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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... important that such an author understand what the people on the hot coals are saying ; but it is also important that he tell them what he is able to see from his own position . My first premise and final claim is that human truth will ...
... importance for us . They will also remind us of the depreciation of the feminine that has characterized our culture . Concerning the fictional evidence , I would suggest prefatorily that artistic specimens of gender thinking are always ...
... importance in war , it is always at issue , always subject to challenge , and so the cross - sex judgment most certain to be made is the old taunt that one's enemies or unreliable friends are " women , " nonfighters , at heart.2 Homer ...
... important human excellence . Rationality and virtue are linked , for Wollstonecraft , with strong individuality ... importance to observe that the character of every man is , in some degree , formed by his profession . A man of sense may ...
... important part of contemporary gender thinking . It introduces us to the problem of measuring " equality " and " symmetry . " What if genders value differently - then , mustn't we see " asymmetry " between them whenever we look from one ...
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 |