Making sex: law's narratives of sex, gender and identity

Legal Studies ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Grenfell
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Constructive Approach ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Legal Narratives ◽  
And Gender

From the 1970 decision of Corbett onwards, legal narratives established two modes of categorising complex social identity in relation to sex and gender. These narratives responded to complex identity questions by attempting to simplify identity by limiting it to biological factors or anatomical and psychological factors.I demonstrate that the law's struggle to ‘make’ sex is reflected to a certain extent by feminism's trajectory, in that feminisms have also attempted to grapple with these complex questions, and often opted for the same simple solutions to the problem of understanding gender, sex and identity. The aim of this paper is to show that some strands of feminist theory, specifically post-structuralist feminist theory, can produce a more progressive and constructive approach to determining sex in their ability to illuminate the complexities of identity. In particular, my aim is to urge those courts that ‘make’ sex to consider these complexities and the implications that flow from placing transgender people into rigid and narrow categories.

scholarly journals Forensic evidence: Materializing bodies, materializing crimes

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna Kruse
Keyword(s):  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Sociocultural Context ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Forensic Evidence ◽  
Dna Evidence ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Point Of Departure

Based on an ethnographic study of fingerprint and DNA evidence practices in the Swedish judicial system, this article analyses the materialization of forensic evidence. It argues that forensic evidence, while popularly understood as firmly rooted in materiality, is inseparably technoscientific and cultural. Its roots in the material world are entangled threads of matter, technoscience and culture that produce particular bodily constellations within and together with a particular sociocultural context. Forensic evidence, it argues further, is co-materialized with crimes as well as with particular bodily and social constellations. Consequently, the article suggests that an analysis of how forensic evidence is produced can contribute to feminist understandings of the inseparability of sex and gender: understanding bodies as ongoing technoscientific-material-cultural practices of materialization may be a fruitful approach to analysing their complexity, and the relationships in which they are placed, without surrendering to either cultural or biological determinism. Taking a theoretical point of departure not only in an STS-informed approach, but also in material feminist theorizations, the article also underlines that the suggested theoretical conversations across borders of feminist theory and STS should be understood as a two-way-communication where the two fields contribute mutually to each other.

scholarly journals Lesbian in Adolescents and Prevention by Counselors

10.32698/0581 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fira Ramli
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Adolescent Relationships ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Quantitative Descriptive ◽  
Deviant Sexual Behavior

Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people or abbreviated as LGBT have targets starting in their teens. Teenagers are expected to have found sexual orientation and sex roles according to their sex. The emergence of comfort with peers reinforces the urge to be a lesbian. The importance of prevention to avoid the risk of deviant sexual behavior. This type of research is quantitative descriptive with self-identification instrument. The total sample of 183 boarding schoolgirls obtained through purposive sampling. The results of processing instruments found 39.9% or as many as 73 students in the category were experiencing a tendency to behave lesbians. It can be interpreted that adolescents are still in a position to find identity and confusion to determine their identity so that they can still be influenced by lesbian behavior. As for prevention that can be done by the counselor is to provide information services with materials that fit the needs of adolescents, namely adolescent girls' adolescence, recognize the growth and development of adolescents, differentiate sex and gender between men and women, limit adolescent relationships over the dangers of lesbi behavior. The service material is expected to prevent the occurrence of deviant sexual behavior, namely lesbi.

scholarly journals Political correctness and the right to free speech: the case of preferred pronouns

2021 ◽  
pp. 133-145
Author(s):  
Pablo De Lora
Keyword(s):  
Free Speech ◽  
Political Correctness ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
General Duty ◽  
Trans People ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Right

In this paper I argue for the general duty to refer to transgender people by their preferred pronouns when they are conventional. In the case of non-conventional, tailor-made pronouns, there is no such duty because those so-called “designated pronouns” are not actually functional pronouns. Last, but not least, even though there is a duty of civility to use the designated name and conventional pronoun of trans-people, individuals retain the right to speak out their belief in that sex and gender are biological facts, and thus, the right to state in reference to a transwoman: “She is not a woman”.    

scholarly journals RESPONSE: SEX & GENDER DIVERSITY, AND THE LIMITATIONS OF LEGAL IDENTIFICATION

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Fine Detail ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Legal Identification ◽  
Insight Into

This comment expands on three key issues raised by the argument put forward in on the article by Ashleigh Bagshaw in this volume entitled ‘Exploring the Implications of Gender Identification for Transgender People under Australian Law’. It points out that sex and gender diversity goes beyond transsexualism and explores the need to factor this insight into any future legal developments. It notes that the implications of any change to marriage law could be profound for sex and gender diverse people, and considers how change should best proceed. It concludes that the debates about the fine detail of legal regulation in this area beg the question of whether law should even be in the business of identifying and recording people’s sex/gender in the first place.

