October 2025

Introduction

The category of “sex” is often assumed to be a clear, stable, biological fact: male or female, determined by anatomy, chromosomes, hormones. Queer theory, however, challenges this assumption. It asks: What if “sex” itself is not purely natural but is shaped by discourse, norms, institutions, and history? Problematizing the category of sex means examining how that category is constructed, maintained, and made to seem “natural”—and considering the implications when bodies, identities, or experiences don’t fit neatly into those categories.

In this post, I’ll explore:

• What queer theory says about the category of sex
• Key thinkers and arguments
• Examples and empirical challenges to the category
• Critiques and debates
• Implications for how we understand gender, identity, and social justice

What Does Queer Theory Mean by “Sex”?

Queer theory is a critical approach that emerged in the early 1990s from fields such as feminist theory, poststructuralism, LGBTQ+ studies, and cultural studies. It focuses on how categories of sex, gender, and sexuality are not natural givens but are socially and discursively produced—and how they often exclude or marginalize those who don’t fit dominant norms.

In queer theory:

• Sex is not simply “biological fact” but is understood as mediated through social norms: what counts as male/female anatomy, how we interpret genitalia, hormonal levels, chromosomes, etc., are all subject to cultural framing. Judith Butler is a key thinker here.
• Gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation are often assumed to align with sex—but queer theory highlights mismatches, fluidity, and the instability of such alignments.

Key Thinkers & Arguments

Here are major figures in queer theory who problematize the category of sex, with representative arguments and quotations.

Thinker	Key Idea(s)	Example / Quote
Judith Butler	Butler argues that even sex is not prior to discourse or culture; “sex” is itself a normatively constructed category, materialised through repeated regulatory practices. The boundary between “sex” (biological) and “gender” (cultural) becomes unsettled.	From Gender Trouble and Bodies That Matter, Butler writes: “’sex’ becomes something like a fiction, perhaps a fantasy, retroactively installed at a prelinguistic site to which there is no direct access.” Also: “biological sex is culturally instituted … gender all along.”
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick	Sedgwick explores how sexual identities and sex categories are enforced through norms, how binaries such as male/female, homosexual/heterosexual do work in culture and limit possibilities of identity. She helps show that categories exert power.
Teresa de Lauretis	One of those who helped coin “Queer Theory” (1991) and argued for refusing heterosexuality as the normative benchmark, and for questioning the coherence of categories like “woman,” “man,” “homosexual.”
Michel Foucault	Though not always labelled queer theory per se, Foucault’s work on discourse, power, sexuality shows how notions of “sexual nature” are historical; what counts as “natural sex” has changed over eras; sexual identity, bodies, medical discourses are part of regimes of truth.

Examples & Empirical Cases Challenging the Category of Sex

These are real-world phenomena that show how the “sex” category can break down or need rethinking.

1. Intersex individuals
   People born with anatomical, genetic, or hormonal characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male or female. Intersex cases expose how medical, legal, and social systems enforce binary sex categories (often via surgery, legal assignment) even when bodies are ambiguous.
2. Variation among sex determinants
   Biological “sex” comprises multiple dimensions: chromosomes (XX, XY, variations), gonadal sex (ovaries/testes), genital sex, hormone levels, secondary sexual features. These do not always align perfectly. For example, hormonal differences can result in people whose bodies have features typically associated with both sexes.
3. Cultural and medical practices
   • Newborn sex assignment: parents/doctors assign “male” or “female” at birth based on genitalia—this assignment carries social meaning. Butler argues that acts like this are not simply recognizing sex but helping produce the sense of sex.
   • Legal sex changes: in many places people formally change sex/gender markers, indicating that these categories are alterable, not immutable.
4. Mismatches between sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation
   Some people’s gender identity does not align with the sex assigned at birth; others’ sexual attractions don’t align with expected patterns based on sex/gender norms. Queer theory foregrounds these mismatches as revealing the complexity of the sex/gender/desire matrix.

Why Problematizing Sex Matters: Theoretical & Political Implications

Questioning “sex” isn’t just abstract; it has real consequences.

• Destabilizing Essentialism: When sex is assumed to be purely biological, there’s a tendency toward essentialist thinking (“women are naturally nurturing”, “men are naturally aggressive”, etc.). Problematizing sex helps reduce such deterministic beliefs.
• Inclusion and Rights: For trans, intersex, nonbinary persons, rigid sex categories can exclude, pathologize, or force conformity. Recognizing the constructed nature of sex opens up space for more inclusive legal, medical, and social recognition.
• Regulation over Bodies: State, medical, legal institutions often regulate bodies in the name of sex (e.g., determining who can access certain rights or services). If sex is seen as normative and fixed, those who deviate are often marginalized.
• Language and Categories: The way we talk (“male/female,” “sex assigned at birth,” “biological sex”) shapes perception. If categories are questioned, it encourages more precise, nuanced language, and less stigmatizing assumptions.
• Policy and Ethics: From healthcare protocols to school policies to legal definitions of sex and gender, questioning sex category affects how policies are made, how rights are protected, and how ethics around bodily autonomy are framed.

Critiques, Challenges, & Ongoing Debates

Queer theory’s problematization of sex faces several critiques and open questions.

• Materiality vs Constructivism: Critics argue that biological realities—chromosomes, gonads, hormonal action—are real in material terms, and cannot be dismissed outright. How does queer theory account for these without reducing everything to discourse?
• Relativism & Fragmentation: If sex is entirely socially constructed, is there room for stable categories where needed (for legal, medical purposes)? Could overproblematising lead to ambiguity that harms those needing clear definitions (e.g. in healthcare)?
• Cultural and Cross-Contextual Variation: Ideas of what counts as male/female differ across cultures, historical periods. Queer theory must avoid assuming that Western theorizing is universally applicable.
• Practical Implications: Even if sex is socially constructed, many social, legal, medical systems continue to function with sex as a category. How to reform these systems? What approaches to recognition, rights, documentation are ethical and effective?

Conclusion: Key Takeaways

• The category of sex, often treated as purely biological and fixed, is deeply problematized by queer theory. Sex is not necessarily prior to culture or discourse but is entangled with norms, power, and social expectations.
• Knowing that sex is constructed helps us understand that the boundary between sex and gender is not always sharp; sometimes the distinction blurs.
• Empirical cases (intersex bodies, legal sex change, mismatches, etc.) show that sex categories are not exhaustive or always fitting.
• This problematization has importance for law, medicine, identity, ethics—how we classify, regulate, and recognize bodies matters.

Related Posts:

Social Construction of Gender

Historicizing Constructionism

Introduction

“Historicizing constructionism” refers to the process of locating constructionist ideas—especially in gender studies—within their historical, cultural, intellectual, and political contexts. It means not taking “constructionism” as a static theory but tracing how, when, and why it emerged; how it has been shaped by earlier thought; and how it has changed over time.

In this post, we’ll explore:

• the intellectual roots of constructionism
• major milestones and transformations in its development
• how feminist theory has contributed to historicizing constructionism
• key debates, critiques, and implications

What Is Constructionism & What Does Historicizing Mean

• Constructionism (or social constructionism) is the approach that many aspects of our social reality—identities, norms, categories (like gender, race, sexuality)—are not simply natural or given, but produced through social interaction, discourse, institutions, and power relations.
• Historicizing means analysing these ideas as historically situated: when they emerged, what intellectual, cultural, and social forces shaped them, how notions evolved, what debates influenced shifts, etc.

Historicizing helps us understand both the strengths and limitations of constructionist theories. It reveals that what seems “natural” at one historical moment might be contested or redefined later.

Intellectual Roots and Early Development

Here are major sources and moments in the historic development of constructionism:

1. Precursors: Symbolic Interactionism and Phenomenology

• George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) in Mind, Self, and Society (posthumously published in 1934) proposed that the self and social reality are constructed through social interaction—with the “generalized other” shaping how individuals see themselves.
• Phenomenologists like Alfred Schutz also contributed: their focus on subjective experience and how people make sense of their lifeworld paved the way for thinking about how everyday knowledge is constructed.

2. Berger & Luckmann (1966) – The Social Construction of Reality

• Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s The Social Construction of Reality (1966) is often considered a foundational text for modern social constructionism.
• They argue that knowledge and “reality” are built through social processes: people externalize meaning, these meanings become institutionalized, and future generations internalize them so that they seem natural.

3. Mid-20th Century Expansions: Discourse, Power, and Post-Structuralism

• Thinkers such as Michel Foucault deepened constructionist approaches by showing how discourses (within institutions) constitute truths, norms, and subjectivities. Discourse, power, and knowledge are intertwined.
• Ethnomethodology (Harold Garfinkel) also contributes by examining how everyday interactions produce and sustain the “taken-for-granted” social order.

4. Feminist Constructivism & Historicizing Practices

• Feminist scholars have emphasised that constructionist claims especially must be historicized—looking at how gender, sexuality, race etc. have been differently constructed in different eras and cultural settings.
• For instance, Judith Butler’s work on performativity is deeply historical: she often traces how gender norms are tied to specific histories, legal regimes, and power relations. Feminist philosophers like Katriina Honkanen have examined “historicity” in Butler’s constructivist arguments.
• Historicizing also means exploring feminist critiques of constructionism: that some constructionist views risk assuming a universal subject or ignoring colonial, racial, economic differences over time.

Transformations & Key Moments in the History of Constructionism

Tracing how constructionism changed over time helps seeing how its theoretical edges sharpened.

Period / Decade	Major Developments	Shifts & New Challenges
1930s-1950s	Symbolic interactionism (Mead), phenomenology; early sociology of knowledge ideas.	Focus still heavy on individual interactions; less attention to structural power, race, colonialism.
1960s	Berger & Luckmann publish The Social Construction of Reality. Rise of sociology of knowledge; awareness of institutionalization of norms.	Emergence of critiques: how stable is “reality” if constructed? What is the role of power?
1970s-1980s	Feminist theory, post-structuralism, critical theory expand constructionism. Discourse analysis becomes central.	Debates emerge: is everything constructed? How to avoid relativism? What about materiality?
1990s-2000s	Judith Butler, intersectionality, queer theory. More focus on historicity and temporal dimensions. Histories of sexuality, bodies; non-Western conceptualizations.	More nuanced attention to how constructions vary over culture/time; focus on voice, agency, resistance.
2010s-present	Global perspectives, decolonial critiques, digital media/discourse shifts. Historicizing across global north/south; contested public discourse.	Challenges: how to historicize when records are sparse; balancing universal and particular; integrating material and discursive; power and voice.

Examples & Quotations that Highlight Historicizing Constructionism

• From Berger & Luckmann: Their concept of institutionalization shows how practices over time become entrenched as “natural” or “given.” For example, rules in family life, religious norms, gender roles. Over generations, what was negotiated becomes taken for granted.
• Judith Butler on historicity: Feminist practice “[…] to historicize is to take history not merely as backdrop but as constitutive of what gender means in that moment.” (paraphrased from feminist writings) Honkanen’s studies show feminist constructivism depends on connecting “how gender has been shaped in history” (its legal, moral, discursive regimes) to present norms.
• Mead: identity formation via the “generalized other” shows how social roles (past, contemporaries, future expectations) shape identity as much as individual awareness. The historical dimension is implicit—what prior norms exist in the social group.

Critiques & Debates around Historicizing Constructionism

Historicizing constructionism brings its own set of debates. Some core criticisms:

• Relativism vs Universalism: If all identities and categories are historically contingent, is there anything stable enough for universal claims (e.g., human rights, equality)?
• Power, Colonialism, and Eurocentrism: Early constructionist theories were often produced in Western academia. Historicizing must attend to non-Western histories and colonial legacies.
• Materiality & Biology: Critics argue some constructionist views underplay the material / biological / economic conditions (bodies, health, environment). Historicizing can help integrate those but also shows tensions.
• Historicity as Methodological Demand: There is a tension: historicizing requires historical evidence, archives, etc., but many marginalized groups or regions have less preserved documentation, which can create bias in knowledge production.
• Over-historicizing / Determinism: One risk is making history seem deterministic—assuming past norms fully condition present ones without room for agency, resistance, transformation.

Implications for Understanding Gender & Other Social Categories

• Historicizing makes visible how concepts like gender, race, sexuality, disability have been differently constructed in different times and places. For example, “women’s roles” in medieval societies differ from Victorian ideals, which differ again in post-colonial contexts.
• It allows critique of present norms: by showing how norms are historically contingent, one can imagine change, resist oppressive constructions.
• It enriches intersectional analysis: gender does not evolve in isolation, but along with race, class, colonialism, religion, law. Historicization helps see these intersections over time.
• Helps in evaluating policies, discourse: laws or norms seem “natural” until historicizing shows their invention and maintenance.

Conclusion & Key Takeaways

• Historicizing constructionism means seeing social constructionist theories not as timeless truths but as ideas embedded in history, shaped by intellectual history (e.g. phenomenology, symbolic interactionism), social movements (feminism, post-colonialism), and power relations.
• Tracing the history of constructionism helps us understand its potentials (critique, transformation) and its limitations (relativism, Eurocentric bias, marginalization of materiality).
• Applying historicizing means always asking: When was this norm or category made? By whom? For what purposes? Under what power relations?

Related Posts:

Social Construction of Gender

Introduction

Gender is often perceived as a natural outcome of biological differences between males and females. Yet, sociologists and gender theorists argue that gender is not merely a biological fact but a social construct—a product of cultural meanings, institutional practices, and interpersonal interactions.

This perspective, known as the social construction of gender, challenges the idea that traits such as masculinity and femininity are innate. Instead, it views them as roles and expectations learned, performed, and reinforced throughout life.

Understanding Social Construction

Social constructionism is a theoretical framework suggesting that many aspects of our reality—including race, class, and gender—are created and maintained through social processes rather than natural causes.

When applied to gender, it means that society defines what it means to be “a man” or “a woman.” These definitions vary across cultures and historical periods, showing that gender is not universal but context-dependent.

In this sense, gender is a performance, a set of social expectations we learn and reproduce through language, behavior, dress, and relationships.

1. Judith Butler – Gender Performativity

Judith Butler, one of the most influential voices in gender theory, introduced the concept of gender performativity in her 1990 book Gender Trouble. Butler argues that:

“There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; that identity is performatively constituted by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results.” – Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (1990)

In simple terms, we perform gender through daily actions—how we dress, speak, or behave—and these repeated performances make gender identities appear natural.

For example, a man wearing a suit and using assertive language reinforces masculine norms, while a woman wearing makeup or soft-spoken tones performs femininity. These acts are not innate—they are learned and repeated, constructing the illusion of stable gender identities.

Example: In many workplaces, women who display assertiveness may be labeled “aggressive,” while men showing the same behavior are praised as “confident.” This double standard reflects gender performativity in action.

2. West and Zimmerman – Doing Gender

Sociologists Candace West and Don Zimmerman, in their seminal 1987 paper Doing Gender, describe gender as an ongoing social performance maintained through interaction.

“Gender is not something we are, but something we do.” – West & Zimmerman (1987)

Their idea emphasizes accountability: individuals are judged based on how well they conform to gender norms. For example, a man holding hands with another man might be seen as violating expected masculine behavior—illustrating how society constantly enforces gender conformity.

Example: When someone compliments a father for “babysitting his kids,” it reveals the gender assumption that childcare is primarily a woman’s duty. This everyday comment is an act of “doing gender,” reinforcing stereotypes.

3. Simone de Beauvoir – Existential Feminism

Before Butler and West & Zimmerman, French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir laid the foundation for the social construction of gender in her 1949 classic The Second Sex.

Her famous line captures the essence of the theory:

“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” – Simone de Beauvoir (1949)

De Beauvoir argued that society molds women into a certain role—passive, nurturing, dependent—through upbringing and culture. Biology may define female bodies, but society assigns them meaning.

Example: Girls are often encouraged to be polite, soft-spoken, and caring from a young age, while boys are taught to be brave and assertive. These social teachings, not biology, produce what we recognize as “feminine” behavior.

4. Sandra Bem – Gender Schema Theory

Psychologist Sandra Bem introduced Gender Schema Theory (1981), which connects psychology with social construction. She proposed that children develop mental structures—schemas—that help them organize information about gender.

Once these schemas are formed, individuals begin to interpret the world through a gendered lens.

“Gender schemas are internal cognitive structures that shape our understanding of the social world.” – Sandra Bem (1981)

Example: A child may assume that nurses are female and engineers are male, not because of experience, but due to cultural messages that shape their mental schema.

Bem’s work also led to the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), a psychological test measuring how individuals align with masculine, feminine, or androgynous traits—challenging the binary view of gender.

5. Erving Goffman – Gender Display

Sociologist Erving Goffman explored how people present themselves in social settings, likening everyday life to a performance. In Gender Advertisements (1979), he analyzed how media and advertising create and reinforce gender displays.

“Gender display refers to conventionalized portrayals of the sexes.” – Erving Goffman (1979)

Goffman showed how advertisements often depict women in submissive, decorative roles—leaning, touching themselves gently, or looking away—while men appear dominant, upright, and in control.

Example: A perfume ad showing a woman lying down with a man standing over her conveys gender hierarchy through body language alone. These repeated visual cues teach viewers what is considered “feminine” or “masculine.”

6. Raewyn Connell – Hegemonic Masculinity

Australian sociologist Raewyn (R.W.) Connell expanded gender theory by examining how masculinity is socially constructed. In her book Masculinities (1995), Connell introduced the concept of hegemonic masculinity—the dominant form of masculinity that legitimizes male power and subordinates other masculinities and femininities.

“Hegemonic masculinity is the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of legitimacy of patriarchy.” – R.W. Connell (1995)

Example: The cultural ideal of the “strong, unemotional man” discourages men from expressing vulnerability, shaping both their behavior and society’s expectations.

Connell’s theory reminds us that gender construction affects not only women but also men, creating rigid standards that limit emotional and social expression.

7. Michel Foucault – Power and Discourse

Though not a gender theorist directly, Michel Foucault’s ideas on power and discourse heavily influenced feminist and queer theory. Foucault argued that institutions—such as medicine, religion, and law—produce “truths” about the body and sexuality through discourse.

Example: Medical classifications of “normal” versus “abnormal” bodies shape how societies understand gender and sexual identity. Foucault’s work helps explain how knowledge and power work together to construct gender norms.

“Power produces reality; it produces domains of objects and rituals of truth.” – Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (1975)

8. Anne Oakley – Gender Socialization

British sociologist Anne Oakley offered one of the earliest sociological studies on gender socialization in Sex, Gender and Society (1972). Oakley showed how boys and girls are treated differently from birth through language, play, and expectation.

Example: Parents may praise boys for being active and daring, while encouraging girls to be gentle and tidy. Oakley concluded that such early socialization practices shape lifelong gendered behavior.

9. Bell Hooks – Intersectional Feminism

Writer and activist bell hooks emphasized that gender cannot be understood in isolation from race, class, and culture. She argued that traditional feminist thought often centered white, middle-class women while overlooking others.

“Feminism is for everybody.” – bell hooks (2000)

Her work integrates intersectionality into the construction of gender, showing how overlapping systems of oppression shape different gendered experiences.

Example: The social construction of femininity for a Black woman differs from that for a white woman, due to cultural and racial histories intertwined with gender expectations.

Summary of Theoretical Contributions

Thinker	Main Concept	Key Contribution
Simone de Beauvoir	“One is not born, but becomes, a woman”	Introduced existential basis for gender as learned identity
Judith Butler	Gender Performativity	Gender produced through repeated acts
West & Zimmerman	Doing Gender	Gender maintained through everyday interactions
Sandra Bem	Gender Schema Theory	Cognitive processes shape gender perception
Erving Goffman	Gender Display	Visual and behavioral codes reproduce gender
Raewyn Connell	Hegemonic Masculinity	Dominant masculinity upholds patriarchy
Michel Foucault	Power and Discourse	Knowledge creates gender “truths”
Anne Oakley	Gender Socialization	Family and upbringing shape gender norms
bell hooks	Intersectionality	Gender shaped by race, class, and culture

How Gender Is Socially Constructed

The construction of gender occurs through multiple social institutions and everyday practices:

1. Family and Early Socialization

From birth, children are assigned gender labels—often before they can even speak. Parents, relatives, and caregivers reinforce gender norms through clothing, toys, and language (“brave boy,” “sweet girl”).

2. Education and Schools

Schools often perpetuate gender divisions through curricula, classroom behavior, and expectations. Boys may be encouraged toward leadership or STEM subjects, while girls are praised for cooperation and empathy.

3. Media and Popular Culture

Television, films, advertisements, and social media constantly portray idealized versions of masculinity and femininity.
These representations create and normalize stereotypes—strong, assertive men and nurturing, attractive women.

4. Workplace and Institutions

Workplaces often reinforce gender hierarchies through pay gaps, occupational segregation, and assumptions about leadership or caregiving roles. Institutional rules, policies, and structures reflect and reproduce gendered power dynamics.

5. Language and Communication

Language encodes gender norms. Terms like “chairman” or “fireman” assume male dominance, while female professionals are often marked with gendered labels (“lady doctor”). Everyday speech shapes how society perceives gender.

6. Religion and Culture

Cultural and religious traditions often prescribe distinct roles for men and women. These belief systems provide moral and social justification for gender norms, linking them to values, family structures, and morality.

Examples of Gender Construction

• Colors and Toys: Pink for girls and blue for boys are cultural inventions, not natural distinctions.
• Occupations: Nursing and teaching are labeled “feminine,” while engineering and construction are seen as “masculine.”
• Body Image: Media portrayals idealize thinness for women and muscularity for men.
• Dress Codes: Expectations about clothing and grooming differ by gender, enforcing social scripts of appearance.
• Sports and Leisure: Certain sports are coded as masculine (football, wrestling) or feminine (dance, gymnastics).

Critiques and Debates

While the social constructionist view is influential, it is not without criticism.

• Biological Essentialism: Critics argue that biological differences influence behavior and cannot be entirely dismissed.
• Intersectionality: Gender is intertwined with race, class, sexuality, and culture. Ignoring these intersections oversimplifies the complexity of identity.
• Agency and Resistance: If gender is socially constructed, individuals also have the power to resist, subvert, and redefine gender norms.
• Cultural Relativity: Constructions of gender vary widely across societies, raising questions about universal feminist claims.

Contemporary Shifts and Transformations

Modern societies are witnessing rapid shifts in gender constructions:

• Rise of Non-Binary and Trans Identities: These challenge binary gender systems and highlight gender diversity.
• Gender-Neutral Policies: Workplaces and governments are adopting inclusive language and facilities.
• Media Representation: Increasing visibility of gender-fluid and queer identities is reshaping cultural narratives.
• Digital Activism: Online movements like #MeToo and #HeForShe have sparked global discussions about gender equality and norms.

These transformations show that gender is dynamic and constantly being reconstructed through dialogue, resistance, and change.

Conclusion

The social construction of gender reveals that what we consider “natural” about men and women is largely a product of social learning and cultural expectation.
Gender is not something we are—it is something we do through daily practices, performances, and interactions.

By recognizing gender as socially constructed, societies can challenge inequalities and create more inclusive spaces that value individual identity over rigid norms.

Book Summary: The Nurture Assumption by Judith Rich Harris