Gender systems were used as a tool of colonial power and destruction
In short: In this theoretical essay, researcher Hypatia Lugones argues that the modern concept of gender was a violent imposition used during colonization. The paper suggests that the gender system we recognize today was introduced by the West to dismantle the cosmologies and communities of colonized peoples.
The author connects the 'coloniality of power' to the way global capitalist systems use race and gender to establish hierarchies of superiority. By framing gender as a colonial introduction, the work provides a perspective on how social classifications were used to organize and dominate populations.
As a theoretical essay, the work presents a conceptual argument rather than an empirical study of a specific population.
Why it matters: Understanding gender through the lens of colonial history reveals how social structures were used as tools of global power.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Research: Lugones (2007). Heterosexualism and the Colonial/Modern Gender System. Hypatia.
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