This book offers an analysis of the conceptual efficacy of
‘gender’, both as a mode of analysis and as a basis for envisioning
the emancipatory transformation of society. It should
be pointed out at once, however, that whilst its title suggests that
‘gender’ has a future, not all the volume’s contributors are persuaded
that this is the case.
Today, the terms ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ are deployed indiscriminately –
or, to be more precise, ‘gender’ is increasingly being used to cover
both terms. It is, then, worth re-establishing the traditional difference
between the two concepts. As proselytized from the late 1960s, ‘sex’ is
deemed a category of analysis which relates to the identification of an
individual by biological endowments and functions. ‘Gender’ is
concerned with the ascription of social characteristics such as
‘womanly’, ‘manly’, ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’, all of which can be
seen as culturally variable and not necessarily associated with the sex
of an individual. Whilst this distinction is admittedly rough around
the edges, its general acceptance since the 1970s has heralded a rare,
albeit minimal, consensus across mainstream academia: that the
concept of sex is inadequate for the description of social identities.
Previously, ‘sex’ invoked an analysis of men and women based upon
an a priori set of assumptions about how each sex behaves. In an
attempt to overcome what was seen as cultural bias, the term ‘gender’
was introduced as a way of classifying individuals socially rather than
just biologically. The ramifications of this ostensibly obvious point
have been profound and have remained the object of fierce intellectual
and ideological conflict.