the Female Body GOVERNING

Beyond X-X and X-Y 285
indicates that the genes on the second X chromosome that remain
active are not irrelevant leftovers, but play an important role in the
development and functioning of the organism.
The current conception of genetic sex emphasizes the differences
between the X and Y chromosomes. However, they do share homologue
genes, which in some cases undergo inactivation. Researchers generally
believe that 19 of the genes that “escape” inactivation on the second
X chromosome have a related DNA sequence on the Y chromosome.
While the male Y chromosome has been historically characterized as
active, parts of the Y chromosome are now known to be inactivated.
One example of this is the gene synaptobrevin-like 1 gene, which is
found on the X and Y chromosomes. It is inactivated both on the second
X chromosome in female X-X cells, and on the Y chromosome in male
X-Y cells (Matarazzo, De Bonis, Gregory, et al., 2002). Therefore, the
same process of silencing or inactivation happens in the Y chromosome,
drawing attention to the way in which the X and Y chromosomes may be
different at the karyotype level, yet share similar processes and genes.
In conclusion in the current science, X chromosome inactivation
seems to conform neatly to the old idea of female as the default developmental
pathway, and metaphors, such as “muffl ing,” reinforce the old
idea of femininity as something passive and voiceless, and masculinity as
active and vocal. Similarly, the notion of “silencing” or “gagging” gives
the impression of an “event,” consolidating the idea of sex determination
as a decisive happening. However, what is radical about the research on
methylation and X chromosome inactivation is that it draws attention
to its processional nature, making sex determination not an event but a
process of sexing the early embryo. Additionally, both the X chromosome
and the Y go through the process of methylation; this process is never
complete but results in some of the genes on the chromosome remaining
active while others are inactivated. However, the idea of inactivation or
sexing as a precarious and always incomplete process that affects both
the X and the Y is overlooked when it is explained in the historically and
culturally loaded terms of silencing the X or the woman.
Battle of the Sexes
This section explores the use of genetic sex as a technology of action,
that is, as a technology that forms identities, agencies, and wills. As
mentioned earlier, technology of action holds human females and males
as distinct biological beings, and indeed in the example of the Barr body
this is used to govern the segregation of their sport performance. The
difference between women and men has been the basis of many popular