Exclusionary Binaries
Giovanna Gilleri · 2023
International human rights law has accounted for the diversity of sexed/gendered bodies only to a limited extent so far. This chapter shows that four axioms characterise the configuration of the relation between sex and gender, and the relationship between man and woman under human rights law. The analysis draws on the novel theory of ‘binary-normativity,’ a system of intertwined gender expectations. Human rights law assumes that sex is a natural fact, whereas gender is a social construct (sex ≠ gender); that gender equates with only the group of women rather than comprising all gendered subjects (the metonymy gender = women); that there are only two sexes and two genders (the dualism m/f); and that gender power relations take the shape of male domination versus female oppression (the asymmetry m > f). Prevailing interpretations enshrined in authoritative sources reflect these four axioms in myriad ways. The investigation nevertheless uncovers a number of alternative accounts providing sex/gender and related concepts with expansive interpretations. These broaden the scope of human rights protections by opening possibilities for gendered subject formations and performances. The chapter concludes that, notwithstanding these broad interpretations, sex/gender is far from being ‘framed’ expansively throughout the whole human rights regime.