Sex and gender in radical feminism explained clearly
May 2, 2015 6:14 AM Subscribe
Rebecca Reilly-Cooper is a professor of political philosophy at Warwick University. In a recent series of six posts entitled "What I Believe about Sex and Gender" she sets out a clear and forcefully argued explanation of her radical feminist position on sex and gender. She argues that:
1. Acknowledging Sexual Dimorphism neither reduces female persons to that reproductive function, nor prescribes it as necessary for them.
2. Gendered socialisation and gender oppression happen regardless of how the individual happens to feel about herself or her identity.
3.The notion of gender identity erases and invalidates the experiences of both biologically female women and transsexual women.
4.We cannot make sense of the historical development of patriarchy and the continued existence of sexist discrimination and cultural misogyny, without recognising the reality of female biology, and the existence of a class of biologically female persons.
5. The use of the label TERF to refer to those feminists who argue for the continued existence of at least some female-only spaces, is a thought-terminating cliche: a piece of rhetoric designed to mask the difficulty and complexity involved in balancing competing interests, to prevent the need for further reflection, and to stifle dissent
6. This has led to a situation where liberals are encouraging and supportive of an ideology that is both incoherent and operates to harm women. Compounded by a worrying tendency towards ideological totalism and purity politics
1. Acknowledging Sexual Dimorphism neither reduces female persons to that reproductive function, nor prescribes it as necessary for them.
2. Gendered socialisation and gender oppression happen regardless of how the individual happens to feel about herself or her identity.
3.The notion of gender identity erases and invalidates the experiences of both biologically female women and transsexual women.
4.We cannot make sense of the historical development of patriarchy and the continued existence of sexist discrimination and cultural misogyny, without recognising the reality of female biology, and the existence of a class of biologically female persons.
5. The use of the label TERF to refer to those feminists who argue for the continued existence of at least some female-only spaces, is a thought-terminating cliche: a piece of rhetoric designed to mask the difficulty and complexity involved in balancing competing interests, to prevent the need for further reflection, and to stifle dissent
6. This has led to a situation where liberals are encouraging and supportive of an ideology that is both incoherent and operates to harm women. Compounded by a worrying tendency towards ideological totalism and purity politics
This post was deleted for the following reason: Sorry, but what is essentially someone's arguments about transwomen not being real women is not a good post for Metafilter -- taz
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