Disaggregating Gender from Sex and Sexual Orientation: The Effeminate Man in the Law and Feminist Jurisprudence
Year: 1995
Type: article
Abstract: Thus, while Epstein insists that "gender is for nouns," 19 I, on the contrary, am of the view that gender is for adjectives, sex is for nouns.Among the adjectives conventionally coded masculine are "aggressive," "ambitious," "analytical," "assertive," "athletic," "competitive," "dominant," "forceful," "independent," "individualistic," "self-reliant," "self-sufficient," and "strong." 20These are the sorts of adjectives both Ann Hopkins's supporters and detractors used to describe her.Because these adjectives come straight out of the masculinity scale of one the most influential psychological inventories in sex-role research, they are by definition judged to be more desirable in American society for a man than for a woman. 2 ' I do not "thin[k] gender differences irrelevant in all social contexts."2It is in part because gender differences, unlike sex differences, 2 3 may not be 19.Epstein, supra note 16, at 981. 20.I take these adjectives from the list of masculine items on the Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), the most frequently used measure in sex-role research and the standard to which other tests are most often compared.See
Source: The Yale Law Journal
DOI: 10.2307/797140
Author: Mary Anne C. Case
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W197224013