Gender Is a Construct, Except When It Isn’t

Daphne Patai writes, provocatively, Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Trans? It’s well worth reading. An excerpt:

Today, for all the academic talk of “diversity”—written into all levels and aspects of American universities, with growing numbers of administrators and officers designated to oversee it—a new and rigid orthodoxy is upon us. …

But in the happy world of American academe, categories of sexual and gender identity just grow and grow, and acronyms along with them. Today we have not only the labels, but courses and administrators devoted to LGBTQIA (the A, for asexual, is merely the latest accretion).

In recent years, the proliferation of identities has gotten completely out of control and the game is openly played in hiring and even in the exercise of free speech–who is entitled to teach, to speak, to pose challenges, and who had better shut up if lacking the requisite identity.

One Comment for “Gender Is a Construct, Except When It Isn’t”

  1. posted by TJ on

    um. no. Not a proliferation. Not by anymeans.

    Large Universities are going to have active political clubs. Some of the young activists – on the political right and left – are going to be a bit low on the tact, and a bit high on drama. Nothing new. Nothing limited to young liberals or young conservatives.

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