Changing Sex and Bending Gender is the inaugural volume in the Social Identities series, based on a social anthropology seminar introduced at Oxford University by Edwin Ardener in the 1980s. After Ardener’s death, the general editors of the series decided to continue his work in social identity theory and practice through published volumes. Volume 1, Changing Sex and Bending Gender, edited by Alison Shaw and Shirley Ardener, features nine essays about the construction and deconstruction of sex and gender. The book should appeal to a broad range of readers and scholars, from social anthropologists, cultural historians, theatre students, law students, to feminist and queer theorists. While some chapters are more interesting and indepth reports of the topic than others, this slim volume is a worthwhile addition to an interested reader’s collection.

The book is divided into three parts. The first three chapters deal with the physical body and how it is treated when it does not match cultural norms. The next two chapters discuss examples of women who, without altering their physical body, construct new gender identities for themselves. And the final three chapters deal with public performative interpretations of alternative genders. The readings were compiled in order to demonstrate the fluid nature of sex and gender and to point out the instances when individuals stretch those concepts beyond what their society deems appropriate. Ardener’s preface concludes that the essays “should increase our understanding of variation in sex and gender identities, the constraints within which people construct these identities, and the impact that socially constructed norms, including those within which doctors and lawyers operate, may have on the lives of others” (xii).

In the first chapter, Shaw introduces the topics that will be covered in the book and provides the definitions of sex and gender as readers will encounter them in the book. While sex is based on biological characteristics and gender on social categorizations, Shaw asserts that both concepts are not always fixed across historical periods and cultures. The rigid two-sex and gender classification system that dominates Western culture can lead to problems both for individuals who do not fit either category and those who research human subjects. For researchers, this “natural” binary system can bias studies by forcing subjects to occupy only male and female categories, when, in fact, sex and gender occupy a more fluid continuum. Shaw writes, “In fact, careful scrutiny of the Western scientific evidence on sex differences suggests that what makes a person male or female, thus determining their biological sex, and what is involved in the construction of gender, in becoming a (culturally defined) boy or girl, man or a woman, is a complex interplay of genetic instruction, hormones, culture and socialization” (3).

In Shaw’s later chapter on genital ambiguity, titled “Is It a Boy, Or a Girl? The Challenges of Genital Ambiguity,” she interrogates the medical and cultural pressures in the sex classification for newborns. With 1.7 percent of infants born with ambiguous genitalia, Shaw offers a variety of cross-cultural practices in reaction to this condition. She offers examples of societies that have not sought to ‘correct’ intersexed infants and discusses the ramifications of Western medical practices to ‘assign’ a sex to a newborn. Shaw’s chapter is the strongest contribution to the book and would make an important addition to any Gender Studies, Sociology, Pre-Med, or Anthropology course.

Other chapters, on the history of transsexualism before the European Court of Human Rights, the third sex in Albania, tomboi in the Southern Philippines, and the presentation of masculinity in North American drag performance are all informative and well-constructed. A few of them were not as detailed or intriguing as others. The chapter on Byzantine eunuchs would have benefited from a cross-cultural grounding in attitudes towards eunuchs and the essay on cross-dressing on the Japanese stage lacked enough concrete details (or accompanying photographs) to give any clear idea of the performance style of Kabuki and Takarazuka actors. Further, the gender bending performances of the Takarazuka female actors have created legions of passionate and dedicated teenage fans. A brief mention of the homoerotic elements in this performance convention would have enriched the article further, given the fact that the audience’s participation in Kabuki conventions was mentioned earlier in the article.

Overall, the book is a marvelous example of cross-discipline contributions to one topical subject – sex and gender – and anyone curious, or concerned, about historical and cultural constructions of sex and gender should pick it up. As the first in the Social Identities series, this reviewer will be interested in future volumes and contributions to the subject.