Categorical and gradational: alternative survey measures of sex and gender

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliya Saperstein ◽  
Laurel Westbrook
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Categorical Approach ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Binary Approach ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Single Question ◽  
Representative Samples ◽  
Fluid Characteristics

Demands for recognition of gender diversity and transgender people are growing. We tested non-binary sex and gender measures using nationally representative samples of US adults to assess feasibility for general population surveys. We find more support for a two-step categorical approach, with separate questions about natal sex and gender identity, than for a single question assessing transgender status as the latter was less reliable within our online surveys and over time. We also consider the challenge of determining measurement reliability for fluid characteristics and argue that using categorical and gradational gender measures in combination should become standard practice.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Gender measurement must expand beyond a categorical binary to better reflect gender diversity.</li><br /><li>We demonstrate the utility of a two-step, non-binary approach on representative samples of US adults.</li><br /><li>Our results do not support using a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question to ask if respondents are transgender.</li></ul>

9. Gender

2019 ◽  
pp. 176-198
Author(s):  
Clare Chambers
Keyword(s):  
Gender Difference ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Woman Question ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Consciousness Raising ◽  
Social Differences ◽  
Feminist Methods ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Biological Differences

This chapter discusses gender. Mainstream political theorists have often ignored the issue of gender difference, and so feminists have had to argue for its significance and importance. There are many varieties of feminism, just as there are many varieties of liberalism or egalitarianism. However, it is possible to identify three theses that all feminists support, in one form or another. These theses are the entrenchment of gender; the existence of patriarchy; and the need for change. A key theme of feminist theory has been the idea that it is vital to distinguish the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. According to the distinction, ‘sex’ refers to biological differences and ‘gender’ refers to social differences. Feminists use philosophical and political methods that are common to other theories or campaigns, but there are some distinctively feminist methods, such as the Woman Question and consciousness raising.

scholarly journals Sex-Related Factors in Cardiovascular Complications Associated to COVID-19

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Francesca Megiorni ◽  
Paola Pontecorvi ◽  
Giulia Gerini ◽  
Eleni Anastasiadou ◽  
Cinzia Marchese ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Cardiovascular Complications ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Gender Influence ◽  
Behavioral Cues ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Symptoms And Signs

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the pandemic infection caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), presents with an extremely heterogeneous spectrum of symptoms and signs. The clinical manifestations seem to be correlated with disease severity. COVID-19 susceptibility and mortality show a significant sex imbalance, with men being more prone to infection and showing a higher rate of hospitalization and mortality compared to women. Such variability can be ascribed to both sex-related biological factors and gender-related behavioral cues. This review will discuss the potential mechanisms accounting for sex/gender influence in vulnerability to COVID-19. Cardiovascular diseases play a central role in determining COVID-19 outcome, whether they are pre-existent or arose upon infection. We will pay particular attention to the impact of sex and gender on cardiovascular manifestations related to COVID-19. Finally, we will discuss the sex-dependent variability in some biomarkers for the evaluation of COVID-19 infection and prognosis. The aim of this work is to highlight the significance of gendered medicine in setting up personalized programs for COVID-19 prevention, clinical evaluation and treatment.

Biological Sex, Gender, and Public Policy

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sari M. van Anders ◽  
Zach C. Schudson ◽  
Emma C. Abed ◽  
William J. Beischel ◽  
Emily R. Dibble ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
Scientific Consensus ◽  
Biological Sex ◽  
Single Sex ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
And Gender

Policy debates have focused on who can participate in or access single-sex activities or services. This article describes how science of the biology of sex is relevant to three major policy areas: parenting (including leaves), sports, and public spaces. We focus on what scientists know about sex and gender (and gender/sex, where gender and sex are intertwined), and the role of various biological factors, including hormones such as testosterone and estradiol as well as genetics, gonads, genitals, and more. The policies under debate often use “biological sex,” but this fails to account for scientific understandings of sex and gender, misrepresents sex as single-faceted and binary, and overlooks scientific consensus about the importance of gender and identity.

scholarly journals Trans* Politics: Current Challenges and Contestations Regarding Bodies, Recognition, and Trans* Organising

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-230
Author(s):  
Mieke Verloo ◽  
Anna Van der Vleuten
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Issue ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Gender And Politics ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
Gender Binary ◽  
Gendered Bodies ◽  
And Gender

This thematic issue analyses trans* politics, and the problems and policies articulated by societal, political and legal actors in national and international contexts in Europe and Latin America. Trans* issues are at the heart of politics concerning sex and gender, because the sex binary ordering is producing the categories, identities, and related social relationships around which gender inequalities are constructed. Scholarship on trans* politics promises to bring more fundamental knowledge about how the gender binary organisation of our societies is (dis)functional, and is therefore relevant and beneficial for all gender and politics scholarship. Contestations around trans* issues continue developing, between state and non-state actors, transgender people and medical professionals, and also among and between social movements. This thematic issue is our contribution to dimensions of trans* politics that revolve around the issue of sexed and gendered bodies (the making and unmaking of “deviant” bodies, non-binary language about bodies, and voice given in bodily re/assignments), the limits of recognition (undermining of trans* agency, persistent binary thinking, and disconnect with material dimensions of gender justice), and the potential of trans* movements (processes and practices through which political claims are generated in the movement, a more forward looking and pro-active perspective on the possibility of alliances between the feminist and the trans* projects, and between the trans* project and the disability project, and alliances of movement actors with institutional power holders such as international courts).

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