects, and behaviours. (Thomas, June 06). For this reason, naturalizing “sex” is problematic. Scientific findings which purport to expose essential, inalienable truths about the different bodies and minds of the sexes suggest that men and women are, in fact, not equal. Supposed differences are used for a variety of different social and political ends, and justify sexism and inequality. For example, the presence of fewer women in STEM disciplines in universities is often naturalized by appealing to the differences between female and male brains. Fausto-Sterling notes that the lower proportion of women in STEM fields is related to cultural beliefs about hormonal and cognitive difference, beliefs about the different ways that girls and boys should be socialized and educated, as well as the belief that women are more intuitive and emotional (119). It is often thought that men's brains are better suited for scientific and mathematical thinking, and that for this reason fewer women are drawn to and excel
Kessler argues that, even though deciding whether an intersexed baby is a boy or girl is supposed to be a matter of biology, the decision is influenced by “such cultural factors as the “correct” length of the penis and capacity of the vagina” (3). Even when the physical evidence suggests that the categories of “male” and “female” are not mutually exclusive, medical practitioners are adamant that the “natural” state of affairs is for bodies to conform to one or the other (4). Kessler explains that the primary factor in determining whether to surgically reconstruct an intersexed baby to conform to either a female or male body is the responsiveness and developmental capacity of the phallus (11). She suggests that this is due to the presence of cultural norms which enforce “rigid aesthetic and performance criteria for what constitutes maleness,” and, by extension, femaleness (20). Because there is no meaningful, reliable method of distinguishing between a biological “female” and “male,” sociologists conclude that all people are ambiguously sexed, and are all intersex (Thomas, June 06). The presence of particular hormones in the body, or the size and appearance of particular organs, are arbitrary ways of assigning a sex to a body, since nothing is inherently “male” or “female” about hormones or about being born …show more content…
This pertains to both the gender and the sex binary, and serves to perpetuate a heteronormative picture of the world in which men and women are seen as physical and social complements. This picture depends on widespread gender and sex “essentialism,” the belief that men and women have intrinsically different physiologies, intellects, and behaviours. (Thomas, June 06). For this reason, naturalizing “sex” is problematic. Scientific findings which purport to expose essential, inalienable truths about the different bodies and minds of the sexes suggest that men and women are, in fact, not equal. Supposed differences are used for a variety of different social and political ends, and justify sexism and inequality. For example, the presence of fewer women in STEM disciplines in universities is often naturalized by appealing to the differences between female and male brains. Fausto-Sterling notes that the lower proportion of women in STEM fields is related to cultural beliefs about hormonal and cognitive difference, beliefs about the different ways that girls and boys should be socialized and educated, as well as the belief that women are more intuitive and emotional (119). It is often thought that men's brains are better suited for scientific and mathematical thinking, and that for this reason fewer women are drawn to and excel