Philosophy of Gender

Algorithmic biases, or algorithmic unfairness, have been a topic of public and scientific scrutiny for the past years, as increasing evidence suggests the pervasive assimilation of human cognitive biases and stereotypes in such systems. This research is specifically concerned with analyzing the presence of discursive biases in the text generated by GPT-3, an NLPM which has been praised in recent years for resembling human language so closely that it is becoming difficult to differentiate between the human and the algorithm. The (...) pertinence of this research object is substantiated by the identification of race, gender and religious biases in the model’s completions in recent research, suggesting that the model is indeed heavily influenced by human cognitive biases. To this end, this research inquires: How does the Natural Language Processing Model GPT-3 replicate existing social biases?. This question is addressed through the scrutiny of GPT-3’s completions using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), a method which has been deemed as amply valuable for this research as it is aimed at uncovering power asymmetries in language. As such, the analysis is specifically centered around the analysis of gender and race biases in the model’s generated text. Research findings suggest that GPT-3’s language generation model significantly exacerbates existing social biases while replicating dangerous ideologies akin to white supremacy and hegemonic masculinity as factual knowledge. (shrink)

The philosophies required to understand the relationship between gender and climate change are rooted in feminism. Understanding climate change also requires knowledge of context: how the natural and physical world is known and how knowledge is produced, as well as cultural, social, economic, and legal structures. Critical understandings of these also owe a debt to feminist philosophies, including feminist philosophies of science, the economy, philosophies of care, and feminist-inspired legal philosophies.Feminist philosophies emerged in force in the twentieth century, although these (...) are informed by influential forerunners. Arguably one of their greatest strengths is to question the privilege and objectivity of “modern” or “enlightenment” science or knowledge, which now dominates ways of thinking on this planet. Exposing the agendas and beliefs of those in power as equally as subjective as the rest of us, and grounded or situated in all of our backgrounds and interests, is core to feminist philosophy.Many of these philosophies, to some degree or another, have both informed and drawn upon ecofeminist philosophies which explore the relationship between how dominant society treats nondominant humans and how it treats other-than-human nature. To understand this, it is also important to understand how the social structures within which we are all embedded interact with our natural and physical environment, of which feminist environmental philosophy has been a powerful interpreter. Further, it is necessary to clarify that how we interpret “gender” is a cultural or social act, and feminist philosophy and theory has laid the groundwork for this. (shrink)

By attending to how people speak about their gender, we can find diverse answers to the question of what it is like to have a gender identity. To some, it is little more than having a body whereas others may report it as more attitudinal or dispositional—seemingly contradictory views. In this paper, I seek to reconcile these disparate answers by developing a theory of how individual gender identity comes about. In the simplest possible terms, I propose that gender identity is (...) how we make sense of our gender subjectivity, the totality of our gendered experiences of ourselves. Gender identity is constituted by gender subjectivity, but this constitutive relationship is underdetermined. While gender subjectivity may narrow the range of inhabitable gender identities, it is always compatible with more than one. To arrive at a gender identity, we arrange gender subjectivity like building materials. My theory helps us understand how different people offer seemingly incompatible accounts of their gender identity without questioning their authenticity or validity. They simply arrange similar building materials differently. (shrink)

Opinion is divided about the certainty of the evidence base for gender-affirming medical interventions in youth. Proponents claim that these treatments are well supported, while critics claim the poor-quality evidence base warrants extreme caution. Psychotherapy is one of the only available alternatives to the gender-affirming approach. Discussion of the treatment of gender dysphoria in young people is generally framed in terms of two binary approaches: affirmation or conversion. Psychotherapy/exploratory therapy offers a treatment option that lies outside this binary, although it (...) is mistakenly conflated with conversion therapies. Psychotherapy does not impose restrictive gender stereotypes, as is sometimes claimed, but critically examines them. It empowers young people to develop creative solutions to their difficulties and promotes agency and autonomy. Importantly, an exploratory psychotherapeutic process can help to clarify whether gender dysphoria is a carrier for other psychological or social problems that may not be immediately apparent. Psychotherapy can therefore make a significant contribution to the optimal, ethical care of gender-dysphoric young people by ensuring that patients make appropriate, informed decisions about medical interventions which carry risks of harm and have a contested evidence base. (shrink)

Many Global North contexts are experiencing conflict in feminist discourses between supporters of trans and gender diverse self-identification and self-proclaimed ‘gender critical’ feminists who consider this to undermine feminist goals. We argue that the channelling of contemporary feminist discourse into defensive and oppositional channels has foreclosed the space for more nuanced and future-oriented, utopian thought around freedom from sex/gender, limiting the prospect of developing a coalition of actors focused not on difference, but rather on commonality. Putting classic feminist works by (...) Simone de Beauvoir, Shulamith Firestone and Luce Irigaray into dialogue, we consider an alternative approach to freedom premised on an ontology of potentiality combined with acceptance of the materiality of the binary gender hierarchy, that nonetheless remains utopian and open-ended, demonstrating the capacity to transcend these impasses and potentially overcome these divides. (shrink)

