Only if we conceptualize sexuality as part of a developmental system which reaches from our cultural and social history to the cells in our bodies can we learn how we move from outside to inside and back out again, without ever lifting our feet from the [Mobius] strip's surface. --"Sexing the Body"
Choosing a passage, or in this case passages, for this entry was more difficult than it has been for any reading to this point in the course. Going back through the article and trying to pick out the pieces that intrigued me the most I recognized for the first time the unique difference between these readings and other readings from this class--I have almost literally never thought about any of this before. The question of "What is a sex?", which I tried to embody the essence of in my chosen passages, is simply not something I had previously gotten around to asking myself, or at least not so openly. Naturally, then, I find myself a bit overwhelmed by the implications of this question, one so imperative to understanding the complexity of society. Even more overwhelming is the realization that this woman, Anne Fausto-Sterling, has dedicated her professional life to this question. It seems that I'm just breaking the surface of the implications involved.
Luckily for me, Fausto-Sterling has compiled an excellent introduction, and I feel that now I can at least begin to question this social construct that I believe to be more complex than any other. More complex because, when you think about it, there's really nothing else out there like gender. It is at once anatomical, personal, socially held, individually known (and often questioned), emotional, instinctual and-- now I learning-- all-together constructed. And even after learning more about this concept than I had in my first 18 years, I'm still considering the most fundamental question of all: Does it even exist?
Luckily for me, Fausto-Sterling has compiled an excellent introduction, and I feel that now I can at least begin to question this social construct that I believe to be more complex than any other. More complex because, when you think about it, there's really nothing else out there like gender. It is at once anatomical, personal, socially held, individually known (and often questioned), emotional, instinctual and-- now I learning-- all-together constructed. And even after learning more about this concept than I had in my first 18 years, I'm still considering the most fundamental question of all: Does it even exist?
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