Philosophy of Gender

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)

Previously proposed strategies for tackling hermeneutical injustices take for granted the interests people have in certain things about them being intelligible to them and/or to others, and seek to enable them to satisfy these interests. Strategies of this sort I call interests-as-given strategies. I propose that some hermeneutical injustices can instead be tackled by doing away with certain of these interests, and so with the possibility of their unfair non-satisfaction. Strategies of this sort I call interests-in-question strategies. As a case (...) study in when such an interests-in-question strategy ought to be pursued, I look at how to tackle hermeneutical injustices arising in the context of gender-affirming healthcare as provided to adults by the National Health Service in the UK. I argue that considerations of trust, privacy, and respect all support pursuing such a strategy. One way to do so, I suggest, would be by replacing the existing gatekeeping model with an informed consent model for the provision of gender-affirming healthcare. Considerations of hermeneutical justice can hence be added to the already-impressive case for undertaking this shift. (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)

Few issues cause academics to disagree more than gender and race, especially when topics are addressed in terms of biological differences. To conduct research in these areas or comment favorably on research can subject one to scorn. When these topics are addressed, they generally take the form of philosophical debates. Anthony Walsh focuses upon such debates and supporting research. He divides parties into biologists and social constructionists, arguing that biologists remain focused on laboratory work, while constructionists are acutely aware of (...) the impact of biologists in contested territories. "Science Wars" introduces the ideas motivating the parties and examines social constructionism and its issues with science. He explores arguments over conceptual tools scientists love and constructionists abhor, and he provides a solid discussion of the co-evolution of genes and culture. Walsh then focuses his attention on gender, how constructionists view it, and the neuroscience explanation of gender differences. Moving to race, Walsh looks at how some have tried to bury the concept of race, while others emphasize it. He considers definitions of race--essentialist, taxonomic, population, and lineage--as they have evolved from the time of the Enlightenment to the present. And finally, he attempts to bring the opposing sides together by pointing out what each can bring to a meaningful discussion. (shrink)

In many facets of Western culture, including archaeology, there remains a legacy of perceiving gender divisions as natural, innate, and biological in origin. This belief follows that men are naturally pre-disposed to public, intellectual pursuits, while women are innately designed to care for the home and take care of children. In the interpretation of material culture, accepted notions of gender roles are often applied to new findings: the dichotomy between the domestic sphere of women and the public sphere of men (...) can color interpretations of new materials. In this innovative volume, the contributors focus explicitly on analyzing the materiality of historic changes in the domestic sphere around the world. Combining a global scope with great temporal depth, chapters in the volume explore how gender ideologies, identities, relationships, power dynamics, and practices were materially changed in the past, thus showing how they could be changed in the future. (shrink)

is an assistant professor of recreation and park management at The Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on environmental values and attitudes, public responses to natural resource management issues, and outdoor rec-reation behavior. CYNTHIA L. PIERCE is an assistant professor of resource recreation and tourism at the University of Idaho. Her research interests include wildlife and fisheries man-agement issues; natural resource communication, education, and interpretation; and planning and decision-making processes. ABSTRACT: In this study, the authors investigated wildlife value orientations, gen-der, (...) and concern about risks posed by a large, potentially dangerous predator—the mountain lion. A survey (58% response rate) was used to collect data from a random sample of adult residents (N = 2,469) in Colorado metropolitan areas. Both gender and parental role predicted concern about being attacked. Women expressed greater concern than men, and participants with children living at home expressed greater concern than participants without children at home. Participants with utilitarian val-ues were more likely than those with protectionist ones to accept destroying a lion in a residential area, and men were more likely than women to accept destroying it. Addi-tional research is needed to understand why women perceived more risk from a moun-tain lion but were less willing to accept destroying it, as well as to understand the relationships among gender, parental role, and environmental risk concern. (shrink)

In this paper, the author presents Fanon’s analysis of decolonization in order to present an explicit conception of resistance based upon Fanon’s concept of decolonization, which is aligned with the lived experience of the colonized: their racial, sociopolitical, and economic condition as well as their existential condition. The author contrasts Fanon’s analysis with Sartre’s critique of colonialism as it appears in The Critique. Ultimately, through the presentation of Sartre’s and Fanon’s theories, the author attempts to show a feminist analysis of (...) French colonial resistance as a criticism of Sartre’s and Fanon’s theories and of the analysis their male contemporaries within the field of Post/Colonial Theories. (shrink)

Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference of the Association for the Promotion of African Studies (APAS) held at the University of Nigeria Nsukka on 24th - 27th May -/- .

