Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality

by Anne Fausto-Sterling

Overview

Now updated with groundbreaking research, this award-winning classic examines the construction of sexual identity in biology, society, and history.


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 of Myths of Gender argues 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541672895
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	06/30/2020
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	608
Sales rank:	516,808
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Anne Fausto-Sterling is the Nancy Duke Lewis Professor of Biology and Gender Studies in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Dueling Dualisms 1

2 "That Sexe Which Prevaileth" 32

3 Of Gender and Genitals: The Use and Abuse of the Modern Intersexual 48

4 Should There Be Only Two Sexes? 83

5 Sexing the Brain: How Biologists Make a Difference 117

6 Sex Glands, Hormones, and Gender Chemistry 150

7 Do Sex Hormones Really Exist? (Gender Becomes Chemical) 176

8 The Rodent's Tale 203

9 Gender Systems: Toward a Theory of Human Sexuality 244

10 A Sea of Gender 268

Afterword 315

Acknowledgments 345

Notes 349

Bibliography 481

Index 565

Editorial Reviews

"There is nobody I trust more to guide me on the topic of sex and gender than Anne Fausto-Sterling. She is unequivocally brilliant. As masterful, fresh, and vital as it has always been, this new edition of Sexing the Body should be required reading for everyone, especially now."—Angela Saini, author of Superior and Inferior

"A fascinating and essential book, at once vigorous, erudite, amiable, and sly."—Natalie Angier

"Boldly eschewing binary conceits, Sexing the Body remains a groundbreaking appraisal of the broad spectrum of human experience. Anne Fausto-Sterling's fluency with both biological science and social theory still dazzles. And we now inhabit a world this perceptive book helped us to apprehend. It remains a work of enduring power and impact. A bona fide classic."—Alondra Nelson, author of The Social Life of DNA

"There is nobody I trust more to guide me on the topic of sex and gender than Anne Fausto-Sterling. She is unequivocally brilliant. As masterful, fresh, and vital as it has always been, this new edition of Sexing the Body should be required reading for everyone, especially now."—Angela Saini, author of Superior and Inferior

From the Publisher