Abstract
This paper develops the conceptual framework of “sex contextualism” for the study of sex-related variables in biomedical research. Sex contextualism offers an alternative to binary sex essentialist approaches to the study of sex as a biological variable. Specifically, sex contextualism recognizes the pluralism and context-specificity of operationalizations of ‘sex’ across experimental laboratory research. In light of recent policy mandates to consider sex as a biological variable, sex contextualism offers constructive guidance to biomedical researchers for attending to sex-related biological variation. As an alternative to and critique of biological binary sex essentialism, sex contextualism contributes to current debates in philosophy of biology, feminist science studies, and social ontology on the construction of categories of gender/sex differences in scientific research.
Highlights
This essay proposes a contextualist framework for conceptualizing the construct of ‘sex’ in labbased biomedical research
Biological concepts of sex matter because they serve as a framework for preclinical research design involving sex-related biological variables, including the questions asked, the materials selected for study, and how data are aggregated and interpreted
Advocates and National Institutes for Health (NIH) officers appeal to gender equity, arguing that addressing men’s and women’s health disparities requires mandating the study of sex differences
Summary
This essay proposes a contextualist framework for conceptualizing the construct of ‘sex’ in labbased biomedical research. Biological concepts of sex matter because they serve as a framework for preclinical research design involving sex-related biological variables, including the questions asked, the materials selected for study, and how data are aggregated and interpreted. They matter because the biological construct of ‘sex’ is a site of power and politics. I describe current debates among scientists, funding agencies, and research journals over how to attend to sex as a biological variable in biomedical research With reference to this debate, I contrast two approaches to conceptualizing sex as a biological variable: binary sex essentialism and sex contextualism. I outline some of the constructive work that embracing sex contextualism both within and beyond the laboratory might advance
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