This research examines the nature of gender presentation of men who were the stars on Disney Channel shows. Research has already examined how young women who were Disney stars become quickly sexualised and perceived as women under the male gaze. However, there is little corresponding research on boys who are subject to the scrutiny of the public. I engage in a phenomenological content analysis of the social media of three adult male actors who starred on the show Wizards of Waverly (...) Place. The nature of masculine gender capital encourages these men to move towards a masculine ideal while recognising they are under the erotic gaze. These men push to be severed from their youth identities, forming a strategic boundary that nods to the homoeroticism surrounding their identity. (shrink)

According to Sider, a question is metaphysically substantive just in case it has a single most natural answer. Recently, Barnes and Mikkola have argued that, given this notion of substantivity, many of the central questions in the metaphysics of gender are nonsubstantive. Specifically, it is plausible that gender pluralism—the view that there are multiple, equally natural gender kinds—is true, but this view seems incompatible with the substantivity of gender. The goal of this paper is to argue that the notion of (...) substantivity can be understood in a way that accommodates gender pluralism. First, I claim that gender terms (at least as used in the ontology room) are referentially indeterminate, where referential indeterminacy holds in virtue of the way the world is. Second, I propose a degree-theoretic (or scalar) account of metaphysical substantivity; genders are substantial to the degree that they are determinate. I conclude that gender is relatively, although not absolutely, substantial. (shrink)

In recent years cultural definitions of »gender« have had extraordinary institutional success. This paper analyses visual worlds that have been motivated by constructivist gender concepts that often display a pronounced symmetry. It relates them to competing images which present difference as scandal, as a mirrored form of the self, or as figurations, and which politicize a-symmetrical forms. The study looks into the social condition of publicity that is constituted by such »picture acts«.

The term Anthropocene refers to the impact of human activities on the earth that interfere with climate, land and biosphere that sustain plant, animal and human life at unprecedented scales of intensity that set a course towards species extinction. The Industrial Revolution and the aftermath of this over two centuries is cited as a turning point in levels of pollution. The term Capitolocene refers to the interconnection between the ecological state and the capitalist condition, and alludes to a time in (...) which economic productivity is reliant on the extraction of coal, oil and minerals and the ensuing environmental degradation of terrain, rivers and atmospheres. Across time human, nature, territory, labour and politics inter-connect yet in different ways. In this section we are interested in how feminists have taken up and developed the concept Anthropocene. (shrink)

The concept of intersectionality has emerged as a powerful metaphor for understanding the simultaneous experience of multiple forms of oppression. Although intersectional perspectives have become commonplace in sociology, psychology, and health sciences, among other fields, they are rarely applied in management theory or business ethics. In this chapter I argue that an understanding of intersectionality is critical for developing leadership theories that will provide guidance in establishing greater workplace equity of all kinds. Early studies in this domain describe how intersectional (...) leadership may be enacted and the challenges such leaders face. The willingness to recognize the interaction of oppressions and to engage constructively in systemic critique are essential skills of intersectional leaders. (shrink)

Our gender identity is our sense of ourselves as a woman, a man, as genderqueer or as another gender. Trans people have a gender identity that is different from.

Showing how the law and medical knowledge intersect, Steph Jowett examines the law governing consent to medical treatment for trans youth in Australia, England and Wales. Using clear examples and accessible language, Jowett offers a comparative perspective that will benefit future reform efforts.

Against caricatures of the poet-philosopher Friedrich Schiller as an unoriginal popularizer of Kant, or a forerunner of totalitarianism, Frederick Beiser reinterprets him as an innovative, classical republican, broadening his analysis to include Schiller’s poetry, plays, and essays not widely available in English translation, such as the remarkable essay, “On Grace and Dignity.” In that spirit, the present article argues that the latter text, misperceived by Anglophone critics as self-contradictory, is better understood as centering on gender and dance. In brief, grace (...) is a virtuous power of beautiful gestures associated with women, while dignity is a power of sublime gestures associated with men, and the improvised combination thereof is a divinely androgynous power of gesture that I term “stateliness,” in a three-step choreography of aesthetic education. (shrink)

Preventing sexual and gender-based violence—and mitigating its devastating impacts on individuals and societies—is a central challenge of public health. A Woman in Berlin is 34-year-old journalist Marta Hillers’s first-hand account of life during the 1945 Red Army occupation of Berlin at the conclusion of World War II, when Russian soldiers collectively raped 2 million German civilians. Reflecting upon Hillers’s testimony, I argue that historical narratives about large-scale acts of sexual and gender-based violence deserve a more central place in public health (...) discourse. I also question how the ethical challenges of memorializing and studying mass crimes might inform future public health efforts to advance gender equity and mitigate sexual violence globally. (shrink)

