Edward Schiappa

This is an academic book that looks at questions around the definitions of male/female and man/woman, particularly in light of the growing awareness and visibility of transgender, non-binary, and DSD (Differences in Sex Development, i.e. intersex) people. The old sex/gender binaries are breaking down, culturally, but they are still very much the status quo, especially in terms of law and institutions. Definitions, even for such fundamental concepts as sex and gender, are always changing and show more evolving, but there is always also a tension between those who resist change and those who embrace it, which is where we seem to be at in the current moment. This book is a quite detailed and careful examination of those tensions, viewed through a number of hot-button contexts: education, sports, military service, bathrooms, prisons, feminism. The questions, and their consequences, are complex and nuanced, and there are no easy answers. This is a valuable book, and rather readable even for non-academic general audiences. Recommended. show less