Li Yinhe talks about sex

Chapter 47 Five Positions on Similarities and Differences

Gender similarities and differences can actually be dealt with according to a simple principle: strive for equality in political rights between the sexes, but recognize and maintain other differences.

Difference is one of the most controversial and important concepts in the history of Western feminism.The debate over equality versus difference in gender relations is a central issue in feminist theory.Should women strive for equality with men or maintain differences?This difficult problem has always entwined with feminist thought and women's movement, and the issue of similarity and difference has therefore become the issue that has attracted the most attention in feminist theoretical debates.

Broadly speaking, there are five positions on this issue:

1 Differences between men and women - men are superior to women, patriarchy, patriarchy
2 Men and women are the same – gender equality, socialist feminism

3 Differences between men and women - equality between men and women, liberal feminism

4 Differences between men and women - women are superior to men, cultural feminism and radical feminism

5. Mixed gender - the boundary between men and women is unclear, so it is difficult to distinguish between high and low, postmodern feminism

Although these five positions coexist, they rise and fall basically in chronological order.The traditional gender concept advocates that men are strong and women are weak, men are superior to women, men dominate and women follow, men dominate outside and women dominate inside, emphasizing the differences and differences between men and women, and use this as the basis of gender inequality.Modern gender concepts do not emphasize the differences between men and women, and put forward that "men and women are the same", criticizing the stereotypes of masculinity and femininity.Then came the negation of negation, and feminism re-emphasized the difference between men and women, but more radical and extreme ones endowed femininity with unprecedented value, and explored various cultural, ethical and moral concepts of "women are superior to men".Finally, the postmodern gender concept advocates weakening the boundaries between the sexes and replacing qualitative dichotomy with quantitative differences.

The first position on the issue of gender similarities and differences is the traditional patriarchal thinking, which believes that men and women are of course different, and they are very different. It is a natural and normal order that men are superior to women.This kind of ideology has been prevalent for thousands of years, it is unjust, unjust, and very outdated.

In the past thousands of years, this kind of ideology and the social reality at that time were causal and complementary, and even many outstanding thinkers were not immune. Many thinkers who are famous for their wisdom and profoundness have the view that men are superior to women.Sometimes I think that we should not be too harsh on the predecessors, nor should we have too high expectations for their foresight.The social reality at that time was that women stayed in the private sphere all their lives, and their ability to act in the public sphere was completely invisible.If a member of a vested interest group is required to be aware of the interests and demands of marginalized groups, that is an excessive expectation.The regrettably shallow views of many great thinkers on the sex question were in fact only the general view of the world at the time, and we can only say that it was not brilliant, but it was not particularly contemptible.On the contrary, those who persist in such a standpoint after the great changes in the world and the living conditions of women in the 21st century are really hopeless.

The second position on the issue of gender similarities and differences is the early feminist view that there is no difference between men and women, so we must strive for equality between men and women.

During the first wave of the women's movement (19th century), feminism believed that men and women were not different in essence, and that they were graded due to acquired reasons such as education.Because there is no difference between men and women, men and women should be equal.Beauvoir denies difference from a rational point of view.

The idea that there is no difference between men and women first appeared in 1588. The Enlightenment thinker Montaigne Rucongmao "?!) pointed out: "I think men and women are made of the same model.If you don't look at education and customs, there is not much difference between the sexes. Even if feminists who take this position admit that there are differences between men and women, they must emphasize that the similarities of the two sexes outweigh the differences. "Of course men and women are different."But they are not as different as day and night, sky and earth, yin and yang, life and death.In fact, from a natural point of view, men and women are closer than they are to many other things, such as mountains, kangaroos, or cocoa trees.The idea that men and women are more different than they are from other things must be unnatural...Mutually exclusive gender identities reflect far less natural difference than the suppression of natural similarity.It calls for this repression, using criteria that are local versions of men in terms of 'masculine' characteristics; women in terms of local definitions of 'feminine' characteristics.Gender divisions have the effect of suppressing certain aspects of each individual's personality traits, whether men or women. "

On the issue of gender, from thinking that men and women are different, to arguing that men and women are the same, and then to emphasizing the negation of differences, the negation of negation was first proposed by French feminists. In the mid-20s, post-structuralist feminism opposed Beauvoir's views, emphasized differences, and emphasized not to use male standards to demand oneself.Elegalet emphasized changing the focus of politics from reactive criticism to affirming positive values ​​that are opposed to male values, emphasizing the differences between men and women under the premise of advocating equality between men and women.The direct reason is that they believe that the previous feminism has lost the characteristics of women.

