Startseite Geschichte Frontiers of Sexual Difference: The Phantasm of Gender
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Frontiers of Sexual Difference: The Phantasm of Gender

  • Caterina Marino
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Abstract

When discussing Gender (first the ‘theory,’ today the ‘ideology’), we are always faced with a paradox: on the one hand, Gender is understood as a danger that requires the mobilisation of public opinion; on the other hand, as the fad of a minority. Scholars agree that a pivotal moment occurred during the ‘Peking World Conference on Women’ (1995) when the Catholic Church criticised Gender category as undermining the inherent sexual differences between male and female genders, which the Church believes to be ‘natural’. Judith Butler, who is renowned for challenging the assumed alignment between biological sex, gender identity and heterosexual orientation, consistently interrogates ‘Gender ideology’. This notion is a phantasm conjured by right-wing factions and conservative Catholic circles and Butler’s analysis emphasises the need to deconstruct this concept. The combined efforts of philosophy and psychoanalysis are crucial to recognising the dangerousness of boundaries, which marginalise individuals who challenge conformity, placing them outside the realm of what is considered human.

Abstract

When discussing Gender (first the ‘theory,’ today the ‘ideology’), we are always faced with a paradox: on the one hand, Gender is understood as a danger that requires the mobilisation of public opinion; on the other hand, as the fad of a minority. Scholars agree that a pivotal moment occurred during the ‘Peking World Conference on Women’ (1995) when the Catholic Church criticised Gender category as undermining the inherent sexual differences between male and female genders, which the Church believes to be ‘natural’. Judith Butler, who is renowned for challenging the assumed alignment between biological sex, gender identity and heterosexual orientation, consistently interrogates ‘Gender ideology’. This notion is a phantasm conjured by right-wing factions and conservative Catholic circles and Butler’s analysis emphasises the need to deconstruct this concept. The combined efforts of philosophy and psychoanalysis are crucial to recognising the dangerousness of boundaries, which marginalise individuals who challenge conformity, placing them outside the realm of what is considered human.

Heruntergeladen am 22.1.2026 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111448473-010/html?lang=de
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