Trouble With Gender Sex Facts, Gender Fictions

Sex used to rule. Now gender identity is on the throne. Sex survives as a cheap imitation of its former self: assigned at birth, on a spectrum, socially constructed, and definitely not binary. Apparently quite a few of us fall outside the categories male and female. But gender identity is universal—we all have one. Humanity used to be cleaved into two sexes. Now the crucial division depends on whether our gender identity aligns with our body. If it does, we are cisgender; if it does not, we are transgender. The dethroning of sex has meant the threat of execution for formerly noble words like “woman” and “man”.

In this provocative, bold, and humane book, the philosopher Alex Byrne pushes back against the new gender revolution. Drawing on evidence from biology, psychology, anthropology, and sexology, Byrne exposes the flaws in the revolutionary manifesto. Accessible and engaging, the book applies the tools of philosophy to gender, sex, transsexuality, patriarchy, our many identities, and our true or authentic selves.
The topics of Trouble with Gender are relevant to us all. This is a book for anyone who has wondered “Is sex binary?”, “Why are men and women different?”, “What is a woman?”, or, simply, “Where can I go to know more about these controversies?”

Revolutions devour their own children, and the gender revolution is no exception. Trouble with Gender joins the forefront of the counterrevolution, restoring sex to its rightful place, at the centre of what it means to be human.

Alex Byrne is Professor of Philosophy at MIT.

Preface   

Introduction   

Chapter 1: Gender, Double Toil and Trouble 

Chapter 2: ‘Gender’ Trouble

Chapter 3: Clownfish and Chromosomes 

Chapter 4: I am Woman

Chapter 5: The Rise of Gender Identity
 
Chapter 6: Born in the Wrong Body    

Chapter 7: Is Biology Destiny?  

Chapter 8: True Selves and Identity Crises
  
Coda

Acknowledgements

Bibliography   

Notes

Index