Material Feminism and Epigenetics

A 'Critical Window' for Engagement

Bibliographic Data

ID5853759
AuthorsM Warin (0000-0001-8766-1087), Anne Hammarström (0000-0002-4095-7961)
Year2018
Volume33
Issue97
Pages299-315
Publication date2018-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Feminist Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1321-7568 • E-ISSN: 1465-3303
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08164649.2018.1538695
OpenAlexW2898439824
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited59

While there is increasing interest in gender and sex issues in the medical field, most research in medicine can still be defined as operating with a binary of sex/gender. Epigenetics presents a marked challenge to such binaries as it operates across many tightly held boundaries, blurring the lines between the biological and social. Feminist scholars are paying attention to this new field and reconsidering relationships between the politics of matter, biologies and the social in new ways. The aim of this article is to investigate how theoretical insights from material feminism might enhance epigenetic research. Rather than repeat important critical arguments that point to the dangers of reductionism and biological essentialism, we make a case for examining the ways that material feminism can engage with epigenetic research by broadening ideas of reproduction (beyond in-utero effects) to relational and political views of gender and sex within a materialist framework. In conclusion, we suggest that a focus on material-discursive co-formations has the potential to contribute to an established body of feminist theory and science work; increasing awareness of the intra-action of gender and sex in relation to exposures, and increasing political leverage in supporting health-enhancing environments

Epistemology · Essentialism · Feminism · Materialism · Political science · Politics · Reductionism · Social science · Sociology · Birth, Development, and Health · Race, Genetics, and Society · Sex and Gender in Healthcare · Gender Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub