Towards a nonbinary model of gender/sex traits Flashcards
In one sentence, what would the author(s) say is the main claim that they make in this
piece?
The author argues against the female/male divide, by referring to the epistemic injustice for people with non-binary identities or intersex traits, who are being excluded when we divide the world into male and female only.
What are 3 other key claims that are made?
- The author identifies 9 layers of traits, 5 sex layers and 4 gender layers, in which there are examples of female, male and intersex/nonbinary traits
- The author described how the exclusion of these individuals in the female/male model leads to epistemic injustice in two ways: testimonial injustice, and hermeneutical injustice
- The author states that under the nonbinary model the basic gender concepts do not disappear; X is a woman of X is a human being with enough female traits, and the trait of having self-determined female gender identity is sufficient but not necessary for this
Explain normalizing
= surgery that is intended to make the genitals/body appear typically female or male
Explain epistemic injustice and its two versions
= the phenomenon of epistemic dysfunction that becomes ethical dysfunction
Two versions:
- Testimonial injustice = which occurs when prejudice causes a hearer to give a deflated level of credibility to a speaker’s word
- Hermeneutical injustice = which stems from a gap in collective interpretative resources, the lack of a proper interpretation or name for some experience
Explain two main theories of gender identification
-
Social-position theory = externalist; an individual’s gender is determined by sisal factors external to that individual - how they are perceived, what roles they’re expected to occupy
2.Identity-based theory = internalise; gender is a matter of self-identification
Explain two additional genders as social positions
The gender outlier = when perceived biological traits are inconsistent with perceived attempts to occupy a gender role
The gender confounder = when perceived biological traits are both/neither male and/or female and people cannot figure out any gender role
Explain the cluster theory of the sexes
= no single property is both necessary and sufficient for the female sex; however, the idea of a cluster is helpful as sex characteristics form a cluster
Two sources for a female spectrum:
- the number of female traits in a cluster
- the grade of femaleness of a particular trait
D – Description. What is the author’s project? What are their assumptions?
Their project is that they attempt to move towards a more nonbinary model of gender and sex, and they do that by showing examples of individuals who deviate from the female/male norm in any way. Their assumptions are that the current model is binary, based on a divide between female and male.
A – Analysis. What does the author say is occurring, and why? What assumptions about human nature can you see in this?
They are saying that the binary divide between male and female does not include all people, and that this leads to epistemic injustice for the individuals falling outside of these categories. I would say this assumes that humans tend to stick with the majority, it is easy to follow what everyone else does, and it is very hard to go against the norm.
V – Vision. What would they like to see?
They would like to see a more nonbinary model of sex and gender, one in which everyone feels included and one in which we have enough understanding and words for the experiences that people are going through.
S – Strategy. What does their writing suggest could happen to bring about a better world?
The writing suggests that by showing examples of people who are different from this dichotomous divide of female and male, we can show that it is important to make a shift in the way we as a society conceptualise gender and sex.
