Trouble with Gender

Sex Facts, Gender Fictions
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5095-6001-1
Verlag: Polity Press

Buch, Englisch, 320 Seiten, Format (B × H): 165 mm x 237 mm, Gewicht: 606 g

Sex used to rule. Now gender identity is on the throne. Sex survives as a cheap imitation of its former self: assigned at birth, on a spectrum, socially constructed, and definitely not binary. Apparently quite a few of us fall outside the categories ‘male’ and ‘female’. But gender identity is said to be universal – we all have one. Humanity used to be cleaved into two sexes, whereas now the crucial division depends on whether our gender identity aligns with our body. If it does, we are cisgender; if it does not, we are transgender. The dethroning of sex has meant the threat of execution for formerly noble words such as ‘woman’ and ‘man’.

In this provocative, bold, and humane book, the philosopher Alex Byrne pushes back against the new gender revolution. Drawing on evidence from biology, psychology, anthropology and sexology, Byrne exposes the flaws in the revolutionary manifesto. The book applies the tools of philosophy, accessibly and with flair, to gender, sex, transsexuality, patriarchy, our many identities, and our true or authentic selves.

The topics of Trouble with Gender are relevant to us all. This is a book for anyone who has wondered ‘Is sex binary?’, ‘Why are men and women different?’, ‘What is a woman?’ or, simply, ‘Where can I go to know more about these controversies?’

Revolutions devour their own children, and the gender revolution is no exception. Trouble with Gender joins the forefront of the counter-revolution, restoring sex to its rightful place, at the centre of what it means to be human.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Byrne, Alex

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie: Allgemeines, Methoden
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Feministische Philosophie, Gender Studies

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: Gender, Double Toil and Trouble

Chapter 2: ‘Gender’ Trouble

Chapter 3: Clownfish and Chromosomes

Chapter 4: I am Woman

Chapter 5: The Rise of Gender Identity

Chapter 6: Born in the Wrong Body

Chapter 7: Is Biology Destiny?

Chapter 8: True Selves and Identity Crises

Coda

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Notes

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Alex Byrne is Professor of Philosophy at MIT.