Making (non)sense of gender
pp. 285-306
in: Massimiliano Cappuccio, Tom Froese (eds), Enactive cognition at the edge of sense-making, Berlin, Springer, 2014Abstract
This chapter examines the phenomenon of "nonsensical gender" — that is, cases of breakdown within the domain of gender identity. First, it is argued that gender is a multifaceted system that shapes and subtends cognitive processing. Next, the chapter examines cases of gender break- down and compares those phenomena with other forms of cognitive breakdown. It is then contended that, while there are some striking similarities among all these failures to "make sense," a crucial distinc- tion needs to be made: gender interactions, unlike human-tool interac- tions, are marked by complex intersubjective modes of meaning-making. Thus, in order to "make sense" of gender misidentification, the chapter argues for a more nuanced account of breakdown, one that pays more heed to the interpersonal and intrapersonal dimensions of social sensemaking.