Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism

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Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism
Author Kathleen Stock
PublisherFleet
Publication date
2021
ISBN 978-0-349-72659-5

Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism is a 2021 book by Kathleen Stock which explores issues related to transgender civil rights and feminism. The book reached number 13 on the UK list of best selling non-fiction charts. [1]

Contents

Summary

In this book, Stock critiques the theory that individuals have an inner feeling known as a gender identity that is more socially significant than an individual's biological sex. Stock surveys and critiques the philosophical ideas underpinning this theory and argues that that biological sex performs an important social role in the contexts of exclusive spaces and resources, healthcare, epidemiology, political organization and data collection for non-trans women. [2] [3]

Stock argues the idea that biological sex is material (physical) and has social relevance. [4] She proposes that biological sex is binary in nature, [4] which is in opposition to Anne Fausto-Sterling's understanding of it is a spectrum. [5] Stock argues entry to "women's only spaces" (e.g.: toilets) to be based on her proposed definition of biological sex as opposed to the gender identity of the individual and they should be provided legal protection on a separate basis.

Reception

Reviewing in The Times, Emma Duncan called the book an easy read and said it helped her understand trans issues better. [6] In The Telegraph, Jane O'Grady describes the book as brave, enligtening and closely argued. [7]

Gaby Hinsliff reviewed the book in The Guardian together with Helen Joyce's book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality . Hinsliff said that Stock's book used a cooler lens than Joyce's and is focused on abstract concepts rather than personal stories. [8]

Reviewing in The Philosophers' Magazine , Julian Baggini comments that Stock's work is not the last word on the debate but a legitimate contribution, arguing that it is far from obvious that gender self-identification is the only legitimate criterion for identifying as a sex or gender and that those who do not accept this position should be taken seriously. [4]

Julie Bindel, author of Feminism for Women: The Real Route to Liberation and one of the people thanked by Stock in the book, wrote in The Spectator that Material Girls was meticulously researched and carefully argued. [9] However, Bindel also said that Stock incorrectly conflates feminists with gender critical activists, and that Stock's critique of standpoint epistemology, while valid in Bindel's opinion, does not distinguish the second wave feminist idea of the personal is political which focuses on connecting individual experiences to social forces rather than privileging these experiences epistemically. [9]

Philosopher Adam Briggle, himself the parent of a transgender son in Texas, argued in the Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective that Stock's framing choices, policy recommendations, and conclusions are not "logical consequence of her or anyone else’s theory" but her own pre-established positions. Briggle felt that Stock had only considered "the handful" of transgender people who could be used as examples to support these positions, while ignoring the experiences and concerns of transgender people in general. [10]

Professor Alex Sharpe found the book fell short of the claims made on its behalf and contributed to "the toxicity surrounding trans people and they make it more difficult for us to live our lives." [11] as the book contained many errors such as Stock's definition of sex being binary or how individual cases of violence committed by trans women are used to form spurious conclusions on trans women inclusion in women's prisons despite evidence to the contrary being available. [12]

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References

  1. ↑ Perry, Louise (2021-07-28). "It's still possible to "cancel" gender-critical feminists, but this strategy won't work". New Statesman. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  2. ↑ Noble, Barnes &. "Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism|Paperback". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  3. ↑ "Fleet to publish Kathleen Stock's Material Girls". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  4. 1 2 3 "Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism - a review - The Philosophers' Magazine". www.philosophersmag.com. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
  5. ↑ King, Dillon E. (22 July 2022). "The Inclusion of Sex and Gender Beyond the Binary in Toxicology". Frontiers in Toxicology. 4: 929219. doi: 10.3389/ftox.2022.929219 . PMC   9355551 . PMID   35936387.
  6. ↑ Duncan, Emma. "Material Girls by Kathleen Stock review — the ideas that frighten the trans bullies". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2023-03-05.
  7. ↑ O'Grady, Jane (2021-04-30). "If biological sex is a myth, so is evolution". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  8. ↑ Hinsliff, Gaby (2021-07-18). "Trans by Helen Joyce; Material Girls by Kathleen Stock – reviews". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 2023-03-05.
  9. 1 2 Bindel, Julie (2021-05-13). "The gender identity issue: Kathleen Stock puts her head above the parapet". The Spectator. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  10. ↑ "Which Reality? Whose Truth? A Review Kathleen Stock's Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism, Adam Briggle". Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective. 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  11. ↑ "Review of Helen Joyce's Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, Alex Sharpe". criticallegalthinking. 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  12. ↑ Hasenbush, Amira; Flores, Andrew R.; Herman, Jody L. (March 2019). "Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Laws in Public Accommodations: a Review of Evidence Regarding Safety and Privacy in Public Restrooms, Locker Rooms, and Changing Rooms". Sexuality Research and Social Policy. 16 (1): 70–83. doi:10.1007/s13178-018-0335-z. S2CID   256068575.
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