Women like Tammy Faye and Liza Minnelli become "gay icons" because their larger-than-life femininity draws attention to gender as a performance. Their representation of self is so over the top that it begs imitation from drag queens, and when a drag queen performs Tammy Faye, femininity is exposed as a construction that can be performed by anyone. I am NOT saying that two distinct sexes do not exist (though intersex individuals challenge the sex binary), but the gender binary is not as constant and natural as many would like to think. My comments are heavily informed by Judith Butler's Gender Trouble.

-Pseudo-intellectual Grad Student

I've not read the work you cite, but amongst anthropologists, it is well-recognized that gender =!= biological sex. The latter is simply the type of reproductive organs with which one is born. The former is far more complex and has been proven to be socially constructed, as evidenced by, for example, the existence of more than two (three and sometimes four) genders in certain non-Western societies.

Femininity is the domain of females only. If a male attempts it then it is a pale and shallow comparison and a rejection of his natural state.

To imply that those individuals that claim to be intersex challenge the sex binary is indeed saying that there are not two distinct sexes. It is an either/or equation.

The gender binary is quite constant and natural. You are either male or you are female and anyone that feels that they are somewhere in-between is confused and possibly deranged. Those of us that do feel that they’re somewhere in the middle feel that way as a result of hormone imbalance, social indoctrination, or both. A female that is masculine simply has too much testosterone in her system just as a male that is feminine has too much estrogen in his system. Like any affliction this can be solved with medical treatment to restore the imbalance. Those that are socially indoctrinated were dealt a severe injustice and can overcome the abuse with counseling like any abused child.

There are only 2 sexes, which are male and female, and that is the way it has always been.

Cassandra

There are only two genders, which would be male and female. Any others are socially constructed.

Cassandra

This is the exact kind of simplistic binary thinking that queer theorists seek to challenge. I can't explain the past century of theory on human sexuality to you, but I suggest that you begin with Foucault and work your way forward.

Oh, please google image 'intersex,' and tell me if you still think that there are two distinct sexes. I am not challenging the existence of the male and female sex. I'm just saying that it's not the neat little binary we'd all like to think.