This paper concerns a project to right a wrong, an epistemic as well as social wrong. The wrong? Science was to serve all humankind; that is what Francis Bacon and the other founders of modern science had promised and what a long line of their successors had signed on to. But by the twentieth century it had become clear that this science was regularly serving some of humankind far more than others and was even, quite frequently, actually harming those others (...) rather than helping them. The problem lay with the knowledge that science offered about those others: the damaging ‘information’ that was really ignorance in disguise. But the problem also lay with the systematic ignorance science allowed, even encouraged, about those others: the helpful, uplifting knowledge about them that the science could have offered but did not. And the project to right the wrong? A transformation of the science-provided pattern of knowledge and ignorance engineered to achieve a more egalitarian result (what I call an epistemological-agnotological reengineering project). Of course, there are many groups of others relevant here. I will focus my attention in the present paper on only two of them: women, and men of colour (especially Black men).. (shrink)

This article argues that college-educated women play a crucial part in successful resistance against genocide because they are more likely to forge secure interregional networks and, consequently, better able to shelter victims of mass-persecution than their male peers. We develop our argument through a study of Jewish rescue networks in the Netherlands during the Holocaust. College-educated women were especially valuable during rescue efforts due to their ability to operate as defiant conformists. These women – a small minority who were anything (...) but traditional – could more fully exploit their biographical availability and university networks by concealing interregional resistance work through the strategic performance of traditional feminine roles. Statistical analyses of geocoded rescue networks reveal that rescue networks involving college-educated women were more successful because they funneled Jews across the country without getting exposed. More in-depth exploration of distinct networks identifies three dramaturgical strategies that college-educated women deployed to facilitate clandestine and geographically expansive rescue work: 1) strategic coquetry; 2) strategic self-devaluation; 3) strategic motherhood and wedlock. Taken together, our findings suggest we should focus on how gender and other forms of social status interact to produce the relational and dramaturgical underpinnings of civilian agency in times of emergency. (shrink)

Globally, healthcare has become dominated by women nurses. Gender is also known to impact the way people are cared for in various healthcare systems. Considering gender from the perspective of how lived bodies are positioned through the structural relations of institutions and processes, this systematic review aims to explore the meaning of gender in the caring relationship between the nurse and the older person through a synthesis of available empirical data published from 1993 to 2022. CINAHL, PUBMED, EMBASE and Web (...) of Science were searched from the beginning of each database's temporal range, and PRISMA guidelines were used for the screening, reviewing and selection processes of available records. A thematic synthesis of the available data resulted in three analytical themes: (i) vulnerability of the gendered body, (ii) norms and values related to gender and sexuality and (iii) balancing closeness and distance in the nurse‐patient relationship. These themes are intertwined and represent different aspects of gender meaning in the nurse–patient relationship. This research shows that gender, through its influence on the gendered body, its relationship with power dynamics in the caring process, and its intersection with dimensions of identity, has a significant meaning for the experienced vulnerability in the nurse–patient relationship. This has implications for the well‐being and sense of dignity of the older person as well as the nurse. (shrink)

This research investigates the level of the gender pay gap and gender parity in the Visegrad Group countries in light of the changes that took place in the whole EU during the last decade. The following hypotheses accompany the research objective: (1) the level of the gender pay gap diminished significantly over the last decade in the V4 economies; (2) the V4 countries are following a path to achieve gender parity. Data were taken from Eurostat. The pay gap and the (...) managerial occupations indicators were used to verify the research hypotheses. The empirical investigation did not let us reject the first hypothesis for Poland only. However, it should be rejected for the other V4 economies. In addition, the second hypothesis should be rejected. (shrink)

We examine whether gender-diverse boards prioritize product market concerns over capital market incentives when proprietary costs are high. We argue that gender-diverse boards protect their firm’s competitive edge and maximize long-term shareholder wealth by ethically and carefully maintaining the confidentiality of proprietary information. Due to the reduced disclosure of proprietary information, firms with gender-diverse boards are likely to face more adverse selection when proprietary costs are high. However, the reduced disclosure of proprietary information enables firms with gender-diverse boards to enhance (...) and maintain their competitive edge and gain higher long-term returns. Using a matched sample of the United States-listed companies, we find that firms with gender-diverse boards, relative to similar firms with all-male boards, (1) are associated with higher adverse selection costs and (2) higher long-run stock returns when the firm faces high product market competition. Collectively, our results suggest that firms with gender-diverse boards, which initially experience higher adverse selection in a competitive environment, are rewarded with a net gain of about 10 percent of their stock price in three years. Our research contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of board gender diversity in fostering the ethical redaction of proprietary information for proprietary cost-based motives as opposed to agency cost-based motives. Our findings have important implications for regulators, firms, and shareholders by identifying gender-diverse boards as an antecedent for the ethical redaction of proprietary information. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to contribute to the unpacking of hybrid regimes such as Morocco, showing some of the micro-mechanisms and power dynamics that shape and organise them. To illustrate these processes, the article looks beyond approaches that dismiss the electoral process in authoritarian and hybrid regimes as a mere façade. Instead, attention is paid to the politics of the elections themselves. Through ethnographic material collected in suburban neighbourhoods of Casablanca before, during and after the electoral campaign of (...) three female political candidates in Morocco's municipal and communal elections of 2009, two interconnected power relations are analysed: gender relations and representations, and the relationship between local associations and the partisan political sphere. This study shows that a number of recent reforms have contributed to the pluralisation of the political sphere in Morocco, opening up new channels through which outsiders such as women and, more generally, individuals with little political experience and capital have been able to enter the political sphere. The article also sheds light, however, on the direct and indirect ways in which this process of inclusion goes hand in hand with the reproduction of norms, representations and control mechanisms that reinforce former power hierarchies. (shrink)

We are living in times where there is considerable debate over what sex and gender are and who gets to be of what sex and what gender. These are questions that impact people’s lives greatly, some more than others. They are metaphysical questions, but they also concern what principles we should be guided by when allocating resources, services, and protections to people with potentially different needs. There are also methodological questions in the vicinity. In this essay, I draw on my (...) work in Categories We Live By (2018) to suggest a certain approach to navigating some of these thorny issues. I call this approach “ontic descent”. (shrink)

Gender discrimination and sexual harassment of female police officers by their male counterparts remain areas of liability where police departments appeared to have failed to effectively confront the nagging issues. However, the appreciable level of research conducted on these issues in the global North has not been matched by the South, where issues bordering on sexual violence have cultural underpinnings. Drawing from the case of the Nigeria Police Force, feminist analysis was used to explore the lived reality of 43 female (...) officers in a qualitative study. Participants expressed distress in abiding by structural discriminatory regulations against female officers which include non-admittance of married women into the force, forbidding unmarried officers from getting pregnant, and a stipulated minimum of three-year work period before a female officer can marry. Findings also indicated that participants suffer a variety of sexual harassment, intimidation, and, violence from their male colleagues, while they feel constrained in reporting their victimization. Important policy and practical implications requiring the Nigerian police to address hegemonic masculinity and promote gender equality were provided. (shrink)

Across Europe, countries are reducing CO2 emissions and energy demand by lowering the temperature in public office buildings. These measures affect men and women unequally because the latter prefer and, indeed, perform better under higher temperatures than the standard temperature. Lowering the temperature thus further increases an already existing inequality. We show that the philosophical literature on discrimination provides an interesting theoretical approach to understanding such measures. On prominent understandings of what discrimination is, the policy would be considered direct discrimination (...) against women if it could be shown to reflect a broader inattentiveness to the needs of women in society. Alternatively, and more straightforwardly, the policies can be considered indirect discrimination because of their disparate effects on men and women. The final part of the paper shows that the policies are also wrong for the reasons it is often argued that discrimination is wrong—to wit, that it harms or disrespects those who are discriminated against. The final section suggests a range of measures to offset the discriminatory aspects of the policy. (shrink)

Across Europe, countries are reducing CO2 emissions and energy demand by lowering the temperature in public office buildings. These measures affect men and women unequally because the latter prefer and, indeed, perform better under higher temperatures than the standard temperature. Lowering the temperature thus further increases an already existing inequality. We show that the philosophical literature on discrimination provides an interesting theoretical approach to understanding such measures. On prominent understandings of what discrimination is, the policy would be considered direct discrimination (...) against women if it could be shown to reflect a broader inattentiveness to the needs of women in society. Alternatively, and more straightforwardly, the policies can be considered indirect discrimination because of their disparate effects on men and women. The final part of the paper shows that the policies are also wrong for the reasons it is often argued that discrimination is wrong – to wit, that it harms or disrespects those who are discriminated against. The final section suggests a range of measures to offset the discriminatory aspects of the policy. (shrink)

This study examines the stability of trust and explores whether it differs across men and women using a panel dataset. Data were first collected in 2008 and later in 2019, from 1056 male and 1113 female respondents in the Netherlands. The analysis results suggest that trust is significantly correlated over time, irrespective of gender. Similarly, the subgroup analysis restricted to respondents with low levels of trust in 2008 showed a significant correlation between trust measured in 2008 and that measured in (...) 2019. Further, this study analyzes whether the correlation decays with time by comparing the correlation between trust in 2008 and 2019 with the correlation between trust in 2008 and 2013. The analysis reveals a significant decay in the correlation with time, and this decay is driven by men. A closer look shows that older men (with age ≥ median value) primarily caused this decay in correlation. These findings provide evidence of the interaction between gender and the stability of trust. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic was a global tragedy, but it also presented a strange pedagogical moment. Women have long been the very name of what has been neglected and despised by public policies, and the consequences of this are also the lack of attention (the lack of care) paid by governments over the last decade to all the sectors in charge of the care and protection of citizens (health, education, poverty, old age, disability). The recent crisis related to the COVID-19 highlighted (...) the vulnerability of human societies and their dependence on care and has shown that our usual conceptual tools are insufficient in the face of the loss of the form of life woven by daily care. (shrink)

Judith Butler claims to have based her theory of gender performance on Simone de Beauvoir’s path-breaking idea that one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. However, Butler’s interpretation of Beauvoir’s work departs considerably from Beauvoir’s own expressed view which is that women are shaped by an interplay of femininity (construed by cultural and structural norms) and sexed bodies and that the concept of woman is a mutable one that can accommodate increasing degrees of freedom. In this paper I (...) explore Beauvoir’s theories further, showing how they depart from Butler’s interpretations of them and in the process exploring the contribution that Beauvoir and Butler respectively make towards understanding ongoing gender inequality. Finally, I compare and contrast the role of temporality and the life course in ‘becoming a woman’ and in performing gender respectively, focusing on the figure of the post-menopausal woman in particular. (shrink)

Gendered language is becoming a matter of serious concern for legal drafters and policymakers because 'it is always changing as societal views change' (The University of Calgary: Office of diversity, equity and protected disclosure 2017:1). Many western countries have made considerable progress towards using inclusive legal language. However, inclusive language is not implemented in other parts of the World; the Arab World is no exception. This may be due to the violation of language rules, the decline of language, and the (...) lack of enough evidence that changing the language will change society (Brown in ABA J, 2019) and (Brown in ABA J: 24–26, 2018). In this paper, I explore the challenging socio-cultural and linguistic factors that may hinder the implementation of gender-inclusive language in Arabic and explain the current situation in two current constitutions of Egypt and Tunisia in particular. The main aim of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis of terminology representing gender in the Egyptian (2014, amended 2019) and Tunisian (2014) Arabic-English Constitutions using corpus-based tools. The analysis shows inconsistent attempts at a more inclusive source text through using neutral terms and adding inclusive pre-modifiers to these terms. It also shows inconsistent translation of gender-specific terminology and pronominal references. Both constitutions explicitly stress the ‘eradication of violence against women’ and express parity between ‘women’ and ‘men’ in terms of ‘equal rights’ and ‘appropriate political representation’ (e.g. in the Egyptian House of Representatives (28%) and the Tunisian Assembly of People’s Representatives (26%)) (International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance, IDEA 2021). Although these percentages are not far away from the representation of women in European countries such as the United Kingdom (35%) (International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance, IDEA 2021), it is the reality of women’s actual roles, change they initiate and their impact in the society that counts. (shrink)

What makes a culture and what are the cultural traits identified by people are important questions to be developed more within diaspora studies. This article proposes a critical inquiry into the ways of defining socio-cultural traits through the discussions with Indian diaspora living in the context of Western culture. It suggests hypothesis that there is a possibility of hybrid cultures between the Eastern and Western. The ontological status of being ‘Indian’ would be different while living in India and abroad, and (...) the cultural ontology in those subject positions would also vary to produce hybrid cultures. Theories of migration, culture and gender constitute a background and framework in this study. Reflections on cultural identity and cultural traits are obtained in this study through direct interviews with diaspora Indians living in Germany. In this process of analyses, the methodology of gender is adopted along with other methods of qualitative research to see how the socio-cultural perspectives change after migration to Western cultures, and how those are different among men and women. The preliminary argument derived in this article is that cultural traits can be traced in aspects of people’s daily life, but not only through dominant art forms, literature or historical monuments. It is done with a critical perspective on the existing dominant methods of defining culture. This study has a critic on existing methodologies that are Eurocentric, male-centric and neglecting the individual and mundane experiences of people who live in varied cultural contexts with complex cultural identities. Key words: Culture, Gender, Migration, Germany, Indian Diaspora, Hybridity. (shrink)

This meta-analysis of 31 studies over 20 years advances our understanding of the gender gap in entrepreneurial bank finance. Findings from previous research on the relationship between entrepreneurs’ gender and bank financing are mixed, which suggests the need to pay particular attention to entrepreneurs’ social context. In this study, we develop a model of how social gender norms explain variation in women entrepreneurs’ (vis-à-vis men entrepreneurs’) access to bank finance. Specifically, we theorize how women’s formal (their nations’ political ideologies) and (...) informal (women’s empowerment) social standing within their societies influence gender discrimination in entrepreneurial bank financing. Consistent with most previous studies, our baseline results show that women entrepreneurs’ business loan applications are rejected to a greater extent than men entrepreneurs’ loan applications. Women entrepreneurs also pay higher interest rates on loans than men entrepreneurs. Further, in societies dominated by a conservative (rather than a liberal) political ideology, the positive relationship between women entrepreneurs and loan interest rates is more positive. Interestingly, gender discrimination in loan rejection and interest rates is magnified in societies with greater women’s empowerment. Taking a social gender-norm perspective, our analysis establishes a gender gap in entrepreneurial bank finance, and we outline an agenda for further research. (shrink)

Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) make possible a range of alternative family structures (i.e., families with single, unmarried or LGBTQ+ parents). However, some practices still decline provision of ART to single and diverse sexuality and gender (DSG) individuals. Fertility clinics across the United States vary in terms of the options they provide to these patients (Wu et al., Fertil Steril 108(1):183–191, 2017). Those clinics who appropriately favor equal access to fertility services, regardless of marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, emphasize (...) that single and DSG individuals often desire biologically related children and have the autonomy to seek out fertility care to support those interests. They emphasize justice (i.e., that different treatment is only justified when there is a morally relevant difference between cases) and the “right to reproduce” (De Wert et al., Hum Reprod Oxf Engl 29(9):1859–1865, 2014). Clinics who do not support equal access to fertility treatment question the welfare of children born into alternative family structures, despite clear evidence to undermine this concern, and inappropriately prioritize professional autonomy (APA, Published online 2004; van Rijn-van Gelderen, J Adolesc 40:65–73, 2015; Farr, Dev Psychol 53(2):252–264, 2017; Goldberg et al., J Fam Psychol 27(3):431–442, 2013). Marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity do not impact parenting ability and thus physicians have an ethical duty to treat unmarried and DSG individuals in the same manner as heterosexual married couples when determining which services to provide (ASRM Ethics Committee, Fertil Steril 116(2):326–330, 2021). (shrink)

The literature on the metaphysics of gender is partially marked by a tension between conceptions that understand gender categories as importantly at least partly self-determined identities and those that understand them as social or cultural categories imposed upon others as a tool of oppression. I argue that this tension can be mediated by understanding gender categories as essentially contested. I then draw on “radical functionalism” to argue that, while, divorced of context, competing conceptions can simultaneously explicate an essentially contested concept, (...) within context, some conceptions better meet background purposes underlying the use of the concept than others. (shrink)

abstract: Mary Wollstonecraft is an early and important critic of Adam Smith, engaging with his Theory of Moral Sentiments in her Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Given Wollstonecraft's arguments against moralists who "give a sex to virtue," what did she make of Smith's use of gender-coded language and the oft-cited passage where he claims that "humanity is the virtue of a woman, generosity of a man" ( TMS IV.2.10)? This paper revisits the scholarly debate over gender essentialism in Smith, (...) arguing that Smith's view of virtue is not gender essentialist, and that Wollstonecraft saw this and did not target Smith with her critique. Instead, Wollstonecraft affirms Smith's claims, leveraging them in order to advocate for educational and social reform. Reading these texts together corrects the tenacious reading of Smith as a gender essentialist, while also illuminating the differences between Smith's and Wollstonecraft's conceptions of self-control. (shrink)

On what we can call the “folk” conception of sexual orientation, sexual orientation is understood as sex-based attraction, that is, as (partly) attraction on the basis of the perceived sex of the person to whom one is attracted. However, in recent discussions, philosophers have either added gender to sex as the basis of sexual orientation, or have altogether replaced sex with gender. Moreover, this addition or replacement has gone—mostly—unargued for. This paper argues that a sex-based conception of sexual orientation remains (...) plausible because (1) it is compatible with gender-based attraction, which I argue can be understood as a preference; (2) the reasons so far on offer for adding gender to sex (or for replacing sex with gender) are not convincing; (3) we have good evolutionary and non-evolutionary reasons for thinking that sex is the basis of sexual orientation; (4) we have good reasons to not add gender as a basis of sexual orientation; and (5) a sex-based conception of sexual orientation accommodates the various sexual orientations that have recently appeared, orientations in addition to the folk two (or three) of heterosexuality, homosexuality (and bisexuality), such as pansexuality, skoliosexuality, gynsexuality, and androsexuality. What emerges is a conception of sexual orientation based (partly) on the sex of the people to whom we are attracted, but that understands sexual-based attraction in broad enough terms to include surgically altered bodies. (shrink)

Combining aesthetic theory with gender analysis opens a large and diverse territory to explore. Both familiar issues in the philosophy of art and new, expanded questions about the influence of culture on imagination and identity have become subjects of feminist research. Film, literature, graphic arts, advertising, and the legacies of history all contribute to the forces that shape self-image, desire, behavior, and social role – as well as the ability to imagine possibilities for change. This issue brings together an international (...) group of scholars from several disciplines who explore gender and femininity, sexuality and its several iterations, and the politics of everyday life and culture. (shrink)

Ari Aster’s 2019 folk horror film Midsommar, which enjoyed both critical and popular success, features a bright colour palette and an eerily playful tone alongside a dark narrative exploring complexities of grief, depression, and bad relationships. The remote Swedish community to which protagonist Dani, her boyfriend, and his friends travel for a mid-summer festival is designed around beautiful objects, collective experiences, and rituals that foreground communal emotions, all of which contrast the technologically mediated communications foregrounded at the film’s outset. In (...) fact, this community offers meticulously constructed antidotes to the loneliness of the modern world, and to Western ideals of masculine emotional distance…but at a cost. This paper examines the intersection of emotion, community, and gender in Midsommar, using the concept of affective design – usually associated with technology design – as well as work on group-based emotions, to interrogate the film’s vision of a community that challenges gender norms and the boundaries of emotional experience. Through the depiction of ingroup boundary-policing, stark contrasts between visions of masculinity, and lush visions of aesthetic experience and emotional release, Midsommar offers a series of convincing compensatory mechanisms that invite viewers, along with the main character, to temporarily compromise morality for the sake of belonging. (shrink)

Am I pretty? A simple question that epitomises both beauty and vulgarity in its monstrous representation of feminine embodiment. In this work, I look at the 2007 Japanese Horror film Carved: The Slit Mouth Woman directed by Koji Shiraishi and its relation to the way in which it the monster Kuchisake-Onna presents the idealised role of motherhood in Japan today. Through this critical examination of the film, we see how communities establish social order and gender scripts of the feminine within (...) the media, perpetuating hegemonic normalised roles through the monstrous feminine. This work looks at the Japanese urban legend of Kuchisake-Onna and compares it with the movie monster Carved as it projects forms of femininity and motherhood. By cross-referencing the telling of the legend with popular cinema we can see how media influence takes on a broader context towards the gendering of woman. In both the legend and the film, we see how women seek the approval of self and sovereignty, which is demonised, by revealing herself through sexual autonomy. (shrink)

This feminist research explores how superstition is used by in-law's family to subordinate women business-owners in a highly patriarchal developing context. Whereas the exploration of gender subordination regarding women's entrepreneurship is almost exclusively confined to developed nations, little is known regarding the way women are subjugated in managing their small businesses in a patriarchal developing nation. This research generates data by conducting a case study on a woman's business in Bangladesh. This study yields unique insights by unfolding a specific form (...) of superstition that attempts to restrain a woman from continuing her small business. The paper reveals that the male relative caused a severe adverse impact on the personal life and business of the woman by employing superstition. With particular reference to superstition, this feminist study substantially extends the theoretical understanding of gender subordination within the context of small businesses of women in a highly patriarchal developing nation. The research strongly suggests policymakers to consider familial issues of women business-owners in designing programmes to empower them effectively. (shrink)

In general, proponents of Afro-personhood theories claim that the theories capture a just and egalitarian society owing to its gender-neutral nature wherein men and women are treated equally. Moreover, the value of prizing persons in virtue of their ability to commune fosters individual difference and respect which can protect persons against heteronormativity and/or gendered expectations. As such, Afro-personhood theories offer an account of personhood that fosters welfare for all persons. However, it appears that Afro-personhood theories are gendered in pernicious ways (...) that deny Blackwomxn moral value. That is, upon closer examination, it seems that Afro-personhood theories do not cover all persons in the theories owing to two textually subliminal gaps as heteropatriarchy and the subsumption of particularized lived experiences into broader categories such as race. These gaps continue to be an oppressive aspect of society. As such, I will critically illustrate that Afro-personhood theories do not help us to critique and/or begin to think about ways to alleviate these gaps. Rather, they conceal and bolster oppressive aspects of our society that violently affect marginalized groups, especially Blackwomxn. After all, if they are to act as normative guidelines capable of regulating people’s behavior, they ought to transcend the oppressive aspects of African societies so as to be an effective tool for social critique. Moreover, this White Supremacy in Eurocentric Epistemology is a clarion call for African Philosophy to systematically address and engage the heteropatriarchal aspects of African society, which is its world, for which it is yet to directly do so. (shrink)

Gender dysphoria (GD) is marked by an incongruence between a person’s biological sex at birth, and their felt gender (or gender identity). There is continuing debate regarding the benefits and drawbacks of physiological treatment of GD in children, a pathway, beginning with endocrine treatment to suppress puberty. Currently, the main alternative to physiological treatment consists of the so-called “wait-and-see” approach, which often includes counseling or other psychotherapeutic treatment. In this paper, we argue in favor of a “third pathway” for the (...) diagnosis and treatment of GD in youths. To make our case, we draw on a recent development in bioethics: the phenomenological approach. Scholars such as Slatman and Svenaeus have argued that the extent to which the body can (or should be) manipulated or reconstructed through medical intervention is not only determined by consideration of ethical frameworks and social and legal norms. Rather, we must also take account of patients’ personal experience of their body, the personal and social values associated with it, and their understanding of its situation in their life: their narrative identities. We apply this phenomenological approach to medicine and nursing to the diagnosis and treatment of GD in youth. In particular, we discuss Zahavi and Martiny’s conception of the phenomenological interview, in order to show that narrative techniques can assist in the process of gender identification and in the treatment of youth presenting with GD. We focus on two case studies that highlight the relevance of a narrative-based interview in relations between patients, HCPs, and family, to expose the influence of social ideologies on how young people presenting with GD experience their bodies and gender. (shrink)

Within the canonical Sutta Piṭaka (“Basket of Suttas”) of the classical South Asian Śrāvakayāna Buddhist tradition, the Buddha is depicted as claiming that there is something called ‘woman-indriya’ (itth-indriya) and something called ‘man-indriya’ (puris-indriya). While these claims appear only a handful of times in the extensive version of the Sutta Piṭaka that we have today, the rarity of canonical statements about gender meant that Śrāvakayāna Buddhist philosophers often invoked these two gender-related indriyas when advancing their metaphysical theories about gender. In (...) current scholarship about these gender-related indriyas, it is generally accepted that they mean the same thing across the Sutta Piṭaka and the later Abhidharma Buddhist commentarial texts—they are material faculties within the bodies of individuals, determining an individual’s biological sex characteristics and gendered behaviours. I disagree. In my dissertation, I focus on demonstrating three different metaphysical accounts of the gender-related indriyas that were found within the texts of the classical Śrāvakayāna tradition, resulting in a multiplicity of attitudes about gender. The first chapter argues, based on the classical linguistic analysis (nirvacana) of ‘woman-indriya’ and ‘man-indriya’ and descriptions within the Sutta Piṭaka, that these terms refer to whatever is most powerful (indriya) over the soteriologically negative outcome of becoming fettered to a ‘woman self’ (itth-attan) and ‘man self’ (puris-attan). Here, I argue that the invocation of ‘woman self’ and ‘man self’ means that discussions about gender-related indriyas in the Sutta Piṭaka should be understood as a further elaboration of the central claim within this collection of texts that any and all views of self are inaccurate and must be abandoned. My second chapter focuses on identifying what is indriya or most powerful over this soteriological outcome within the Sutta Piṭaka. Based on the Saṃyoga Sutta’s description of an individual mentally generating (manasi karoti) what is indriya or most powerful over the fettering to a gendered self, I argue that ‘indriya over woman’ and ‘indriya over man’ are not described as singular material faculties, but as series of irrational mental generations (ayoniso manasi-kāras) on the part of the individual. These involve inaccurately labelling a variety of objects of attention as belonging to 'woman' or 'man' and as 'internal to self' or 'external to self', causing the individual to not only view the world through these gendered categories, but to become fettered to a gendered self. My third chapter focuses on the later Abhidharma Buddhist tradition which formed around the teachings of the Sutta Piṭaka. Where current scholarship claims that there is a single Abhidharma Buddhist view of the gender indriyas, I demonstrate through records from the Mahā-vibhāṣā (‘The Great Compendium’) that everything about the metaphysical status of the gender-related indriyas was up for debate. Eventually, the Abhidharma Vaibhāṣika view that these indriyas were real collections of atoms that held power over biological sex and gendered behaviour emerged as the dominant view. But even during this period, Vaibhāṣika-instructed philosophers like Vasubandhu pushed back against this view. Though he allowed that these indriyas were material faculties, he rejected that material entities could be most powerful over the arising of gendered conceptual distinctions and behaviours. He proposed a dualist account where these material indriyas were only powerful over biological sex, attributing gendered behaviour to consciousness or mind (vijñāna) instead. (shrink)

This dissertation aims to contribute to two recently burgeoning literatures in philosophy: that surrounding conceptual engineering and that surrounding the metaphysics of gender. It begins with a criticism of the recent conceptual engineering literature, arguing that the idea of rationally warranted conceptual change raises irresolvable puzzles as long as the kind of rationality at work is assumed to be the familiar type of instrumental rationality. I then argue that another kind of rationally warranted conceptual change — one already investigated empirically (...) by developmental psychologists such as Susan Carey — can provide a model for conceptual changes involving non-instrumental modes of reasons-responsiveness. Chapter 2 argues that feminist approaches to the metaphysics of gender and the ethics of gender-ascription would be well served by exploring an anti-representationalist, pragmatist theory of linguistic meaning. The argument here is that such a pragmatist approach posits a constitutive relationship between the truth of a gender-ascription and the normative commitments it expresses. Theory that thinks of itself in this way can regard itself as a kind of immanent critique. Finally, chapter 3 sketches how we might think about the ethics of gender-ascription and — if chapter 2 is correct about the constitutive relationship between these — the metaphysics of gender. It’s argued that the fundamental values of freedom and equality, and the nature of social identity as a call for recognition, militate in favor of respecting transgender identities and disavowing hegemonic conceptions of gender. (shrink)

Building on agency and resource-based view theories, this study investigates the level of environmental disclosure (ED) practices of family versus non-family firms and explores the moderating role of board gender diversity. We test our hypotheses on a 3-year (2018–2020) panel data sample comprising 324 observations of Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises traded on the Euronext Growth Milan. Findings show that, compared to non-family firms, companies with a family firm status are characterized by lower levels of ED. Gender diversity on the (...) board, however, moderates this relationship, reducing this gap, to the extent that the family firm status is associated with higher ED when the number of women directors is high enough to constitute a critical mass. We consequently contribute to the studies on family business, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility. (shrink)

We examine the issue of entrepreneurial gender bias by focusing on the underlying mechanisms that impact the likelihood of receiving external venture-capital financing. We claim that gender bias negatively affects socially attributed dimensions (such as the stigma ascribed to entrepreneurs who have previously suffered a failure), while it has no effect on objective dimensions (such as the experience gained by entrepreneurs). Our results, based on 2088 US firms, show that female entrepreneurs are less likely to attract external funds if they (...) have previously encountered failure. This negative effect becomes less impactful when novel or serial successful entrepreneurs are considered. Consequently, novel or serial successful entrepreneurs are expected to suffer less from gender bias if compared to peers who experienced a failure during their entrepreneurial career. (shrink)

