Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality

Format: Paperback Language: English ISBN: 0465077145 ISBN13: 9780465077144 Release Date: November 2000 Publisher: Basic Books Length: 496 Pages Weight: 1.20 lbs. Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.2" x 7.9" This award-winning classic examines the construction of sexual identity in biology, society, and history.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 indi