Sexing the body: gender politics and the construction of sexuality
Abstract
"In this brilliant and provocative classic, the distinguished feminist scholar Anne Fausto-Sterling argues that even the most fundamental knowledge about sex and gender is shaped by the culture in which scientific knowledge is produced. Drawing on illuminating real-life cases and a probing analysis of centuries of scientific research, Fausto-Sterling demonstrates how scientists have historically politicized the body. Now with a new preface and final chapter considering the many scientific and political developments of the last two decades, Sexing the Body is an indispensable and revolutionary look at how biology, society, and history together determine sexual difference
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Sex and gender are socially constructed and closely intertwined in time and in space.
“As mentioned by Sharman and Johnson (2012), gender should not be a 'polite' way to say sex; both terms conceal considerable diversity within and between the categories, and although there is a tendency to think of sex as immutable, sex and gender are socially constructed and closely intertwined in time and in space (Fausto-Sterling, 2000).”
From Health From a Gender Perspective (2017) · cites this paper as Fausto-Sterling, 2000
Cites
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The Complexity of Intersectionality
McCall, L. (2005) · Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society · doi:10.1086/426800 · Cited by 6,682 · see citing works
Genders, sexes, and health: what are the connections—and why does it matter?
Krieger, N. (2003) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyg156 · Cited by 788 · see citing works
Out of DSM: Depathologizing Homosexuality
Drescher, J. (2015) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs5040565 · Cited by 735 · see citing works
van Anders, S. M. (2015) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0490-8 · Cited by 651 · see citing works
The Misgendering Machines: Trans/HCI Implications of Automatic Gender Recognition
Keyes, O. (2018) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3274357 · Cited by 505 · see citing works
The Bare Bones of Sex: Part 1—Sex and Gender
Fausto‐Sterling, A. (2005) · Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society · doi:10.1086/424932 · Cited by 437 · see citing works
Self-citationSex Wars and (Trans) Gender Panics: Identity and Body Politics in Contemporary UK Feminism
Hines, S. (2020) · The Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0038026120934684 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
“Holding Back”: negotiating a glass ceiling on women’s muscular strength
Dworkin, S. L. (2001) · Sociological Perspectives · doi:10.1525/sop.2001.44.3.333 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Integrating and evaluating sex and gender in health research
Day, S., Mason, R., Lagosky, S., & Rochon, P. A. (2016) · Health Research Policy and Systems · doi:10.1186/s12961-016-0147-7 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Towards the inclusion of gender and sex in health research and funding: An institutional perspective
Sharman, Z., & Johnson, J. (2012) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.08.039 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Scholarship on Gender and Sport in Sex Roles and Beyond
Knoppers, A., & McDonald, M. (2010) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9841-z · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Should Some Knowledge Be Forbidden? The Case of Cognitive Differences Research
Kourany, J. A. (2016) · Philosophy of Science · doi:10.1086/687863 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Bluhm, R. (2013) · Hypatia · doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2012.01311.x · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Health From a Gender Perspective
Sánchez-López, M. P., & Limiñana-Gras, R. M. (2017) · The Psychology of Gender and Health · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-803864-2.00001-8 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
- Authors
- Fausto‐Sterling, A.
- Corresponding author
- Anne Fausto‐Sterling
- ORCID
- Anne Fausto‐Sterling
- Venue
- Choice Reviews Online
- Publisher
- American Library Association
- Published
- 2000-10-01
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 02
- Pages
- 38-0919-38-0919
- ISSN
- 0009-4978 (ISSN-L)
- 1523-8253
- OpenAlex
- W1539835075
- Cited by
- 3,071
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 191 · 2024: 161 · 2023: 176 · 2022: 153 · 2021: 163 · 2020: 237 · 2019: 166 · 2018: 162 · 2017: 137 · 2016: 176 · 2015: 131 · 2014: 139 · 2013: 129 · 2012: 149
- Type
- book review
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Choice Reviews Online (publishedVersion)
- Basic Books (submittedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Bioethics and Human Rights Issues
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies
- Keywords
- sex differences, gender, sexuality, social construction of sexuality, gender politics, feminist epistemology, biology and society, history of science, sexual difference
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