> ^^^^
> CB: Because she dismisses a highly probable biological trait of
> humans ,heterosexual instinct (humans being a biological species that
> reproduces by sex) without argument. Her argument begins with
> dismissing by fiat a fundamental principle of biology in assessing a
> biological species, human beings. See what I wrote before.
>
Fundamentally, heterosexuality is not an 'urge.' Its a set of knowledges and institutional structures that structure society. It operates in legal structures, the pedagogy of public school, etc. It also should be noted that it is a fairly contingent structure in the long duree. Even the conventional notions of sex, gender, and marriage (to take a few examples of discursive structures) of today would be deeply alien to earlier conceptions of those institutions (if they even existed.)
As to the question of biology, Butler deals with this question in the book to an extent (see pages 107-111 in the first edition). This primarily draws from the work of Ann Fausto-Sterling. The work looks at the way that cultural assumptions effect biological claims on sex and gender.
robert wood