MEA CULPA

Well, what does Butler mean here? In Gender Trouble and Bodies That Matter, Butler challenges preconceived notions of sex, gender, and sexuality that are viewed as “natural.” They argue that sex itself is a gendered construct. What we see and understand as indicators of sex (chiefly whether a person has a penis or a vagina) is already mediated through our society’s construction and understanding of gender. For example, a baby is born and the doctor exclaims “It’s a boy” when they see the baby has a penis. The doctor associates the penis being masculine or being male and thus states the sex of the child is male. The viewing of genitals to determine sex, Butler argues, is therefore always already based on our socially constructed notions of gender.

This is the heterosexual matrix in action. That when we see a penis or vagina upon the birth of a baby, we then assign it a sex. If the baby has a penis, the baby is assigned male. If the baby has a vagina, the baby is assigned female. The assigned sex then dictates what the gender of the baby will be. The male baby must be masculine, and the female baby must be feminine. Given the sex and gender of the children, this then dictates their sexuality and their sexual desires that are always viewed as oppositional. Therefore, the baby with a penis is a boy who will be masculine and will therefore be heterosexually attracted to girls. While the baby with a vagina is a girl who will be feminine and will be heterosexually attracted to boys. This is the heterosexual matrix. This “grid of cultural intelligibility” is how sex, gender, and sexuality are maintained as a heterosexual binary. Coherence and continuity is Butler referring to the idea of “well this is how it has always been done so it must be so.” These continued repeated actions make it seem “normal” or “natural” or “common sense.” The norms of intelligibility refer to how we view one another. We assume that a vagina is a marker of femininity and therefore a part of femininity is the desire for men and to be penetrated (which is then associated with passivity). These norms dictate the heterosexual matrix that sets up our society’s understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality as something that is binary.

Butler argues against this process being “normal” and “natural” at all, and that this process is already always gendered. With gender being socially constructed, the masculine/feminine binary created by society is not inherent or natural. What we perceive as masculine and feminine (always tied to specific bodies that are seen as male or female respectively) is produced by our culture in millions of different ways. Girls were made to go to finishing schools to “learn how to be a lady.” Boys who do not act manly enough are ostracized and/or physically harmed, showing that gender is learned and enforced through both social and violent means.

Given that masculinity and femininity are not inherent or come automatically with possessing either a penis of vagina, therefore our very understandings of sex and categorizing them within a binary are always already flawed. This what Butler means when they argue that sex is always already gendered. Penises and vaginas are seen as signifiers of masculinity and femininity, when in reality we know they don’t make anyone more or less masculine or feminine. Nothing biological ties gender and sex together, but rather it is our society and norms of intelligibility, dictated by the heterosexual matrix, that state it must be so.

Now, I can’t speak for OP of that post, what does it mean by when I say, “sex is not real?” I am not saying that biological traits, like chromosomes, in humans don’t exist. Rather, the idea of sex itself is a social construction and a method of classifying these traits and biological variation. Our idea of sex creates a binary that doesn’t reflect biological reality. Sex is impacted by culture; it is not transhistorical; it is enforced through violent means. ADD MORE DETAILS HERE L8R.

The amount of biological variation in humans is astounding, and trying to capture all of that variation into neat categories is very difficult. Historically, decisions had to be made on which biological markers to prioritize. Most of the time, it’s outward sex characteristics. Anyone who does not seem to neatly fit into a category is labelled as intersex, however even still there is overlap and ambiguity. A rigid sex binary is often used a tool of oppression and violence. Intersex people may face discrimination in the form of sterilization, mutilation, and more. Black women athletes have the definition of sex used against them in sports. In 2021, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi were deemed ineligible to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, due to their blood testosterone being too high. The average person is generally unaware of their hormone levels at any given time. It is notably black women that face the brunt of this strange rule. A whole other thing is the debate of what counts as intersex. This extreme rigidity [THIS IS WHERE I ORIGINALLY STOPPED WRITING].

Jot notes of what i wanted to say:

The above example is about how sex itself can be manipulated into contributing to oppressions outside of transphobia

I planned on citing literature on how the very idea of what conditions are/aren;t considered intersex are up for debate for many social reasons. Many medical researchers are aware of this, and thus may use the term "differences (or disorders) of sex development" to refer to those specific intersex conditions.

Sex is not transhistorical. Ex. in the past, in europe women were seen as the "lesser" of the same, one sex.

Sex is not real is the sense is has zero bearing on anything in the world really, and the insistence that it be on drivers licenses, or enforced in other aspects of life is wholly unnecessary. Even first responders wouldn't need to know this information. The construction of sex as a system and how various other systems use it as a tool to enact harm is very real.

I don't think transgender people should use language that reinforces that ties sex has to gender

I am one of those gender abolitionists that is also advocating for sex abolition as well. Even in a world without sex and gender, I firmly believe people will still want to change/experiment with their genitalia as any other part of their body.