Philosopher's Zone Is it time to get rid of legal gender status?
Sep 4, 2025
Davina Cooper, a research professor in law and political theory, dives into the complexities of legal gender status. She questions what it really means to have gender recognized on official documents, highlighting the lack of legal acknowledgement for other identities like sexuality and ethnicity. Cooper discusses the polarization around gender identity in the UK and critiques the rigidity of current legal definitions. She advocates for decertifying legal gender status, proposing a transformative approach to achieve social justice and support vulnerable communities.
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Recognition Drives Reexamination Of Legal Gender
- Changes like more gender identities and legal recognition processes prompted questioning the need for legal gender.
- Cooper says expanding categories forces administrators to ask why legal gender status is retained.
Survey Sparked Polarised Reactions
- The Future of Legal Gender public survey provoked polarised reactions and accusations of bias.
- Cooper explains it reflected deep public frustration and unclear consensus on terms like sex and gender.
Why UK Gender Debates Are Distinctive
- Britain’s gender debate became distinctive because some feminists emphasise sex as a material, inalterable class.
- Cooper traces this to materialist and radical feminist traditions and post-Brexit politics.