Beatie did not accept biological determinism as the means by which to do gender. On the other hand, Beatie transcends gender altogether. By rejecting and then changing his genitalia and physique, Thomas Beatie passed through his life as a male and was legally and socially identified as such. He married a woman and most of the people he interacted with treated Beatie like they would any other man. When Beatie chose to become pregnant, he further stretched the boundaries between male and female. Beatie both subverts and ascribes to traditional gender roles and norms. Pregnancy is a female domain; had Beatie been born with male reproductive...
He and his wife would have been forced to adopt a child or choose a surrogate mother. Yet the fact that Beatie states, "I see myself as my own surrogate" shows that a male gender identity can coexist with the ability to bear children.
References
Beatie, T. (2008). Labor of love. The Advocate. Mar 26, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2009 from http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid52947.asp?page=2
Lorber, J. "Night to his day": The social construction of gender.
West, C. & Zimmerman, DH Doing gender.
