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. 2018;33(3):21.
doi: 10.1007/s10539-018-9619-1. Epub 2018 May 10.

Gender as a historical kind: a tale of two genders?

Marion Godman  1   2
Affiliations

Gender as a historical kind: a tale of two genders?

Marion Godman. Biol Philos. 2018.

Abstract

Is there anything that members of each binary category of gender have in common? Even many non-essentialists find the lack of unity within a gender worrying as it undermines the basis for a common political agenda for women. One promising proposal for achieving unity is by means of a shared historical lineage of cultural reproduction with past binary models of gender (e.g. Bach in Ethics 122:231-272, 2012). I demonstrate how such an account is likely to take on board different binary and also non-binary systems of gender. This implies that all individuals construed as members of the category, "women" are in fact not members of the same historical kind after all! I then consider different possible means of modifying the account but conclude negatively: the problem runs deeper than has been appreciated thus far.

Keywords: Adaptationism; Common ancestry; Cultural evolution; Gender; Historical kinds; Scaffolded reproduction.

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References

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