Queering the Odds
The Case Against “Family Balancing”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17814149 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tereza Hendl (0000-0002-6472-7028, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 4-30 |
| Publication date | 2017-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1937-4577 • E-ISSN: 1937-4585 |
| Publisher | University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.3138/ijfab.10.2.4 |
| OpenAlex | W2763269480 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 31 |
In this paper, I investigate the ethical aspects of sex selection for “family balancing.” Advocates of the practice make two claims: first, that it is ethically permissible because it creates gender diversity and entails no harm from sexism; and, second, that it benefits families, as gender diversity offers richer experiences. I test these claims through an empirical study with Australian sex selectors. I argue that the claims are flawed because they are grounded in a narrow understanding of sexism that disregards gender essentialism. As family balancing is based on the selection of children to fit preconceived binary gender roles, it denies diversity and reinforces sexism
Business · Empirical research · Epistemology · Essentialism · Gender diversity · Harm · Logistic regression · Odds · Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender Studies · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Social Psychology
Procreative Beneficence
The Five Sexes
Constructing Masculinity
The Argument for Unlimited Procreative Liberty
Selective Termination of Pregnancy and Women's Reproductive Autonomy
Gender
Gender Trouble
Limits of state intervention in sex-selective abortion
Do Boys Have to Be Boys? Gender, Narrativity, and the John/Joan Case
Before You Formed in the Womb I Knew You”
Defeating Bigenderism
Genetic Maps and Human Imaginations
Sexing the body
Justice in the Context of Family Balancing
There is such a thing as too many daughters, but not too many sons
Feminist perspectives in medical ethics
How Many More Missing Women? Excess Female Mortality and Prenatal Sex Selection, 1970-2050
Performative Acts and Gender Constitution
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |