Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Gender: Gender is a social construct that refers to the roles, behaviors, expressions, and identities that a society associates with being male, female, or someone outside of the gender binary. See also Gender roles._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Véronique Mottier on Gender - Dictionary of Arguments
Gaus I 277 Gender/sex/feminism/Mottier: The analytical distinction between sex and gender has been the subject of much discussion within feminist theory. The concept of gender (understood as the social meanings around 'natural' sex differ- ences) has been the focus of an old and now rather tired debate between essentialist and anti-essentialist views, somewhat resuscitated by the recent repopularization of evolutionist and genetic explanations. >Anti-Essentialism. Essentialism: Essentialist approaches to gender consider that women are fundamentally different from men, in particular for biological reasons - although the label of essentialism has become so unpopular today that few feminists seem comfortable with describing their own position in these terms. Anti-essentialism: Anti-essentialists, often inspired by postmodern ideas, consider gender to be a social and political construction. They insist on the cultural and historical variations and multidimensionality of gender identities, and their imbrication with institutionalized relations of power. Both essentialist and anti-essentialist feminists recognize the importance of sex differences, but the political consequences that the respective theorists draw from these diverge. Essentialism: For essentialists, the fundamental differences between men and women need to be addressed by political action, aiming to reduce inequalities between the genders. Anti-essentialism: For anti-essentialists, on the contrary, the social construction of gender identities itself is identified as 'the problem' and object of study. Consequently, not just sexual inequality, but also sexual differen- tiation are considered social constructions (Okin, 1991(1): 67). 1. Okin, Susan Moller (1991) 'Gender, the public, the private'. In David Held, ed., Political Theory Today. Cambridge: Polity, 67—90. Véronique Mottier 2004. „Feminism and Gender Theory: The Return of the State“. In: Gaus, Gerald F. & Kukathas, Chandran 2004. Handbook of Political Theory. SAGE Publications_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Mottier, Véronique Gaus I Gerald F. Gaus Chandran Kukathas Handbook of Political Theory London 2004 |
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