Notes on "The Five Sexes"

Fausto-Sterling's "The Five Sexes"

Goals

Understanding social construction of sex

Introduce concepts; hybridity, liminality, essentialism, intersexuality (previously hermaphroditism)

The Five Sexes

Male

Merms (male pseudohermaphrodites)*

Herms ("true" hermaphrodites)*

Ferms (female pseudohermaphrodites)*

Female

* = intersex

Eight ways of determining sex:

Julie Greenberg

1.     Genetic (chromosomes)

2.     Gonads (testes or ovaries)

3.     Internal morphology (uterus or prostate)

4.     External (penis, vagina, breasts)

5.     Hormonal sex (testosterone, estrogen)

6.     Phenotypical Sex (wide hips, beards, low voice, wide shoulders, etc...)

7.     Assigned Sex/Gender of Rearing

8.     Gender Identity

This can be different for each individual (it will most likely be different for each person)

Male/Female binary

• The slash is supposed to empty, but intersexuality is occupying the space
• / = liminal space, so intersexuality is disrupting the binary and occupying the liminal space
• Those who occupy the liminal space are rejected by both sides of the binary
• hybrid - the mixture of two or more identities (major example = racial hybrids)

Essentialism: an identity is related to some specific essence and that once you possess the essence, you can be categorized

1.     Female: life-giving, nurturer, weak (click link for more thorough list)

2.     Male: strength, provider, control (click link for more thorough list)

Social constructionists tend to avoid and reject essentialism.