Abstract

It seems that there are compelling arguments why gender is not an ontological category. Although the deconstruction of the ontological accommodation of the subject (and of our world) has opened up new possibilities of understanding the subject and its structures, some pitfalls can be detected in the relevant literature. In particular, the theory that rejects essentialist understandings of the subject implicitly retains vestiges of the ontology that it rejects. A case in point is the anti-essentialist view on gender in its implicit reliance on the gender binarism that it meant to discard. In the present article, I critically engage with Judith Butler’s position on gender identity and with her aim of subverting gender binarism. Butler has based her position on grounds of gender as a non-ontological category. My main argument is that her effort to subvert gender binarism in and through the example of homosexuality is not as fruitful as the relevant literature has assumed (consider, for instance, that Butlers’ work has been highly influential in feminist and queer theory, cultural studies and other fields). Gender binarism subversion in and through the example of homosexuality is problematic because homosexuality adheres to the body binarism, thus to its “raw” corporeality, as much as heterosexuality does: in both heterosexuality and homosexuality, the sex of the body still determines one’s sexual orientation and her/his choice of partner(s). Thus, contra assertions to the opposite, I argue that homosexuality remains trapped in the “metaphysics of gender substance.” I conclude this article by discussing why bisexuality escapes the body binary and thus gender binarism.

摘要

似乎有令人信服的争论，为什么性别不是本体论范畴。尽管对主体（以及我们的世界）的本体论适应的解构开辟了理解主体及其结构的新可能性，但在相关文献中仍可以发现一些陷阱。特别是，拒绝本质主义对主题的理解的理论隐含地保留了它所拒绝的本体的痕迹。一个典型的例子是反本质主义者对性别的看法，因为它隐含了它要放弃的性别二元主义。在本文中，我批评朱迪思·巴特勒（Judith Butler）关于性别认同的立场，并旨在颠覆性别二元主义。巴特勒基于性别作为非本体论范畴而确立了自己的立场。我的主要论点是，她通过同性恋的例子来颠覆性别二元主义的努力并未像相关文献所认为的那样富有成果（例如，考虑到巴特勒的工作在女权主义和酷儿理论，文化研究中具有很大的影响力和其他字段）。在同性恋中以及通过同性恋的例子来颠覆性别二元论是有问题的，因为同性恋坚持身体二元论，因此也像异性恋一样坚持其“原始”有性：在异性恋和同性恋中，身体的性别仍然决定着人的性取向和她/他选择的合作伙伴。因此，与相反的主张相反，我认为同性恋仍然被困在“性别实质的形而上学”中。