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Journal of Social Archaeology
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Conceiving sex

Fomenting a feminist bioarchaeology

Pamela L. Geller

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, USA, pgeller{at}sas.upenn.edu

There has always been sex in bioarchaeology. Researchers believe that biological sex, as a fundamental category of skeletal analysis, is dualistic, innate, and unchanging. To highlight the shortcomings in bioarchaeology's analysis of sex, I stress several important ideas derived from feminist-inspired scholarship. In the past 15 years, many of these scholars have worked to demystify sex as a fixed, dichotomous entity by historicizing the concept and detailing cross-cultural understandings. I also tease out biomedicine's comprehension of sex, as evidenced by discourse and practice. Biomedicine provides the larger epistemic frame for bioarchaeologists' sexing criteria, as well as the meanings that many investigators attach to discernible, biological difference. Ultimately, drawing on feminist-inspired theories allows for critical reflection as well as exploration of alternative issues. Such integration supplies fertile ground upon which biologically oriented scholars may sow the seeds of needed disciplinary changes.

Key Words: binary oppositions • bioarchaeology • biomedicine • division of labor • feminist theory • genetic studies • identity • queer theory • sex and gender

Journal of Social Archaeology, Vol. 8, No. 1, 113-138 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1469605307086080
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