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Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality [Paperback]

Anne Fausto-Sterling
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

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Book Description

November 30, 2000
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.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anyone who has been following the new brain science in the popular press--and even those whose casual reading includes journals along the lines of Psychoneuroendocrinology--will be fascinated by the puckish observations of Brown University biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling, whose provocative and erudite essays easily establish the cultural biases underlying current scientific thought on gender. She goes on to critique the science itself, exposing inconsistencies in the literature and weaknesses in the rhetorical and theoretical structures that support new research. "One of the major claims I make in this book," she explains, "is that labeling someone a man or a woman is a social decision. We may use scientific knowledge to help us make the decision, but only our beliefs about gender--not science--can define our sex. Furthermore, our beliefs about gender affect what kinds of knowledge scientists produce about sex in the first place." Whether discussing genital surgery on intersex infants or the amorous lives of lab rats, the author is unfailingly clear and convincing, and manages to impart humor to subjects as seemingly unpromising as neuroanatomy and the structure of proteins. --Regina Marler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

As the old complaint that men's long hairstyles make it impossible to tell "if it's a boy or a girl" reveals, gender ambiguity is socially unsettling to many people. Boldly stepping into the breach, Fausto-Sterling contends that the fear of gender confusion has pushed science and medicine to go to extreme lengths in constructing solid concepts of sex (i.e., an individual's anatomical attributes) and gender (i.e., the internal conviction of one's maleness or femaleness). As in her now classic book, Myths of Gender, Fausto-Sterling draws on a wealth of scientific and medical information, along with social, anthropological and feminist theory, to make the case that "choosing which criteria to use in determining sex, and choosing to make the determination at all, are social decisions for which scientists can offer no absolute guidelines." Further, she adds, "our beliefs about gender affect what kind of knowledge scientists produce about sex in the first place." While the book encompasses a wide range of topics--including a cultural history of hermaphroditism (now more properly termed "intersexuality") and the recent medical interventions used to "cure" it, an account of the emergence of sex hormone research and its use to create changes in sexual orientation, and the history of how science has (mis)understood the brain in terms of gender--Fausto-Sterling's cogent use of concrete historical examples, her simple language and personal anecdotes keep this complex synthesis accessible. Her insightful work offers profound challenges toscientific research, the creation of social policy and the future of feminist and gender theory.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Basic Books; First Edition edition (November 30, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0465077145
  • ISBN-13: 978-0465077144
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 46 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Bridging Essentialism and Constructivism March 16, 2000
Format:Hardcover
This book is wonderful. Fausto-Sterling does not take sides on the essentialism and constructivism. She argues that biology does matter in determining one's sexual orientation, but at the same time, culture plays a central role as well. In other words, culture and biology interact with one another, in a complicated fashion. It 's an interaction that is dialectical, rather than linear. The author skillfully weaves scientific knowledge with politics and history in a accessable language. Unlike many scientists,whose arguements tend to be ahistorical, she takes into account of history in building her arguements. This work will be interesting for both the scientifically inclined and the theoretically inclined.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars When It Comes to Sex ,... July 25, 2001
By tamiii
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
...it all comes down to emotions, recalling that the original meaning of that word was a movement of people, a civil disturbance. From the intersexual to the homosexual, Fausto-Sterling reviews the history and politics that informed the science and medical practice of 20th Century sex. I happily add this volume on the gender politics of popular science to a different but equally interesting work by Simon LeVay, Queer Science. However unlike LeVay, Fausto-Sterling recognizes a relationship between sexualized science and the rise of American monopoly capitalism (and its demands for social stability) though her observations in this arena are frustratingly preliminary. Readers of this book might also enjoy Jennifer Terry's An American Obsession which delves more deeply into cultural history.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Leading Feminist Embryologist Takes on Her Own Science February 4, 2003
Format:Paperback
Fausto-Sterling will take her place in feminist history as the leading embryologist, and perhaps even, the leading scientist, doing gender studies in the latter 20th and earlier 21st centuries. Who would have thought she could excell beyond her ground-breaking text, "Myths of Gender"?

This time she takes on her own scientific field, exposing how blindered, sexist, heterosexist, and flat out stuck and harm-inducing it has become. Given that she presents her arguments in the body of the text in a very reader-friendly language and style, and has nearly a separate text of endnotes of hard-core feminist critical analyses ta boot, we've got in this great work of hers a text reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's "Three Guinneas."

Anne Fausto-Sterling's special interest this go around is science's primary complicity in the (hetero) sexing of psycho-medically dominated and controlled bodies. She provides one of the best feminist analyses of Gender Systematicity as the key politically shaped, shaping, and biased torture device for transsexual and intersex people today.

This is a very important text for sexology, feminist, gender, queer, US, cultural, and transgender studies, history of science, and anthropology of medicine and science. It's a brave read, if not deadly on point. Probably best for graduate scholars, but should be required for any professional in sexology, gender specialist, or medical personnel before they lay one hand or idea of treatment on transsexual or intersex people!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars GreatIt was greater than expected. I loved how informative it was. I...
It was greater than expected. I loved how informative it was. I cannot wait to reread this fascinating work again.
Published 2 months ago by Cole
5.0 out of 5 stars Product was just as described. No issues. Quick shipment. Not much...
Product was just as described. No issues. Quick shipment. Not much more to say. A+ + + + + +
Published 4 months ago by Daniel D Uniatowski
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for those interested in gender and sexuality
One of the best works on sex and gender available. If you are casually or academically interested in gender, sex, and sexuality, this should be on your must-read list.
Published 5 months ago by Jason Crockett
5.0 out of 5 stars Revelatory and well-written
I found it fascinating. There's much more plasticity in human sexual identity than we generally think. Only complaint is the tiny size of the print.
Published 5 months ago by J. Beier
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Critique
Fausto-Sterling provides a wonder analysis not only in the construction of sex in our contemporary world, but also gives an over-arching view of dichotomies that could be applied... Read more
Published on December 9, 2010 by Drew
5.0 out of 5 stars It's lengthy but worthwhile reading
This is an excellent book where the author discusses both the biological and social (environmental) aspects of gender to show the process of how society imprints meaning to our... Read more
Published on January 9, 2007 by Luiz Ramires Neto
5.0 out of 5 stars sex & gender
Sexing the Body is a thick book, and an important one. The section of footnotes is nearly as long as the text of the book (which can be complicated when reading; I ended up using... Read more
Published on September 4, 2006 by Helen Boyd
4.0 out of 5 stars The science of gender
This book is covers the science and politics of gender in a readable language. Fausto-Sterling examines biological experiments on lab animals as well as the history behind our... Read more
Published on June 26, 2006 by Lysisis
3.0 out of 5 stars Gender seen from a particular perspective
As a transgendered person who is trying to read as much information as possible about gender, this book does supply alot of historic, scientific and theoretical background. Read more
Published on February 20, 2006 by W
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Gender Through A New Lens
Anne Fausto-Sterling's account of all genders and sexes (not just male/female, but everything in between) provides a humanitarian outlook which demonstrates just how far our... Read more
Published on October 7, 2005 by Freudian 07
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