YseX Is a Matter of Concern Rather Than a Matter of Fact

摘要

The self-evidence and power of the X and Y chromosomes in science and society cannot be overestimated. As a binary couple they line up with other familiar biological categories such as eggs and sperm or estrogen and androgen, and increasingly they've come to stand for females and males. However, what if one did not take them as a matter of fact and instead asked how X and Y came to stand for female and male. What does it take to sex these chromosomes? Such questions refer not so much to the bodies in which these chromosomes are found but to the scientific practices that study them. Making the work of science visible, demonstrating how morals and values are part and parcel of the epistemology of science, means understanding the objects of science as "matters of concern" -objects that require care and deserve density.