Already a girl or a boy at birth
Larrieu, Gaëlle
Already a girl or a boy at birth - 2022.
84
Up until the 1980s, a child’s sex was only questioned at birth. Today, 9 out of 10 couples know their future child’s sex before birth, due to the generalisation of fetal ultrasound. Using data gathered from observations and a survey composed of longitudinal interviews, this paper shows how a fetus’ sexuation is interwoven into its process of humanisation. The categorisation of the fetus’ sex appears as pivotal: imagining one’s child as a sexed being makes it possible to give it a name, to project oneself with the child and to interact with it. By focusing on sexuation rather than the bicategorisation and differentiated socialisation, this paper enriches the understanding of gender’s importance in our society.
Already a girl or a boy at birth - 2022.
84
Up until the 1980s, a child’s sex was only questioned at birth. Today, 9 out of 10 couples know their future child’s sex before birth, due to the generalisation of fetal ultrasound. Using data gathered from observations and a survey composed of longitudinal interviews, this paper shows how a fetus’ sexuation is interwoven into its process of humanisation. The categorisation of the fetus’ sex appears as pivotal: imagining one’s child as a sexed being makes it possible to give it a name, to project oneself with the child and to interact with it. By focusing on sexuation rather than the bicategorisation and differentiated socialisation, this paper enriches the understanding of gender’s importance in our society.
Réseaux sociaux