Strongly rooted in the sociological tradition of social psychology, Social Representations Theory (SRT) has been developing since the sixties as a useful theoretical and practical multidisciplinary social research tool, particularly in European and Latin American contexts. However, since the end of the nineties, and following the consolidation of Social Representations Theory, there has been an important effort to bridge this perspective with other important contemporary critical theories given its emphasis on the way in which social subjects, groups and society as (...) a whole construct and transform meaning rooted in pre-existing knowledge and everyday experience. One of the most prolific and promising exchanges has been established between Social Representations Theory and gender equitable research. This article revises the premises of SRT in order to suggest its relevance for and linkages with diverse studies rooted in a gender perspective with a clear equity goal. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue for an Afro-communitarian account of personhood that considers the value of complementarity as a necessary part of human existence. The reason for conceptualizing personhood as a complementary enterprise is to dispel the understanding of gender that sustains gender inequality. I aim to explore the logic that characterizes complementary personhood as a specific kind of Afro-communitarian personhood that can account for gender complementarity. I argue that the universalized idea of patriarchy and gender, as construed within Western (...) feminist theorizing, cannot account for every society as these concepts differ from culture to culture. In this paper, I use complementary personhood as a lens through which a fluid understanding of gender and gender relations can be drawn against the backdrop of the hierarchy and binary opposition that undergird most Western interrogations of the concepts of gender and patriarchy. To do so, I present an overview of what complementary personhood entails. The preceding elucidation would become the basis for understanding the Afro-centric notion of gender relation. I then tease out an Afro-centric triangle of gender relations using the Ezumezu logical system as its background logic. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species by Ruth VanitaBrian Black (bio)The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species. By Ruth Vanita. Oxford: Oxford Unity Press, 2021. Pp. 298. Hardcover £70.00, isbn 978-0-19-285982-2. Ruth Vanita's The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species examines how the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa (...) discuss questions of justice. She reads the epics as bhakti texts to focus on their depictions of discrimination based on social categories such as gender, varṇa, species, age, and disability. The book claims that the epics criticize oppression in two main ways: by articulating philosophical ideas about social justice and by celebrating characters of a low social status. Six of the twelve chapters are devoted to themes related to gender, including marriage, independence, consent, gender-crossing, parenting, and masculinity. Focusing on the words and actions of characters in the narrative, Vanita does not directly address the question of whether we can take the marginal voices in the text as representing authentic voices of its social context. She also sidesteps the issue of patriarchy: "Every written text ever composed is, in the widest sense, patriarchal, since it was composed in a male-dominated society. Patriarchy is the air we breathe. Therefore, explaining the meaning of a text as patriarchal is as useful as explaining people's actions by the fact that they breathe" (p. 22). I was left wondering, however, if this explanation serves the interests of her study. In a book about oppressed characters, it seems crucial to say more about how systems of oppression operate. Even if we assume that all societies are patriarchal, this does not mean that they are all patriarchal in the same ways or to the same degree. Vanita is an imaginative reader, whose often speculative interpretations offer some valuable perspectives and raise interesting questions. One of the most refreshing features of the book is its extensive discussions of a number of characters and sub-stories rarely analyzed in scholarly literature. In particular, I enjoyed reading Vanita's take on the Mahābhārata's story of Diśā and Aṣṭāvakra (Mbh 13.19–22), where she shows her sensitivity to the ambiguities of this intriguing episode. This story, which appears in the Anuśāsana Parvan, begins when the ascetic Aṣṭāvakra wants to marry the sage Vadānya's daughter, Suprabhā. Before offering his consent, Vadānya sends Aṣṭāvakra to visit the aged female sage Diśā. As Vanita observes, this episode "maps a landscape of desire" [End Page 1] (p. 77) and raises a number of interesting questions about female sexuality as well as female independence. Vanita sees Diśā's motives, rather than merely testing Aṣṭāvakra's desires, as combining her role as a teacher with her own sexual yearnings. Vanita concludes that Diśā's message is that "desire cannot be entirely overcome" (p. 82). From this, she sees Diśā as advocating the conversion of "feverish agitation into happiness within marriage" (p. 83). Vanita's analysis of this story is both engaging and compelling, yet her claim that this episode is an integral part of Yudhiṣṭhira's education as a king remains undeveloped. I wanted to hear more about how this one story fits into the context of the countless others that Bhīṣma recounts to Yudhiṣṭhira. Moreover, her conclusion at the end of the chapter (ch. 4), that the epics "celebrate single women" (p. 85), seems a bit of a stretch considering the few examples she discusses. In chapter 6, Vanita revisits the encounter between Sulabhā and King Janaka (Mbh 12.308), which she discussed in detail twenty years ago.1 Her return to this episode examines the sexual power dynamics between the female sage and the legendary king from Upaniṣadic lore. As Vanita observes, Sulabhā takes the form of a beautiful young woman to test Janaka's claim to be liberated. Vanita explains:We may expect ordinary people to notice a person's looks first of all, but one who claims to be... (shrink)

