Beyond Gender Essentialism and the Social Construction of Gender: Redefining the Conception of Gender through a Reinvestigation of Transgender Theory
by Jason Campbell and Chioke I’Anson
Abstract
This analysis is intended to facilitate a critique of the argument that defends binary gender as a psychological fact of human nature, including the presupposition that gender is essential in the construction of an individual’s identity. The supposed association between biological sex and sociological gender identification comes into question when discussing members of the transgender community. The problem arises for transsexuals because their femininity and masculinity do not coincide with their sex. In seeking sex reassignment surgery (SRS) an attempt is made to “pass” — seemingly reinforcing gender essentialist notions. The problem arises, however, insofar as neither gender essentialism nor social constructionism has effectively incorporated transsexualism as an integral theoretical conception. This analysis, then, serves to explicate these complications and offer an accommodating account of transgender theory.