Author

Marina Sidlow

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Edidin, Aron

Area of Concentration

Philosophy

Abstract

Most accounts of gender fail to be sufficiently trans-inclusive. Thalia Mae Bettcher’s account of gender as sincere self-identification is the only account of gender that can fully account for trans identities and experiences. Bettcher’s account can be considered a non-account of gender because it does not require any similarity in members of a gender-identity group besides their sincere avowal. In doing so, the account allows the concept of gender to be open to the interpretation of the individual. Sincere self-identification ought to be implemented in mainstream society by acknowledging ethical first-person authority over gender, or allowing speakers to have social authority over their gender identity for moral reasons.

Share

COinS