Feminist metaphysics aims to question how inquiries and answers in the field of
metaphysics have supported
sexism.
Feminist metaphysics overlaps with fields such as the
philosophy of mind and
philosophy of self.
Feminist metaphysicians such as
Sally Haslanger,
Ãsta, and
Judith Butler
Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...
have sought to explain the nature of gender in the interest of advancing feminist goals. Philosophers such as
Robin Dembroff and
Talia Mae Bettcher have sought to explain the genders of
transgender and
non-binary people.
Social construction
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, and even th ...
was the first
feminist theorist to distinguish sex from gender, as is suggested by her famous line, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.â€
In her seminal work ''
The Second Sex,'' de Beauvoir argues that, although biological features distinguish men and women, these features neither cause nor justify the social conditions which disadvantage women.
Since de Beauvoir, many feminists have argued that constructed categories re-enforce social hierarchies because they appear to be natural.
Later theorists such as
Judith Butler
Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...
would challenge de Beauvoir's commitment to the pre-social existence of sex, arguing that sex is socially constructed as well as gender.
Feminist metaphysics has thus challenged the apparent naturalness of both sex and gender.
Another aim of feminist metaphysics has been to provide a basis for feminist activism by explaining what unites women as a group. These accounts have historically centered on
cisgender women, but more recent accounts have sought to include
transgender women as well.
Robin Dembroff has introduced a metaphysical account of
non-binary genders.
References
Further reading
* Battersby, Christine. ''The Phenomenal Woman: Feminist Metaphysics and the Patterns of Identity.'' New York: Routledge, 1998.
* Howell, Nancy R. ''A Feminist Cosmology: Ecology, Solidarity, and Metaphysics.'' Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2000.
* Raschke, Debrah. ''Modernism, Metaphysics, and Sexuality.'' Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press, 2006.
* Witt, Charlotte. ''Feminist Metaphysics Explorations in the Ontology of Sex, Gender and the Self.'' Dordrecht: Springer, 2010.
* Schües, Christina, Dorothea Olkowski, and Helen Fielding. ''Time in Feminist Phenomenology.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011.
* Witt, Charlotte. ''The Metaphysics of Gender.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
{{Metaphysics
Feminist philosophy
Feminist theory
Metaphysical theories