> Yeah you were kind of by turning to selfish genes, not the tiger but
> what Kelley said in the quoted snippet. Biology is often invoked to
> put an end to debate or analysis. Even such raw biological facts as
> childbirth and lactation take on very different meanings depending on
> social arrangements like household structure, nature of and
> availability of medical care, labor market and welfare state
> features, conventions and representations around childbirth, etc.
>
> Doug
Doug -- I don't think anyone on this list denies that social conditions shape how we experience our biology. But it's quite a leap from saying that childbirth means different things in different contexts to saying that biological sex is itself a constructed category. I find people often assert the latter, but give evidence and examples only for the former--and use that slippage to tar those who disagree with the more extreme statement as closet sexists, genetic determinists etc.
Katha