Nina Paley on Nostr: There’s a lot to trash, and complaints against Illy’s sartorial choices have ...

There’s a lot to trash, and complaints against Illy’s sartorial choices have merit.

I think some feminists are now making arguments in favor of gender and the “gender critical” label holds them back. I don’t like gender and push against it, but it’s increasingly clear that gender serves some protective function, which may be why all societies have it. Perhaps gender (including gendered clothing) makes a symbolic “space” such that when men violate it, they set off alarms prior to violating women’s physical spaces and bodies. That is a social good and protects women. But there’s always a tension between security and liberty, and if gender offers security it does so at the cost of freedom.

I’d like feminists to debate gender openly in good faith, and those who favor it to make strong arguments.