Gender's Nature: Intersexuality, Transsexualism and the 'Sex'/'Gender' Binary
Abstract This article challenges the distinction between 'sex' and 'gender' by arguing that 'sex' is equally a social construction. Intersexuality and transsexualism are discussed as two bodily forms that further suggest 'sex' as socially inscribed. The paper argues that feminist theory needs to ascertain whether the artificial emphasis on sexual difference, contra nature, is better able to effect social change than conjoined efforts to expose 'sex' as a construction intended to ground divisions. Recent support for 'multiple genders' often remain dependent on a morphological notion of 'sex', and may not constitute a radical challenge to our current 'sex'/'gender' system.
Myra J. Hird / Read paper