Debating Sex and Gender in Eighteenth-Century Spain

This book explores the popular and elite debates over the creation of a two-sex model of human bodies in eighteenth-century Spain.

Marta V. Vicente (Author)

9781107159556, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 October 2017

228 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

'… there is plenty of material for individuals interested in the history of science and medicine, the Spanish Enlightenment, and gender studies, all presented in lucid, jargon-free prose, to make this volume a welcome addition to anyone's library.' Sara T. Nalle, The Journal of Modern History

Eighteenth-century debates continue to set the terms of modern day discussions on how 'nature and nurture' shape sex and gender. Current dialogues - from the tension between 'real' and 'ideal' bodies, to how nature and society shape sexual difference - date back to the early modern period. Debating Sex and Gender is an innovative study of the creation of a two-sex model of human sexuality based on different genitalia within Spain, reflecting the enlightened quest to promote social reproduction and stability. Drawing on primary sources such as medical treatises and legal literature, Vicente traces the lives of individuals whose ambiguous sex and gender made them examples for physicians, legislators and educators for how nature, family upbringing, education, and the social environment shaped an individual's sex. This book brings together insights from the histories of sexuality, medicine and the law to shed new light on this timely and important field of study.

Preface and acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The anatomy of sex
2. Medical theory versus practice: the case of Sebastián/María Leirado
3. Nature, nurture and early modern sexuality
4. The body of law: legislating sex in eighteenth-century Spain
5. Sex and gender: reconsidering the legacy of the enlightenment
Endnotes
Bibliograph.

Subject Areas: Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ], Social & cultural history [HBTB], European history [HBJD]