Millett shares this view, saying: "Men and women really belong to two cultures." This view is against both exaggerating differences and minimizing differences.It proposes to oppose two kinds of biases at the same time: Alpha bias refers to the exaggeration of differences, believing that men and women have opposing qualities and characteristics that are incompatible with each other; Beta bias refers to ignoring and narrowing differences and only looking at male characteristics.

In China, the typical expression of this kind of view is as follows: "During the process of women's liberation, there were many new sayings about women, such as 'men and women are the same', trying to promote women from the perspective of male superiority. And today's popular The "postmodern" in the western academic circles firmly denies the "qualitative" difference between men and women under the banner of "anti-essentialism", and it is also to liberate women more thoroughly. No matter how you operate in politics or theory, men and women In fact, it is still different. At least today and even for a long time, the inherent 'biological' differences and unchangeable 'historical' gaps still structure the 'collective destiny' of men and women, and it is still difficult for men and women to escape." "I agree with Beauvoir in the sense of opposing biological determinism, but don't think that these biological sex differences are 'meaningless' to women's social existence. Yes, it doesn't prove that women are 'inferior' to men , but it definitely makes women 'different' from men." This view neither agrees with the view that men and women are the same, nor agrees with the view that obliterates the boundaries between men and women, it advocates equality between men and women, and insists on recognizing differences.

The fourth point of view is more radical and extreme. It emphasizes the differences between men and women, and this point of view has been criticized as an inverted biological determinism.It not only recognizes the fundamental difference between the sexes, but glorifies it, making it part of feminist or gay political agendas.For example, praising feminine characteristics such as peace, caring, and healing; belittling typical masculine characteristics such as aggressiveness, belligerence, and destructiveness. Gamble, a female Darwinist in the 19th century, praised "Mother Earth" and "Goddess of the Earth", and went against Darwin's way, advocating that women are inherently superior to men.Similarly, some scholars defending gay men believe that gay men are superior to heterosexual men because they are more sensitive, have more artistic creativity, and have more developed emotional development.

"The emphasis on the difference between men and women is the most gratifying emancipation for women," Iger said. "They no longer have to participate in the world of men, but can transcend it. Men are deprived of their non-linear imagination."

The emphasis on gender differences has clear strategic motivations within the feminist movement.Two strategic schools of thought have emerged within the feminist movement: difference minimization and difference maximization.For example, when fighting for the right to vote, the former emphasizes that women are more like men and less like men, so they should have the same voting rights as men; while the latter emphasizes women's specialties, such as nurturing and a strong sense of morality, Therefore should have the right to vote.In the 60s and 70s, the faction of minimizing differences prevailed; after the 80s, the faction of maximizing differences prevailed.

In the 90s, a new trend of thought emerged in feminism, which fundamentally opposed the dichotomous thinking mode, believed that the boundaries between the sexes were actually blurred, and advocated further confusing the boundaries between the sexes.This view of gender issues is influenced by postmodern thinking and multiculturalism.

This point of view holds that in the past, the differences in people's minds were always divided into upper and lower levels, always divided into two.This is a way of thinking that should be criticized and rejected.This theory holds that there are differences within the same, and similarities within the differences.Different from the confrontational politics of the past bifurcated world, this standpoint advocates the politics of difference: people have various differences, but they are not necessarily opposites and dichotomies, but a color spectrum full of various intermediate colors with black and white as the poles sample system.In their eyes, the gender issue is no longer a simple polarization, but is regarded as a complex, multifaceted and dynamic system.

Postmodern ontology denies the traditional model of ontology, tries to overcome the mind-body dichotomy, and maintains that the body is changeable, not innate.It even opposes the classic distinction between sex and gender that early feminism put forward, against the common view that has always been dominant: sex is natural, biological, and physical; gender is political and cultural.They argue that even biological sex is socially constructed.

On the issue of similarities and differences, emphasizing differences used to be the basis for fascism to divide people into grades, and differences are actually "inferior".A basic idea of ​​biological determinism and essentialism is that some people are inferior to others.The dilemma on the issue of similarities and differences comes from the needs of real life: in real life, it is wrong to deny differences, because the needs of men and women are different and need to be treated differently.This is mainly reflected in the differences in childbearing and child feeding.But if gender differences are recognized, it seems to find a basis for the status quo of inequality between men and women.

In my opinion, the issue of gender similarities and differences can actually be dealt with according to a simple principle: strive for equality in political rights between the sexes, but recognize and maintain other differences.Divide the stance on gender issues into two levels: strategic and tactical: on the short-term strategic level, emphasize the identity of men and women in order to strive for equal rights for both sexes in real life; Women's gender identity retains individual differences and creates sufficient conditions for the realization of colorful personalities.

(End of this chapter)