This book challenges law’s reliance on neurology’s brain-sex binary.
The brain has become the latest candidate in a historical search for a reliable and fixed biological marker of ‘true sex’ that has permeated every aspect of Western culture, including law. As definitions of the sexed and gendered body have become ever more contentious, the development and dissemination of brain-sex theories have come to dominate popular understanding of LGBTI+ identities. But, this book argues, the brain is no more helpful than earlier biological measures in ensuring just outcomes. Examining how law determines and differentiates ‘male’ and ‘female’ in two contested areas of sexed identity –through a discussion of Australian cases authorising medical interventions to alter the embodied sex characteristics of transgender minors and intersex minors –the book demonstrates an incoherence in the legal understanding of gender identity development. As the brain too fails as a convincing biological anchor for the binary sex categories of male and female, law must, it is argued, retreat from its aspiration to create, define, and regulate artificially bounded sex categories of male and female.
This book will be of great interest to scholars and students in a range of disciplines who are working at the intersection of law, gender, and sexuality.
By:
Aileen Kennedy
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781032424378
ISBN 10: 1032424370
Series: Gender in Law, Culture, and Society
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 27 June 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction 1 Introduction 1 Legal Focus: Why These Cases? 2 Structure 4 Terminology 7 Comparing Trans and Intersex Issues 11 Critiquing Biomedical Research 14 Conclusion 15 Reference List 16 Articles/Books/Reports 16 Cases 17 Legislation 17 Other 17 2 Sex, Gender, and Gender Identity 18 Introduction 18 Biological Determinism 19 The Sex/Gender Distinction 21 Current Clashes 23 Examining the Sex/Gender Gap 30 Embodiment and Feminism 32 Static Biology and Dynamic Culture 33 The Search for ‘True Sex’ in the Body 37 The Move From a One-Sex to a Two-Sex Body 37 Finding Sex in the Hermaphroditic Body 38 Conclusion 50 Reference List 51 Articles/Books/Reports 51 Cases 55 Other 55 3 Brain-Sex Binary Theories 57 Introduction 57 Brain Sex and Gender Identity 59 What is Gender Identity? 61 Brain-Sex Binary and Brain Organisation Theories 70 Sex Differences in the Brain 77 Introduction 77 Brain Plasticity 78 Inconsistencies and False-Positive Findings 82 The Resilience of Stereotypes 85 Research on Animals 88 Understanding Difference 89 Neuroculture and the Cerebral Subject 93 Conclusion 95 Reference List 96 Articles/Books/Reports 96 Cases 103 Other 103 4 Intersex Variations 104 Introduction 104 What is Intersex? 106 Intersex and Medicalisation 110 DSD Protocols 111 Gender Identity 113 Introduction 113 Optimal Gender Theory and Practice 116 Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia 121 Intersex Variations That Impact on Fetal Androgens 123 Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome 126 Conclusion 127 Current Medical Practices 129 Introduction 129 Genital Surgery 133 ‘Once and for All’ Treatments 143 Sterilisation 144 Medical Intervention and Gender Identity 148 Conclusion 152 Reference List 153 Articles/Books/Reports 153 Cases 159 Legislation 159 Other 159 5 Transgender in the Australian Family Court 161 Introduction 161 Legal Framework: Consent 163 Special Medical Jurisdiction 164 Coercive Sterilisation Cases 167 Marion’s Case 167 Gender Identity and Gender Dysphoria 170 Medical Approaches to Trans Identity in Minors 174 The ‘Born This Way’ Narrative 178 Re Alex 180 Competing Theories of Trans 181 Treatment: Therapeutic or Non-Therapeutic? 183 Re Jamie 186 Treatment: Therapeutic or Non-Therapeutic? 186 Gender Dysphoria and Neurology 188 Re Kelvin 189 New Medical Evidence or Ideological Shifts? 191 Conclusion 195 Reference List 196 Articles/Books/Reports 196 Cases 200 Legislation 201 Other 201 6 Intersex in the Australian Family Court 203 Introduction 203 The Principles and Values From Marion’s Case 204 Intersex and Gender Identity 208 The Cases 211 Re A (A Child) 211 Re Lesley 213 Re Sally 216 Re Dylan 219 Re Carla 219 Re Kaitlin 222 Conclusions on Judicial Attitudes to Gender Identity 223 Fertility 225 Judicial Process 228 Conclusion 230 Reference List 232 Articles/Books/Reports 232 Cases 234 Other 235 7 Conclusion 236 Reference List 242 Articles/Books/Reports 242 Cases 242 Index 243
Aileen Kennedy is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology, Sydney and the Chair of Intersex Human Rights Australia.
