In her new book, Who’s Afraid of Gender?, feminist philosopher Judith Butler explains how gender and sex are socially constructed, while fighting critics who see gender as a threat to the social order.
Spanning evolutionary biology, genetics, development, neurobiology, endocrinology and psychology, as well as current events and sports, students explore the complexities of the biology of sex.
‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills claim to use science to justify a binary definition of sex based on certain traits. But the biology of sex and gender is not so simple.
The first transgender medical clinic opened in the US in the 1960s. But cisgender and intersex children began receiving similar treatments even earlier – often without their consent.
Millions of people do not fit neatly into male or female sex designations at birth, and wrong identification can set them up for a lifetime of physical and mental harm.
With no clear biomedical basis for most early surgery on intersex children, interventions should be postponed until a child is competent to decide for themselves.
Around two in every 100 people have sex characteristics between the male-female binary definitions. Training for doctors and other health workers needs to reflect this.
Few trans kids in the early 20th century had access to information about trans life. That they still faced down the judgment of parents and doctors is a testament to the truth of their dysphoria.
A new finding in mice rewrites the textbook explanation of the male sex-determining gene, Sry. It might also help us better understand how males and females come to be.
Athlete Caster Semenya will need to take hormone-lowering agents, or have surgery, if she wishes to continue her career in her chosen events. But the decision to ban her is flawed on many grounds.
Arbitration case between athlete Caster Semenya and the IAAF centres on eligibility to compete based on testosterone – but there are other factors in play.
New evidence suggests the 18th-century cavalry officer Casimir Pulaski was a woman or intersex. While we know little of intersex soldiers, there is a fascinating history of women dressing as men to fight.
Donald Trump is seeking to amend laws that prevent discrimination against Americans based on their sex. It’s all just another attempt to fire up the Republican base for the mid-term elections.
Allowing for more gender options in the public sphere isn’t political correctness gone awry. It’s just a small shift in the evolution of how we understand, categorise and define gender.
Presidential Professor and Director of Graduate Studies for biology programs; Director, Cellular & Behavioral Neurobiology Graduate Program, University of Oklahoma
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford