Chapter 8: Conclusion: Rethinking the Materialisation of Age through the Lens of Its Political Implications

Sex versus gender is a paradigmatic example of the debates and analytical work around thinking about the relationship between the biological and the social, and beyond the nature–culture divide. The dualist ontological framework they are caught up in and the inescapability of their entanglement are at the core of these discussions. This binary provides an excellent example for observing how both the place and status granted to the biological from a gender studies perspective have shifted over the years. It also gives insights into how to approach and engage with the biological: from an inert, passive, blank domain to an active, living, complex material component of our lives, always in the process of becoming, and whose norms need to be taken seriously; from a domain serving and reproducing sexist logics by anchoring them in the ahistorical order of nature, to a possible ally of feminist enterprise. It thereby contributes to a better understanding of the limits and difficulties of this process. It is from this background, richly informed by the valuable work of feminist STS scholars in this area, that I started my investigations into the biology of age and its materialisation.