Attribution of intrinsic qualities to women and men
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met.(January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Gender essentialism is a theory which attributes distinct, intrinsic qualities to women and men.[1][2] Based in essentialism, it holds that there are certain universal, innate, biologically (or psychologically) based features of gender that are at the root of many of the group differences observed in the behavior of men and women.[3] In Western civilization, it is suggested in writings going back to ancient Greece.[4]: 1 With the advent of Christianity, the earlier Greek model was expressed in theological discussions as the doctrine that there are two distinct sexes, male and female, created by God, and that individuals are immutably one or the other.[5] This view remained largely unchanged until the middle of the 19th century.[4] This changed the locus of the origin of the essential differences from religion to biology, in Sandra Bem's words, "from God's grand creation [to] its scientific equivalent: evolution's grand creation," but the belief in an immutable origin had not changed.[4]: 2
Alternatives to gender essentialism were proposed in the mid-20th century. During second-wave feminism, Simone de Beauvoir and other feminists in the 1960s and 70s theorized that gender differences were socially constructed. In other words, people gradually conform to gender differences through their experience of the social world. More recently, Judith Butler theorized that people construct gender by performing it. While rejected by many feminist theorists,[4][6][7] gender essentialism sheds light on social constructs surrounding gender that are found in society as well as societal views on sex and sexuality.
^Heyman, G. D.; Giles, J. W. (2006). "Gender and Psychological Essentialism". Enfance; Psychologie, Pedagogie, Neuropsychiatrie, Sociologie. 58 (3): 293–310. doi:10.3917/enf.583.0293. PMC 3082140. PMID 21528097.
^Hepburn, Alexa (2003). "Feminist critics: hetrosexism and lesbian and gay psychology". An introduction to critical social psychology. London Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. p. 107. ISBN 9780761962106.
^ abcdBem, Sandra (1993). The lenses of gender: transforming the debate on sexual inequality. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300061635.
^Thatcher, Adrian (2011). "Gender: language, power, and history". God, sex, and gender: an introduction. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 19. ISBN 9781444396379.
^Stone, Alison (2004). "Essentialism and Anti-Essentialism in Feminist Philosophy" (PDF). Journal of Moral Philosophy. 1 (2): 135–153. doi:10.1177/174046810400100202. ISSN 1740-4681. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
^Witt, Charlotte (1995). "Anti-Essentialism in Feminist Theory". Philosophical Topics. 23 (2): 321–344. doi:10.5840/philtopics19952327. JSTOR 43154216. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
and 23 Related for: Gender essentialism information
Genderessentialism is a theory which attributes distinct, intrinsic qualities to women and men. Based in essentialism, it holds that there are certain...
that kind of thing". The contrary view—non-essentialism—denies the need to posit such an "essence". Essentialism has been controversial from its beginning...
theories exist via which gender disappointment is generally explained: the gender discrimination theory, the genderessentialism theory and the parental...
Strategic essentialism, a major concept in postcolonial theory, was introduced in the 1980s by the Indian literary critic and theorist Gayatri Chakravorty...
Diversity training Gender and politics Gender diversity Gender equality Genderessentialism Respect Suicide in LGBT youth Sociology of gender Women's empowerment...
This is a list of gender identities. Gender identity can be understood to include how people describe, present, and feel about themselves. Abinary Agender...
Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity –...
(often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is...
cissexism". According to Mimi Marinucci, genderessentialism and sex essentialism are radical feminist views on gender, and are foundational to trans exclusionary...
male victims of sexual violence or the gender-based violence of killing men because they are men. Genderessentialism also assumes that women are innately...
divided between those who believe Omegaverse shows a new type of genderessentialism combined with homophobic and heteronormative elements, and those...
(which can be synonymous with LGBT) or are questioning their sexual or gender identity. Another variation, LGBTQ+, adds a plus sign "represents those...
disconnected forms of masculine and feminine Genderessentialism, the theory that universal features in social gender are at the root of all differences between...
specific neopagan groups range from criticisms of their belief in genderessentialism to criticisms of their belief in racial supremacy to criticisms of...
Causes of gender incongruence Genderessentialism Medicalisation of sexuality Neurosexism Psychic determinism Social construction of gender Respectability...
heterosexuality, based on a gender binary which is assigned via genitalia at birth (in other words, genderessentialism.) Binary genderessentialism is highly present...
beliefs in the male-female gender binary, heterosexual pairing, resulting heterosexual reproduction, and/or genderessentialism. In response, groups and...
male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identity...
expression or performance of gender from perceptions of biological or physiological sex. Thus, gender bending protests genderessentialism. This concept is protested...
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither a man or woman. It is also a social category...
Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the...