Gender ThinkingTemple University Press, 2010 M04 30 - 384 pages How can we accept the gender system in view of its ills? Yet, are we really at liberty to abolish gender differences, "when the gender system gives us benchmarks of personal identity and worth along with primary channels in which to pursue the rewards of love?" With this double question, Steven G. Smith introduces his inquiry into the idea of gender and how it is implicated in love, respect, equality, and personal character. Gender Thinking is the first comprehensive philosophical exploration of the concept of gender Asking the question, what is gender?—that is, what sort of thing do we take femininity and masculinity to be?—Smith considers how gender thinking is interwoven with ideas about human nature. He suggests ways in which ideas about race, class, culture age, temperament, and sexual orientation can be understood from clues found in gender thinking. And he calls for a renegotiated procreative partnership between women and men as the key to the redemption of gender. |
From inside the book
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... to the positive - critical distinction . They are typically positive inasmuch as the attractions and norms of gender contribute powerfully Copyrighted Material 6 The Two Sides of Gender Thinking Positive gender thinking.
... distinction , by attacking " preju- dices that give a sex to virtue " ( 11 ) . The unity of virtue , she argues , is grounded in the principle of " humanity , " or , in religious language , " soul " : " Yet it should seem , allowing ...
... distinction . The feminine has no power or value of its own ; it con- sists only of whatever masculine beings can dominate . ( If , on the other hand , an original feminine reality does exist , then masculinity derives its own meaning ...
... distinction . But femininity is precisely a different , more " relational " scale . Hence we face the riddle : How is it possible to determine whether feminine value is as humanly important and fulfill- ing as masculine value or instead ...
... distinction ) that makes clear the logical relationship of gender to hu- manity . This is a point on which critical gender thinking often diverges widely from positive gender thinking , with confusing results : gender is defined as an ...
Contents
1 | |
5 | |
23 | |
41 | |
4 The Sex Basis of Gender | 85 |
5 Gender Valuation and Selfhood | 139 |
6 Gender and Duality | 205 |
7 Gender and Procreation | 254 |
Realizing Sex | 303 |
Notes | 321 |
Index | 375 |