Płynność płci biologicznej i performatywność płci kulturowej

The distinction between sex and gender can be detailed by distinguishing several levels of biological sex and social gender: genetic or chromosomal sex, gonadal sex, hormonal sex, internal and external morphologic sex, phenotypic sex, assigned sex, gender of rearing, gender identity. Untypical modification on first four levels (during sex differentiation and brain programming of fetus, and at puberty) results in intersex newborns, transgender and other non-normative people. They are clear examples of fluidity of the biological sex and they question the idea of two „natural” sexes (nature turns out to be diverse and fluid). The fluidity thesis matches the social construction thesis, for instance, Judith Butler’s performative theory of gender. According to it, gender is created by a series of performative acts: words, gestures, outfits, make-up, hair-dressing etc. The analysis of many levels of sex differentiation process leads to conclusion that femininity and masculinity are two ideal types, and that biological sex is a matter of degree (one can be more or less female/male but there is no sharp distinction between the two) and sometimes indeterminate (intersexes, transgender people). The paper is a contribution to integrating recent biological findings about sex differentiation process with recent social theories about construction of gender.