sex gender binary final copy
WGS1001Y1
TA: Lynn Lee
Funky Freda
October 23, 2014
The Sex Gender Binary
The sex/gender binary enforces the idea that man and woman be distinguished into two distinct categories according to their sex; male and female. First we must define the term sex. Does it refer to physical appearance, genetilia, or the way they choose to present themselves? The sex/gender binary corrupts the systematic idea that people need to be one sex or the other. The problem is that it does not allow people to express themselves in terms of gender other than the two sex system. Specifically against queers, transgendered, and intersexed people “whose body or gender expression does not adhere to male/female binary and are subject to discipline in a society that believes in only 2 opposite genders” (Mann, 2012). The sex/gender binary implicates regulations that prevent the two sex model from change. Limitations implemented culturally and historically haven’t allowed innovations to the binary, furthermore discriminating others who do not fall under the two sex system.
The sex gender binary has imposed regulations to enforce the two sex system in the medical and sports fields. When examining the medical field, a person born with traits of both sexes, would rely on doctors to choose either one of the sexes that the child must adhere to for their lifetime (Fausto 2011). The doctor’s authoritative decision will affect that child’s life forever. “The parents want to tell everyone about the birth of their baby boy; the physicians fear he cannot continue developing along the road to masculinity. They decide that creating a female is best”(Fausto 2011). The implications that are condoned by the doctor limit the freedoms of the child, because the child innately is born a certain sex and is then changed before being able to make their own decision. In the field of athletics, world champion Caster Semenya, is being questioned whether she should be able to claim her winning medal. The track
TA: Lynn Lee
Funky Freda
October 23, 2014
The Sex Gender Binary
The sex/gender binary enforces the idea that man and woman be distinguished into two distinct categories according to their sex; male and female. First we must define the term sex. Does it refer to physical appearance, genetilia, or the way they choose to present themselves? The sex/gender binary corrupts the systematic idea that people need to be one sex or the other. The problem is that it does not allow people to express themselves in terms of gender other than the two sex system. Specifically against queers, transgendered, and intersexed people “whose body or gender expression does not adhere to male/female binary and are subject to discipline in a society that believes in only 2 opposite genders” (Mann, 2012). The sex/gender binary implicates regulations that prevent the two sex model from change. Limitations implemented culturally and historically haven’t allowed innovations to the binary, furthermore discriminating others who do not fall under the two sex system.
The sex gender binary has imposed regulations to enforce the two sex system in the medical and sports fields. When examining the medical field, a person born with traits of both sexes, would rely on doctors to choose either one of the sexes that the child must adhere to for their lifetime (Fausto 2011). The doctor’s authoritative decision will affect that child’s life forever. “The parents want to tell everyone about the birth of their baby boy; the physicians fear he cannot continue developing along the road to masculinity. They decide that creating a female is best”(Fausto 2011). The implications that are condoned by the doctor limit the freedoms of the child, because the child innately is born a certain sex and is then changed before being able to make their own decision. In the field of athletics, world champion Caster Semenya, is being questioned whether she should be able to claim her winning medal. The track
References: Dreger, A. (2009, August 22). Where’s the Rulebook for Sex Verification? The New York Times. Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2011/2000) The five sexes revisited. In M. Baca Zinn, P. Hondagneu-Sotelo & M.A. Messner (Eds.) Gender Through the Prism of Difference (pp. 13-18). New York: Oxford University Press. Reprinted from The Sciences, July/August, 2000. Kinsman, Gary (1996) (2nd edition revised). Sexual colonization of the Indigenous People. In The regulation of Desire (pp. 92-97). London: Black Rose Books. Mann, Susan Archer (2012). Transgender theory. In Doing Feminist Theory: From Modernity to Postmodernity (pp. 249-251). New York: Oxford Press. Prasad, Ajnesh (2005). Reconsidering the socio-scientific enterprise of sexual difference: The case of Kimberly Nixon. Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme, 24(2/3), 80-84