Morgen-Dämmerung eines hermaphroditischen Ideals: Nietzsches Geschlechtervokabular in der <b> <i>Götzen-Dämmerung</i> </b>

Abstract This article does not examine Nietzsche’s direct statements on gender but instead focuses on the gendered vocabulary he employs in other contexts. The primary focus of this study is the gender-related terms in Twilight of the Idols . Nietzsche’s use of this vocabulary can be categorized into three types: negative depictions of feminine figures; the gendering of abstract concepts; and the positive appreciation of feminine activities – pregnancy and birth. The first category primarily evokes Nietzsche’s misogynistic image. In the second category, the article observes that Nietzsche appears to pit masculinity against femininity and to align them with his 1886–1888 distinction between the physiological states of abundant and impoverished life. In the third category, the article identifies a positive conception of femininity in Nietzsche’s thought, which destabilizes his misogynistic image. Finally, the article concludes that Twilight of the Idols heralds a new dawn of idols: the ideal of Dionysus, embodying a synthesis of feminine and masculine virtues.