Sitting on the Fence: Biology, Feminism and Gender-bending Environments

Synopsis — In this article, I use the example of “gender-bending” chemicals to explore some of the ways we think about “nature.” Feminist biologists occupy a tricky position, having both to accept the reality of nature to some degree (especially if working in the lab, or when critiquing biological determinism); but we must also recognize the ways in which knowing about nature is socially constructed. I illustrate the tensions between these two viewpoints through a specific focus on chemicals thought to damage reproduction. There has been much recent coverage on how much people are now exposed to chemicals which can act like hormones (they are therefore called endocrine disrupters) and so alter hormones within our bodies—media accounts dub them “gender-bending” because of their effects on the sex of some wildlife. Through this, I explore the intertwined assumptions about gender and nature that pepper both scientific and popular reporting. But looking at the social contexts of these ideas is not enough; we have also to think about material effects on women’s bodies and health (a realist position). Apart from exploring these tensions between realism and how we think about it, the example of endocrine disrupters also poses questions for how we think about the body, and for feminist activism around health and environmental issues. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.