Naked Sex in Exile : On the Paradox of the « Sex Question » in Feminism and in Science
Details
Serval ID
serval:BIB_40464
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Naked Sex in Exile : On the Paradox of the « Sex Question » in Feminism and in Science
Journal
National Women's Studies Association Journal (NWSA)
ISSN
1040-0656 / 1527-1889
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2000
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
12
Number
3
Pages
151-177
Language
english
Abstract
Is there anything left to "sex" that is not the "gender construction of biology"? With the fruit fly, this article seeks to rethink the substance of sexual difference--here called "naked sex"--as that part of sex which rebuffs the gender microscope. Naked sex haunts the terms by which feminist scholars have deconstructed the (un)scientific construction of sex, and have challenged biological determinism and gender biases in science. The sex-determining genes appear as the minimal bundle for this returning residue which secures the epistemology of gender that is naked sex. The experimental history (1976-1979) of the Drosophila sex-determining gene, Sex-lethal, displaces the insistent question of "what is real/biological about biological sex" toward an inquiry into the "realization" of sex through sexing and unsexing research practices, wherein sex becomes scientifically performative. Unexpectedly, sex never emerges as naked sex throughout this singular exploration of "How to Do Scientific Things with Sex" in the lab.
Keywords
Feminism - Sex - Gender - Science - Biology - Genetic - Sex Determination - Fruit Fly - Performative
Publisher's website
Create date
19/11/2007 11:18
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:38