Sexing the Body Anne Fausto-Sterling Lynnea Brumbaugh 2011

That sexe which prevaileth Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Turn to page 30 1843: Levi Suydam’s story Conveys “political weight” our culture places on ascertaining “correct” sex Conveys deep confusion that arises when “correct sex” cannot be easily determined

Why such deep confusion? Because we are “deeply devoted to the idea that there are only two sexes” (30).

Why do we insist on the dichotomy . . . . . . when in nature (and some cultures), there is none? Our entire social order is built upon the dichotomy. Why do we Why do we

Look at page 44 There should be only two sexes. What are three unexamined assumptions behind physicians’ humanitarian desire to help intersexuals? There should be only two sexes. Only heterosexuality is normal. Gender roles define psychological health.

Of Gender and Genitals In era of The Feminine Mystique, medical views coalesced: intersexed babies must be normalized. (p. 46) (surgery pictures on pp. 62-63) In 2000, intersexuality was still a medical emergency (p. 44) Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Even Beyond Surgery . . . “If we choose to eliminate mixed-genital births through prenatal treatments . . . We are also choosing to go with our current system of cultural intelligibility. “If we choose, over a period of time, to let mixed-gender bodies and altered patterns of gender-related behavior become visible, we will have, willy-nilly, chosen to change the rules” (p. 76). Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Of Gender and Genitals Two lies: Truth: Intersex condition is extremely rare There’s no one to talk to about it Truth: 1.7 percent of all births are intersexual (p. 51) There has been since 1993 an Intersex Society of North America (http://www.isna.org/) Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

What if you had an intersexual child? Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Transsexuality and Transgenderism By requesting surgery, transsexuals “enact the logical extreme” that body, sex, and gender must conform (p. 107) Transgenderism: More radical revisioning of sex and gender Accepts kinship among those with gender-variant identities Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Sexing the Brain The Brain “remains a perfect medium on which to project, even unwittingly, assumptions about gender” (118). Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Sexing the Brain “The specialized research article, which presents numbers and extracts meaning from them, is really a defense of a particular interpretation of results” (136). Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Sexing the Brain CC is a highly variable piece of anatomy Scientists work hard to “fix” it. It won’t hold still. Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Sexing the Brain To “know” if there is a gender difference will mean to find a way to make the CC say the same thing to a bunch of investigators Fausto-Sterling thinks this unlikely (144) Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Sexing the Brain Must achieve social and cultural peace about gender equity before we can trust even our scientific frameworks (145) Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five