In the first two chapters of Sexing the Body, Anne Fausto-Sterling introduces the interesting distinction between sex and gender. First, in "Dueling Dualisms," Fausto-Sterling highlights the history of this distinction and how the conceptions of sex and gender have drastically changed over time. In particular, she highlights how scholars have changed how sex is measured scientifically and how theories have been constantly tweaked to point different factors that influence sex identities and change gender roles.
To begin her argument, Fausto-Sterling recaps the story of Maria Patino, who was a hurdler for the Spanish national track team, olympic-bound in 1988. When Patino was sex-tested by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, a test which all athletes must pass in order to advance on to the games, her results revealed that "her cells sported a Y chromosome, and that her labia hid testes within" (1). As a result, Patino was not allowed to compete and all her past accomplishments were stripped. Even though Patino had all the biological characteristics of a woman and identified herself as a woman, since she had a Y chromosome she was scientifically labeled a man. This story was highlighted to show the complexities of sex and gender and most importantly that "labeling someone a man or a woman is a social decision... and only our beliefs about gender-not science-can define our sex" (3).
Fausto-Sterling continues by exploring debates about sex and gender and how the scientific world has approached these topics over time. She points to social constructs and how the vocal majority has had the final say on what constitutes sex. While science can experiment to build knowledge, science cannot produce universal truths about the living world (7). She argues that the politics of science have molded how our conceptions of sex have changed over time and "in order to change the politics of the body, one must change the politics of science itself" (8). She also looks at the age old debate of nature vs. nurture and how scientists have argued over whether sex and gender are influenced entirely by biology, entirely by environment, or a mixture of both. She concludes that culture and historical periods greatly impact how we view our bodies and gender.
Furthermore, Fausto-Sterling argues that sexuality is determined by scientists as fact, but such facts are influenced by culture. As a result, we must deny dualisms that divide sex into either/or categories. She explains that in doing so, we oversimplify the many complexities of sexuality and gender and therefore limit feminist theory. For example, one cannot denote that the penis and vagina are merely ideologically different (23). Instead, she insists, we must account for both the material and ideological differences that sex produces. Finally, she looks at the different systems of measurement scientists have employed to account for the varying characteristics of sex. However, she continues, even though these systems of measurement of sex are said to be real while gender is said to be constructed, science is constructed as well.
In her chapter "That Sexe Which Prevailith," Fausto-Sterling continues with another story about Levi Suydam, who was only allowed to vote in the state of Connecticut after he passed a sex test. Since he had female characteristics, the opposition party demanded that he be tested to ensure he was truly male. Suydam passed the sex test, since he indeed had a phallus and testicals; however, days later the physician discovered that Suydam menstruated regularly, had a vaginal opening, and had the bodily characteristics of a female. While we do not know if Suydam lost his right to vote, Fausto-Sterling insists that this story shows society's desire to pinpoint whether one is female or male (30).
In response to the political constructs of sex, Fausto-Sterling calls for a sexual continuum. She looks, in particular, at the history of intersexuals in ancient Greece and Rome. Hermaphrodites, she says, are nothing new. In fact, in ancient cultures they were thought to be perfectly normal, as sex was seen as more of a continuum in these past eras. In three different stories, Fausto-Sterling highlights how different past cultures viewed hermaphrodites politically and socially and concludes from each of these stories that "different countries and different legal and religious systems viewed intersexuality in different ways" (35). As time progressed and biology became more organized, the two-sex distinction became clearer and those who fell outside male or female began to be considered as abnormal. For instance, clearer lines began to be drawn to determine “true hermaphrodites.” As a result, fewer and fewer people were identified as true, and the rest were categorized as abnormal.
Finally, Fausto-Sterling points to the period in which doctors began changing one’s sex at birth to fit the male-female model. Rather than leave the body in its natural, now “abnormal” state, doctors performed surgery to correct such wrongs. This desire to correct abnormalities at birth, she argues lay the assumptions that “first, there should only be two sexes; second, that only heterosexuality was normal, and third, that particular gender roles defined the psychologically healthy man and woman” (44).
Jennifer Reid Maxcy Myhre echoes some of Fausto-Sterling’s worries in her essay “One Bad Hair Day Too Many, or The Hairstory of an Androgynous Young Feminist.” In her essay, Myhre gives her account of being an androgynous female, one with which the public is confused because it is too difficult to tell whether she is male or female. What began as her wish to shave her head in order to avoid the annoyance of getting ready each morning became a political statement about sex and gender. Myhre argues that gender is socially constructed and that she refuses to be placed in a box marked according to gender, but rather wishes to be seen as a human with complexities that make her who she is.
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