Suzanne Kessler

[5] The importance of the work of Kessler and McKenna in feminist/gender theory was acknowledged by Mary Hawkesworth in a 1997 article published in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, "Confounding Gender".

They also represent some of the major methodological approaches (phenomenology, postmodern deconstruction, dialectical materialism, ethnomethodology) currently vying for the allegiance of feminist scholars."

Three years later, most of a 2000 issue of Feminism & Psychology was devoted to a reappraisal of their book with commentary by seven theorists (Mary Crawford, Carla Golden, Leonore Tiefer, Holly (later Aaron) Devor, Milton Diamond, Eva Lundgren, and Dallas Denny).

The introductory essay states that when Kessler and McKenna wrote their book, "the social construction of gender", let alone sex, was still a relatively novel idea.

The continuing importance of Kessler and McKenna's work is twofold: First, it provides compelling, lived examples of the social construction of gender in interaction .

The Phall-O-Meter by the Intersex Society of North America satirizes clinical assessments of appropriate clitoris and penis length at birth. It is based on work by Kessler.