ABSTRACT

Unsexed refers to that passing glimmer of an instant just before an acceleration into meaning gives way to what is commonly called “gender.” Like zero, unsexed operates as a meta-sign, a sign about that ephemeral instant in which someone perceives an absence of gendered signification. Instead of racking up additional genders, the refiguring of “unsexed” as a zero concept calls attention to the ranking and sequencing of genders already in circulation. Unsexed gives way in judgment to the cultural categories of Professional Woman, Real Man, Cancer Patient, Church Lady, Butch, Cowboy, Freak. Interpreted as a meta-sign, the zero that is “unsexed” encourages theorists to examine the temporal aspects of gender relations, especially the respects in which time informs the dynamics of space and vision that have classically served to focus gender studies.