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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... logic . Of course it was crucial with members of a sex , as with members of a race , to know them as individuals . But all one's dealings with girls assumed that they were basically , whether or not understandably , girl - like ; for ...
... logical complementarity , a division of responsibility for basic human concerns , a compartmentalization of sensibility , that makes each sex in its own way sub - human . " 18 This thesis is not merely an objection to a particular ...
... logical often tacitly mislead in this way . To take an example at random , Hegel once declared that the " fundamental characteristic of human nature is that man can think of himself as an ego . " 3 Thus humans are distinguished from the ...
... logical compossibility . We did not , of course , demolish the prospect of human form in our opening arguments . Much can be seen in ourselves , without every- thing being seen ; much can be said about us , despite the absence of a ...
... 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 external encrustation on humanity ...
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 |