What Do We Want? To Eliminate Gender! When Do We Want It? Later!

Abstract

AbstractGender eliminativism, also known as gender abolitionism, is the view that we should get rid of gender. I defend gender eliminativism by suggesting that many arguments that ostensibly call for rejecting it are in fact just arguments for delaying it. Although it may be true that presently gender eliminativism should not occur because of the role gender plays in people's identities, because of the need for gender to remedy oppression, because elimination is not pragmatic, because elimination is utopian, and because we should have more rather than fewer genders, these are all reasons to delay, rather than deny, gender eliminativism.