ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses some of the arguments for and against biological theories as found in scientific studies on transsexuality, materialist feminist re-valuations of biology, and queer theorist's objections to those theories. It focuses on the structural similarities that exist in arguments for and against attributing either sexual preference or gender identity to genes or hormones. The chapter examines debates surrounding Bailey's controversial book, The Man Who Would be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism, debates that reveal how a disquieting if not oppressive use of evolutionary psychology has been played out to the detriment of transsexuals. It reviews John Colapinto's interpretation of David Reimer one that attributes to nature David's decision to live as manas a problematic view that is far from obsolete and that occludes other ways of making sense of Reimer's experience. The chapter suggests that theorizing social and psychic complexity is more promising for understanding the production of diverse identities than asserting natural diversity.
