On the Meaning of Sex

A brilliant examination of the intellectually incoherent and anti-feminist character of gender identity theory. In this groundbreaking book, Swedish feminist and Marzist, Kajsa Ekis Ekman, traces the ideological roots of the new definition of woman. She shows how biological determinism is back - but minus the biology. So too are stereotypes: womanhood is no longer about having a vagina, but pink ribbons and dolls. Masculinity is no longer synonymous with having a penis but with war and machines. We are told being a woman is a gender identity that anyone can claim and that can only be determined by one's own feelings. Gender, we are told, is a spectrum, and it resides in the mind. In countries such as Norway, Canada, Argentina and Australia, laws have been enacted that give anyone the right to change his or her legal sex, irrespective of whether the person has had a medical procedure. At the same time, the industry for gender reassignment surgery is growing at an unprecedented pace. Seven out of 10 teenagers who seek treatment are now girls. The new definition of sex has been hailed as progressive, But is it really? What ideology is expressed by it? What consequences will it have? And for whom?