Why Male And Female Are Not Enough: Anne Fausto-Sterling

The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough – Anne Fausto-Sterling The Western culture strongly believes and defends the idea that there are only two sexes existing in the world. As people grow up, they are only aware of two different gender categories which are male and female. However, there is much more overlap between male and female than people usually assume. Anne Fausto-Sterling argues that the sexes male and female are not enough for identify sexes by bringing in intersexuality which proves the idea that the sexes male and female are not enough for identifying sexes. This is often difficult for people because most societies are built on a two-sex social system where people are required to live as one sex or the other. Fausto-Sterling claims that if scientists were truly interested in mapping the physical world, they would have to abandon their claims of a two-sex model because of the fact that human physiology comes in many different shapes and forms. Lastly, she argues that medical science should recognize five sexes, rather than the common two; male and female. (Fausto-Sterling, 24) First, Fausto-Sterling mentions that intersexuality- which is a term used for people born with a sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definitions of

By giving examples, she proves that the intersexed have difficulty in life because they are always being left out of society and being considered as having a deformity which leads them to have social problems. Therefore, Fausto- Sterling concludes that intersexuality being seen as a medical and social problem is unacceptable because the intersexed are also living human beings who need to be treated equally. Everyone deserves to be fit into society and respected no matter their appearance instead of being forced to fit into these two categories that have been socially