Essentialism and Gender

Anthropologists call these elements of a personÆs identity ascribed status (as opposed to achieved status, which comprises those elements of oneÆs identity that a person has control over). These are the aspects of a personÆs life that he or she has no control over. But do these ascribed qualities matter because society treats people as if they do? Or do they matter because there exist essential differences between different types of people û between blacks and whites, for example, or between men and women? Those who believe that significant differences exist between different groups are called essentialists, for they argue that different groups of people are fundamentally different because of the accident of their birth into a certain category.

This paper examines the issue of essentialism as it applies to gender, discussing both the truthfulness and the usefulness of this model of human nature.

The essentialist argument has historically had a great deal of appeal. Sigmund FreudÆs famous dictum that ôSex is destinyö is one example of essentialist thinking. So û to skip a century and

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Approximate Word count = 1183
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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