![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
Abstract
What is the role of reproduction in formulating the categories of sex, gender, or of sexual difference? If Judith Butler is right that gender and sex cannot be neatly disentangled from the realm of affects, “sensation, acts, and sexual practice,” then it is equally doubtful that the realm of biological reproduction can be disentangled. There is a danger, however, of re-inscribing heterosexism or heteronormativity. Clearly, reproduction has historically been used to justify the conventional binary, oppositional, and hierarchical meanings of sex and gender. In response, feminist and LGBT theorists have argued that reproduction is irrelevant to gender identity. But does this make metaphysical sense? This paper argues that reproduction has a legitimate and substantive impact in determining the category of sex and influencing the category of gender, but that considerations of reproduction do not justify either heterosexism or homophobia.