I really enjoyed reading this book. The character development was subtle in a myriad of ways, and the plot moves along quickly enough to keep interest. I could have used a little more expansion around the ending of the book, but on the whole found the experience very enjoyable.

I really loved this version! It's a great update and I think very relevant for these times. I loved the forward especially!

I appreciate the perspective Anne Fausto-Sterling brings to light in this book. Gender, much like many things in our society are not just black and white. Now more than ever it is time to accept and celebrate all the shades of gray that exist.

Fascinating read. I enjoyed the deconstruction of sexual identity more than I thought I would - this was far from a dry nonfiction. Well written and well argued, with witty comics interspersed to lighten the topic.

A timely update to a classic science studies book! I read the first edition of Sexing the Body about ten years ago, as a gender studies major in college. It opened my mind to the fact that even scientists, who deal in data, cannot validate a true binary when it comes to sex or gender (though many have tried)! 

The updated version of the book keeps the original chapters intact, while adding information on how things have played out in the twenty years since the first text was written. A key clarification in the updated text is that sex and gender don’t map neatly onto the division of nature/nurture. Instead, this book clarifies that nature and nurture can overlap to produce a trait, or to obscure whether the trait originates in biology or culture. Sex and gender, though different, are inextricable, and nature and nurture can, in turn, shape each other. Instead of “sex versus gender,” this edition refers to “gender/sex.”

Another key argument of the updated edition is that too much research is still premised on the assumption that cisgender identities are normal, and that trans*, genderfluid, or nonbinary identities are the ones that deviate and therefore require explanation. Fausto-Sterling points out, however, that cisgender identities are constructed and reconstructed throughout a person’s lifetime, and that these processes, too, require explanation. 

This book is mostly written in a tone that is accessible and engaging to the general public, while offering hefty endnotes for a scholarly audience. This is a little bit more true of the original nine chapters than of the new one, which uses some fairly academic language. However, the academic terminology is almost always followed by a clear real-world example or a helpful diagram to make things clearer. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand that proliferation of gender identities and sex categories that the kids are talking about these days. Sexing the Body proves that none of it is just made up, and that sex and gender spectrums are rooted in actual science and still deserve more research attention than they are getting.

Anne Fausto-Sterling brings interesting discussions about how gender may affect the science that is produced. This book is a new edition and the author brings updates about intersex rights, but decided to maintain  much of its original structure.
Usually, the critics that you are going to read about this book are related to race and racism, because mainly, it is the white body that is considered.

An important read into Gender! My friend has recently come out as transgender and felt that I should know more about gender roles and stereotypes in general. It made me realise how rigid we look at gender as in either: is or is not. Gender is still so binary where not everyone fits into it. It educated me and made me feel more confident in talking about these important topics.

I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley — thank you so much! I'm really in two minds about this book, because some of the claims that it was making were really against everything that I stand for, both as a person and academically. However, I understand where the author got their research, and how those conclusions were made.

I think this book took a very vacuumed perspective on the issues at hand, not considering factors such as race, religion, and socio-economic status in a broad enough sense to truly be giving any opinions on the topic. I believe that the scope for the book was too large and didn't focus enough on specific issues at hand.

This book is a bit of a conundrum for me. 

It feels slightly dangerous to me, especially in a post 2020 world, because it exists in a vacuum of racial discourse. Yes, the book talks deeply and interestingly about sexing the body, but doesn't contend with radicalizing the body, which is the reality of bodies that are radicalized simply by existing, like mine.

As a black nonbinary femme, I didn't feel represented in this book. And yes, that might be the intention. I see the appeal of wanting to explore the body objectively, but there is no objectivity when some people reading this are not even allowed to contextualize themselves outside of their racial reality. 

The topics it speaks on are important, but they often feel outdated and ridiculous because of how much they try to hide from reality.

So I’m not gonna lie, some of this went over my head. But I found the history of intersex individuals, sex/gender and the never ending nature/nurture debate that was present. It should be noted this is an updated version of the 2000 release - I think I would have liked a fully updated and revised edition more than keeping the original material and adding on an updated (as of February 2020) chapter to the end. I’m very happy to have received this and learning about some topics that I’ve had little prior exposure to.

Sex is as normal as it can be for human being, yet it’s enigmatic all at once. Despite “doing it” for centuries, there are things about sexuality and gender that remained hidden, confusing, and odd at times, but Anne Fausto-Sterling has done the mammoth task of finding the answers for us.

There isn’t an aspect of sexuality that she doesn’t touch. Spanning time periods, gender, orientation, science, and so much more. I found the part of intersexuality interesting, exploring the dilemma of choosing a child’s gender when they don’t fit the normal boy or girl. Fausto-Sterling gave so many thought provoking facts that really stayed with me. The depth of research was astounding to witness, and I would recommend this book to anyone, who has an interest in gender studies, or what it means to be a man or woman, or neither.

My only issue was that the writing style is very dry. Don’t expect an easy read. Fausto-Sterling goes through so many case studies that it’s almost dizzying.

This was an *exhaustive* overview of the intersection between biological, social, and cultural constructions of gender. It was very thorough and well-researched, though the writing was dry at times. Written by a biologist, it nevertheless interrogates what we know to be “true” about the human body through a range of critical lenses.

Wow! Simply wow!
Well researched and well executed. It is a must read for students and researchers of Queer Theory/ LGBTQIA literature. Very handy and very interesting. Follows with clear examples and can be recommended as a handbook for students.

Anne Fausto-Sterling provides a comprehensive explanation for what exactly goes into how we identify ourselves sexually. Through thorough research and personal experience, she takes her readers on a journey so that we all might better understand both biology and sexuality. This is a relevant read given all of the recent conversations revolving around what has become coined 'the body politic'. 

Although this book was originally published approximately thirty years ago, Anne Fausto-Sterling has added an additional chapter specifically speaking to the body politic climate that exists in 2020. With a new forward and preface, she also seeks to establish with her readers a guide as to how we can all better process what goes into sexual orientation. The language throughout this book can be complex at times, and I would suggest re-reading passages as well as note taking throughout.

There are two questions in this book that made me take a step back and read this book again and they were "How does knowledge about the body acquire gender?" and "How in other words does the somatic become material?"
I didn't expect the depth of information in this book because it's truly written with the first half easy to understand for a general audience and the next half bibliography that any academic can refer to and expound or criticize any work herein.
Now with LGBTQ awareness and call for gender equality and respect of rights and so on, this book is remarkably insightful on gender the social and biological constructs of gender.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

Amazing update to this classic, which I read in my college gender studies courses. Highly researched, this book gives a complete history behind the construction of gender identity in the modern world, as well as offers an alternative model to cisgender biological models. Very well done.