A Reconstruction of Gender: Implications of Social Construct and Gender Structure Theories

The relationship between gender and social construction has long been discussed in feminist and gender studies scholarship. However, the current discussion on gender has run up against a blockage of misapplication of social construct theory. To untangle this blockage, my analysis applies the philosophy of social construction as explained by Ian Hacking in his 1999 book The Social Construction of What? and the framework of gender as a social structure as put forth by feminist sociologist Barbara Risman since the early 2000s. I apply these frameworks to elucidate better the logical implications that follow from a social construct thesis about gender. I clarify what it means to make a social construct thesis about gender in terms of the non-inherentness of gender associations and explain what it might entail for future discussion in the field of Women’s and Gender Studies.