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Beyond X-X and X-Y 291<br />
contraception pills to severe surgical operations, and <strong>the</strong>se in turn<br />
infl uence our genetic processes.<br />
Butler’s (1990) <strong>the</strong>ory of gender performance holds that gender is<br />
fl uid and variable over time and place. People’s everyday surroundings<br />
and activities shape <strong>the</strong>ir expression of sexuality and gender, and biology<br />
cannot be divorced from this play. Genetic processes are important<br />
actors within gender performance, which decry <strong>the</strong> passivity of <strong>the</strong><br />
body and its biology. In Butler’s later book, Bodies That Matter (1993),<br />
she argues that sex is a social and cultural norm, which is expressed<br />
on <strong>the</strong> surface of <strong>the</strong> body. This chapter has shown that <strong>the</strong> apparently<br />
fi xed nature of sex biology is part of a scientifi c cultural norm, forming<br />
genetic sex as an “inner core” identity of fi xed sex chromosomes and<br />
genetic sex. As such, <strong>the</strong> new genomic approach to genetic sex holds<br />
potential to recast sex in terms of genetic processes, which is deeper<br />
than <strong>the</strong> skin of gender performance, reaching, connecting, and molding<br />
both body and culture.<br />
Notes<br />
1. Karyotyping involves visualizing and counting <strong>the</strong> chromosomes to determine<br />
<strong>the</strong> chromosomal composition of an individual’s cells.<br />
2. Humans generally exhibit two sex karyotypes, X-X and X-Y, which typically<br />
correspond to female and male morphologies respectively, although this does<br />
not necessarily result into two distinct genetic kinds.<br />
3. The original birth certifi cate is modifi ed to show that a new certifi cate has<br />
been issued in line with <strong>the</strong> Gender Recognition Register.<br />
References<br />
Birke, L. (1986). Women, feminism and biology. Brighton, England: Wheatsheaf.<br />
British Broadcasting Corporation. (1998, September 29). Genes for better<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>rs. BBC News Health. Retrieved September 21, 2003, from http://news.<br />
bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/182310.stm<br />
British Broadcasting Corporation. (2002, June 2) Gene battle “may cause small<br />
babies.” BBC Online Health. Retrieved September 21, 2003, from http://news.<br />
bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2072597.stm<br />
Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble feminism and <strong>the</strong> subversion of identity. London:<br />
Routledge.<br />
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On <strong>the</strong> discursive limites of “sex.” London:<br />
Routledge.<br />
Butler, J. (2003, January 11). X marks <strong>the</strong> spot for intersex Alex. The Western<br />
Australian.<br />
Carrel, L., Cottle, A. A., Goglin, KC & Willard, HF. (1999). A fi rst-generation<br />
X-inactivation profi le of <strong>the</strong> human X chromosome. Proceedings of <strong>the</strong> National<br />
Academy of Sciences, 96(25), 14440–14444.<br />
Clarke, T. (2001, 23 July). Shutting up <strong>the</strong> X. Nature Science Update Online. Retrieved<br />
from http://cmbi.bjmu.edu.cn/news/0107/195.htm
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