Helga Varden’s new book aims to demonstrate that while Kant’s own views on sex are deeply problematic and harmful, his practical philosophy nonetheless contains.

This chapter considers Japan’s contemporary gender inequality by tracing the progress and stagnation of women’s political and economic status since 1945, the year that women were able to cast their votes and run for office in the first democratically held elections. Women’s social, economic and political roles have of course improved since 1945 but according to many international indices, Japan has a very poor record on gender equality, and it is in these two important domains—economic empowerment and political representation—where it (...) is most striking. (shrink)

With Article 750 of the Japanese Civil Code, Japan is the only industrialized country where married couples must share one family name. This law has been upheld repeatedly in the past decade despite changes in gender, marriage, and family patterns. This chapter first provides a brief history of the shared marital surname rule as a defining feature of the Japanese patriarchal family system within institutional contexts such as ie (patriarchal and patrilineal family unit) and koseki (family registry). It then considers (...) the current context and advocacy movements for fūfu bessei (for both spouses to retain their surnames). Finally, it examines attitudes toward surname rule using the Japanese Social Survey from 2000 to 2016 and the Government Cabinet Office Public Opinion Survey of 2021–22. While Japanese are split on the revision of the current law, there seems to be a shift in more recent years to supporting individual couples’ freedom to make their own surname decisions. This issue of surnames is increasingly important not only for women’s rights but for LGBT individuals and transnational married couples. (shrink)

Japan’s discourse on gender inequality for the last 70 years has misled understanding by asserting both that women might even be dominating men, and that the fundamental location of Japan’s battle of the sexes is between husbands and wives in the home, where accepted norms give women a high degree of autonomy and responsibility. As a result of the immediate postwar phase of this discourse, Japan is under the misapprehension that there are nuclear families (kaku kazoku) in Japan that have (...) somehow replaced the historic ie (family). Current Japanese gender discourse fails to locate the well-spring of the legitimacy of gender inequality in the structure and dynamics of widely embraced gender roles arising from ie norms. Consequently many institutions and practices which directly and indirectly support the ie are not recognized to be doing so. Neither have steps taken elsewhere in the world to reduce gender inequality worked in Japan. (shrink)

When the average number of children per family was more than two, it was often the role of the eldest son and his wife to take the major responsibility for the ritual services for the deceased and the succession to the family grave. However, this became a significant issue when the fertility level fell below two children. This chapter discusses two key concepts to understanding the Japanese family grave, ie system and danka system. Then it explains why more people started (...) to become proactive in seeking alternative options to the family grave and addresses minority populations marginalized in these systems. Finally, the chapter illustrates how Japanese people think about the ideal grave and their plan to inherit their family grave based on the Japanese General Social Survey (JGSS) 2015 data. (shrink)

Japanese men and women enjoy high levels of life expectancy and health expectancy when compared with international standards. Relatively little is known, however, about health differentials among the population. Focusing on gender as a fundamental cause of health and mortality, this chapter summarizes the research findings on health inequalities between men and women in Japan. We pay particular attention to families as social arrangements that shape men’s and women’s health status. Our review suggests that differences between men’s and women’s lives, (...) such as in the amounts of unpaid domestic work they perform, are related to health, with more unbeneficial consequences to women’s health. Fully understanding the mechanisms behind the gender gap in health requires research that examines the broader social conditions that create different experiences for men and women and how they lead to gendered health outcomes. (shrink)

Mono no Aware and Gender as Affect in Japanese Aesthetics and American Pragmatism argues that gender is best understood as a felt sense of the organization of the human body. Through Japanese aesthetics and American pragmatism, this book argues that re-understanding gender as an affect, or a feeling, can expand the ways that gender is understood, enacted, and theorized in experience.

This paper evaluates the existing research on Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws in terms of the extent to which it has accounted for gender. In particular, we address (a) what the available evidence suggests are the gender-based impacts of SYG laws and (b) where, how, and why considerations of gender may be missing in available studies.