[All Lists] [By Thread] [By Date] [Previous] [Next]
From: R. Nachmani
Subject: Gender
Date: 25 Av 5783
I proposed the G code, and I want to speak to its withdrawal.
I believed gender was a straightforward addition. Which side of the mechitza — how hard could that be? When the simple model was rejected, I extended it with modifiers: M+++ through M---, encoding one's relationship to gendered space rather than one's gender itself.
I thought encoding practice rather than identity would sidestep the metaphysics. But practice requires explaining what the practice means. M+++ in an egalitarian community is meaningless. M--- for a trans woman says where she does not belong, not where she does.
The modifier model was promising because it focused on behavior. But behavior requires context, and context requires interpretation, and interpretation brings us back to all the contested questions about what gender is.
I do not withdraw the proposal because gender does not matter. I withdraw it because it matters too much for us to handle poorly.
Thread: