2 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Do non-binary identities reenforce gender stereotypes?
People always miss this point. Social constructs are *social* they are not an agglomeration of wildly differing individual definitions.
I'm convinced that 99.9% of the philosophical confusion around this comes from the ambiguity of the phrase "what it means to be a woman" (or man).
That can be interpreted in two different ways:
1: the criteria for being a member of the category "women" (or "men")
2: how any individual member of that group relates to being a member of it and relates to the social baggage that comes with it i.e. what personal meaning they draw from or attach to it.
Re. #2 People who are a member of the category "women" should be able to relate to the social baggage of "womanhood" in any way they like. They can embrace it, reject it, scorn it, emphasise it etc. They can express themselves any way they like and still be women. Giving people that freedom is a basic liberal (and feminist) position...
...however...
That freedom does not extend to #1! It makes absolutely no sense for everyone to be able to independently come up with their own criteria for membership of the category and then apply it to themselves. It renders the whole idea of woman as a category utterly incoherent.
Comment by Old_Squash5250 at 14/01/2025 at 19:18 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Very well said. Props from a philosopher.