ANT212H5 Lecture 10: Lecture 10 Beyond the Gender Binary
Document Summary
Argues that the familiar idea that male and female comprise a basic, privative opposition is not supported by modern science. In fact people have been arguing along these lines for many years. e. g. simone de beauvoir opens her magnum opus, the second sex, with a discussion of the way sex is manifested in organisms of various kinds. Human sex should be understood in this context - it is one way this distinction is manifested, in other species it manifests in quite other ways. Also, although there are, according to the standard though not universally held view, only two sexes - that does not entail that they should be seen as opposed . We often talk of the opposite sex but opposition here is a way of thinking not in biology or nature etc,. Rooted, in part, in language - e. g. man vs. (wo)man. Rooted, in part, in language - e. g. man vs. (wo)man e. g. michael vs. michaela.