Bettcher on the Meaning of "Woman"

2024-2 Social Ontology Segment 2

 

Q) Bettcher describes two models for understanding transness. She argues that these models are misguided and sketches her own proposal. Describe briefly the two models that she discards. In what way is her own proposal different?

Bettcher describes two models for understanding transness. On the one hand, there is a wrong-body model, according to which transsexuality involves a misalignment between gender identity and the sexed body. Therefore, transsexuality is viewed as a problem of the body by transsexuals themselves. On the other hand, there is a “beyond the binary” model, according to which attempts are made to force transgender people into this binary system because they don’t fit neatly into the two dichotomous categories of man and woman. According to Bettcher, both accounts are defective. The wrong-body model relies on the naturalization of sex and gender in a troubling way, while the “beyond the binary” model fails to explain why many trans people don’t see themselves as ‘beyond the binary’, but rather as men or women. Moreover, Bettcher points out that both accounts are problematic in the sense that they presuppose the single meaning of woman. Espousing the multiple-meaning position, Bettcher considers “trans woman” as a basic expression not dependent on the meaning of “woman.”