Summary Fausto-Sterling and Myhre

In Chapter One of Sexing the Body, “Dueling Dualisms”, Anne Fausto-Sterling discusses how our notions of gender and sexuality are socially constructed, despite physiological differences.  Fausto-Sterling begins by telling the story of Maria Patino, who was banned from competing for Spain in women’s hurdling for the 1988 Olympics.  According to the International Olympic Committee, Patino had failed the sex test because her cells not only contained a Y chromosome, but she was also lacking ovaries and a uterus.  Because these results did not match up with the Committee’s definition, Patino was deemed as not being a woman as her whole world disintegrated before her eyes.  For Fausto-Sterling,  Patino serves as just one example of how sex is constructed through specific criteria; however, Fausto-Sterling points to many other criteria commonly used by scholars, scientists and historians to identity the sex of a person. 

During studies of human sexuality in 1948, Alfred C. Kinsey created a linear scale that measured sexual behaviors based primarily on sexual arousal.  The Kinsey scale ranges from a 0-6, with 0 representing a heterosexual and 6 representing a homosexual.  In addition, the scale had an “X” category, which stood for being asexual.  Fausto-Sterling notes that even today people are still using the Kinsey scale to define their sexuality.  Ultimately though, the Kinsey scale and other criteria alike do not accomplish much in terms of dealing with the dualistic nature of gender and sexuality.  Instead of being in harmony with how we truly identify ourselves, these criteria oppose our bodies and limit our understanding of gender and sexuality.

Fausto-Sterling also talks nature versus nurture using the example of Elizabeth Grosz’ Mobius strip—“a topological puzzle, a flat ribbon twisted once and then attached end to end to form a circular twisted surface,” (Fausto-Sterling 24).  The Mobius strip serves as a metaphor for the connection between the body and the mind, in which the body is at the core of the strip while society, culture, and experience is on outer surface.  The body and the mind are connected by the Mobius strip and can continuously move to and fro one another.  The Mobius strip rejects the idea of nature versus nature and provides a model for thinking about the mind and the body functioning in conjunction with each other, inside and out.  Fausto-Sterling concludes this chapter by stating that sex and gender may appear to be biologically found in nature, but like gender and culture, they too are constructed.  In order to fully understand gender and sexuality, we need to look inside and outside of our bodies, just as the Mobius strip model suggests. 

Like in the first chapter, Fausto-Sterling refers to the dualistic nature of gender and sexuality in her discussion of hermaphrodites in “The Sexe Which Prevaileth”.  Fausto-Sterling examines the history of hermaphrodites, beginning with the Ancient Greeks myths that used the term when they were unable to determine the sex of a child.  Aristotle and Galen were also fascinated with hermaphrodites, but had opposing views.  Aristotle referred to hermaphrodites as twins and believed that the heart determined a person’s sex rather than the genitalia.  Unlike Aristotle, Galen believed that hermaphrodites were an intermediate sex with no biological difference that made them male or female.  Throughout history, scientific theory about the hermaphrodites has varied and continues to puzzle people in the modern age.  Although there have been significant medical advancements since the 19^th century, many assumptions about hermaphrodites are made that undermine their true identities.  

In “One Bad Hair Day Too Many”, Myhre talks about her experiences as a feminist activist.  Myhre decided to become a feminist during college after realizing how much time and effort women put into their appearance on a daily basis.  Myhre questions what reward women get from constantly maintaining their appearance and finds that the only reward is superficial acceptance and approval from those in power.  Myhre’s first big step as a feminist was to rid herself of her femininity by cutting her hair off.  For Myhre, her appearance was crucial to her transition to the point that it frequently makes people uncomfortable, especially homophobes.  Mhyre has also received criticism from other feminists who claim that her stereotypical butch, man-hating look gives feminism a bad name.  Nonetheless, Mhyre takes pride in feminist appearance and is no longer affected by people calling her names or giving her looks.