Episode 119: Stephanie Kapusta discusses misgendering
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What is the basic definition of misgendering and why does it matter?
Welcome to Elucidations. I'm Steven Chen, undergraduate intern for the podcast. In this episode of Elucidations hosted by Matt Tachman and Henry Curtis, we invited Professor Stephanie Capusta to discuss misgendering. Professor Capusta is assistant professor at Dalhousie University. She works on feminist philosophy, social and political philosophy, and ethics. Her recent publications include Intersex Diagnostics and Prognostics, Imposing Sex Predicate Determinacy, and Misgendering and Its Moral Contestability, which is also discussed in this episode. In the discussion, Professor Capusta criticized the philosophical account of gender that is based on a cluster of properties. That is, a person has to satisfy a minimum number of male and female properties to be categorized as male or female.
Professor Capusta points out that the cluster account has exclusionary and marginalizing effects on non passing transgender people. Other interesting questions covered in this episode include the distinction between respecting a person's gender and validating it. In what sense is misgendering a contestable use of language, the nature of the harm caused by misgendering, etcetera? Please enjoy.
Hello and welcome to Luciditions. I'm Matt Tykman.
And I'm Henry Curtis.
With us today is Stephanie Capusta, assistant professor of philosophy at Dalhousie University, and she's here to discuss misgendering. Stephanie Capusta, welcome.
Hello, thank you for inviting me.
I think probably our listeners are familiar with this terminology, but just in case people You know, aren't up to date. What did terms like sort of trans and cis mean or transgender versus cisgender?
Well I think what I mean by trans when I talk about transgender or trans, it's an umbrella term, particularly trans. It means from my point of view, all those people who in some way reject, resist or do not feel comfortable with the gender labels That they were assigned at birth. And so, by way of contrast, cis people or cisgender people would be those persons who do in some way, to a lesser or greater degree, of course, accept those gender labels that they were assigned at birth.
So this is actually something I wonder about a lot. Yeah. So does cisgender mean that you're comfortable with the labels you've been assigned at birth, or does it mean you're not that uncomfortable, as it were?
Well, yeah, that's an interesting question.
How do trans and cis identities differ and what terminology should we use?
I would I would say that there has to be a certain at least quite a few contexts in which you would say, I am a man or I am a woman where those labels were assigned to you at birth. So you may not be psychologically comfortable to a greater or lesser degree, uh, with those labels, but there has to be a range of contexts if you are willing in some sense, even begrudgingly, to say, Yes, I am a man, I am a woman in some sense.
Would you say that in order for someone in your view to be trans they would have to take the discomfort that they feel with the gender they were assigned at birth and identify as a gender different than that? Or could a certain degree of uncomfortability itself qualify someone as being trans?
Yes, this is quite a complex question actually because there are some trans people who, as we say in trans communities, live or in some trans communities live stealth, who self identify as the gender opposite if we want to use those opposites, to the gender they were assigned at birth, but for various reasons cannot publicly declare themselves to be of that gender. Mm-hmm. Um so from a philosophical point of view I think those are very difficult cases. I think there has to be some sort of at least psychological rejection or existential rejection if you prefer that kind of terminology. Okay. Of the label, the gender label that you're assigned at birth, although it may not be publicly expressed.
I found that my students are often surprised to hear that there are like many different ways via language that we acknowledge each other's genders. So what are some examples of that?
Um well the way we acknowledge people's genders probably is through pronouns, through pronoun use.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the basic definition of misgendering and why does it matter?
0:00–3:17
2
How do trans and cis identities differ and what terminology should we use?
3:17–10:09
3
What are everyday examples of misgendering and why are they harmful?
10:09–19:32
4
How do philosophical “cluster” accounts of gender marginalize non‑passing trans people?
19:32–27:13
5
What kinds of psychological and epistemic harms result from persistent misgendering?
27:13–34:17
6
What criteria can determine when a gender‑term deployment is morally unacceptable?
34:17–41:01
7
Has feminist philosophy made progress in reducing misgendering, and what gaps remain?
41:01–44:45
8
What are the key take‑aways and next steps for addressing misgendering in philosophy?
44:45–44:46
Speakers
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