Building on the Norwegian case, this study examines the long-term implications of board gender quotas on the advancement of gender diversity in managerial leadership. Previous research has indicated that, aside from the board, the quota had limited impact on achieving this objective. However, these studies have narrowly focused on the spill-over effects of the quota, primarily concentrating on the positions of CEO and Chair. The findings of this study reveal contrasting effects of the board gender quota on the gender composition (...) of the board and the executive committee of the board. Consequently, Norwegian companies have increased the representation of women on their boards, as mandated by the law, while simultaneously experiencing a reduction in the presence of female executive directors. Moreover, the strength of both opposing effects has diminished over time. In addition to the board of directors, the quota has not influenced the promotion of gender diversity at other managerial levels. Furthermore, our study suggests that the quota has led to a decrease in the average tenure and level of independence of the boards, although it has not affected the qualifications of board members. (shrink)

Laplanche distinguishes the sexual le sexuel and the sexuated le sexué. He goes on to ask whether the current tendency to speak of gender identity merely a lexical change or something more profound. If it is a change, is it positive or the sign of a repression? If the latter, where is the repression to be found? There follows an outline of how the triad, gender/sex/sexual, functions in the human being’s early history. Four hypotheses serve as conclusion: (1) The precedence (...) of gender over sex, which overturns the habits of thought that place the “biological” before the “social.” (2) The precedence of assignment over symbolization. (3) Primary identification, which, far from being a primary identification “with” (the adult) is a primary identification “by” (the adult). (4) The contingent, perceptual, illusory nature of the anatomical difference of sex, the true destiny of modern civilization. (shrink)

This book charts the new phase of global struggles around gender equality and sexual democracy: the ultraconservative mobilization against "gender ideology" and feminist efforts to counteract it. It argues that anti-gender campaigns, which emerged around 2010 in Europe, are not a simple continuation of the anti-feminist backlash dating back to the 1970s, but part of a new political configuration. Opposition to "gender" has become a key element of the rise of right-wing populism, which successfully harnesses the anxiety, shame and anger (...) caused by neoliberalism and threatens to destroy liberal democracy. Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment offers a novel conceptualization of the relationship between the ultraconservative anti-gender movement and right-wing populist parties, examining the opportunistic synergy between these actors. The authors map the anti-gender campaigns as a global movement, putting the Polish case in a comparative perspective. They show that the anti-gender rhetoric is best understood as a reactionary critique of neoliberalism as a socio-cultural formation. The book also studies the recent wave of feminist mass mobilizations, viewing the transnational revolt of women as a left populist movement. This is an important study for those doing research in politics, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies and sociology. It will also be useful for activists and policy makers. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. (shrink)

In 1914, a madrasa teacher wrote a letter to the Ministry of Interior Affairs demanding the state prohibit all acts ‘incompatible with Islam’ including the oper.

The mosque is a center of worship and a learning medium for Muslims. As a place of worship, according to the _syariah_ there is no specific classification that mosques can only be dominated by one gender only. However, male dominance over the mosque as a religious public sphere occurred in the Baitussalam Kauman Mosque, Jekulo, Kudus, Central Java, Indonesia from 1923 until now. Therefore, this article seeks to analyze the factors of discrimination against females in using the mosque as a (...) place of worship and other religious activities. Using an ethnographic approach, this article argues that discrimination against females has occurred since 1923. This happened at the same time as the establishment of the Pesantren Al-Qaumaniyah Islamic (only for male _santri_) and was followed by other _pesantren_ around the mosque. The gender inequality discrimination argument relies on an unwritten rule that ideally females only pray in congregation at home. Furthermore, it is as if females are positioned as “trouble makers” because they are seen as disturbing the male congregation who are focusing on memorizing the al-Qur’an at the Baitussalam Mosque. This stereotype and discriminatory regulation is still perpetuated today under the pretext of respecting the old rules of the founders. (shrink)

Presents Judith Butler's interest in plurality of bodily lives and her search for a social transformation conducive to a more livable world Offers a novel understanding of Butler’ work as a call for an insurrection at the level of the real Provides a framework based on an intersection of four main pillar-concepts, performativity, agency, livable life and non-violence Reads Butler’s philosophy as centred on bodies Reads Butler’s work as a convincing counter-argument against liberal versions of ontology This book is the (...) only monograph-length study of the work of Judith Butler to focus on the entire scope of her work, including the last decade of her writing. In light of these texts, it presents a fresh interpretation of Butler’s political thought, oriented by the idea of an insurrection at the level of the real. -/- Chapters on ontology, performativity, agency and precariousness, a liveable life and non-violence explain how Butler’s thought has always been focused on embodied performances. Instead of seeing Butler as simply a thinker of the subversive performance of cultural scripts, the book frames her work for the twenty-first century as an ambitious and coherent egalitarian alternative to liberal political philosophy. -/- Each chapter introduces a Butlerian concept, clarifying this in the context of critical debates, while explaining its contribution to a new social ontology whose key normative principle is a liveable life. The book explores the potential of this conceptual framework not just in relation to the politics of gender, but also to questions of social inequality, structural violence and the experience of precarity. Designed for both researchers and students, it provides a comprehensive way of accessing what is radically original about this crucial political theorist. (shrink)