Plasticity and Programming: Feminism and the Epigenetic Imaginary

The new science of epigenetics has raised hopes for an embrace of greater plasticity and variation within the biology of sex, gender, and sexuality than previously appreciated. This essay describes and analyzes the integration of epigenetics research into the scientific study of core biological pathways related to sex, gender, and sexuality in the brain in the post–Human Genome Project era. Through a close reading of the primary scientific literature, it demonstrates that epigenetic approaches in this subfield remain continuous with historically entrenched models of hardwired sexual dimorphism in the brain. Considering the opportunities and dilemmas of feminist engagements with the fast-moving and still-nascent field of epigenetics, it argues that for epigenetics to become a resource for studies of the development and plasticity of gendered-sexed bodies and identities, feminists must contest the ontological and epistemological commitments of mainstream research in this field. Feminist attraction to the possibility that epigenetic research will enable material investigation of gender embodiment and sexual variation follows from a long tradition of feminist theoretical interest in plasticity-affirming biologies. Careful consideration of the case of epigenetics suggests a need for revised and more nuanced feminist appraisals of both plasticity-affirming and programming-centric models of biology, body, and sociality.