Asked about feminism, the philosopher Sylviane Agacinski believes that “the most frightening thing today is the grip that the economy is exerting over all individuals — not just women — in the name of growth, competitiveness and the endless race for profit. Every human life is threatened when it is turned into a ‘resource’ and ‘human capital’”.
At this time of gender confusion, Agacinski reminds us that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and transgender identity cannot “erase or replace gender distinction. On the contrary, these identities confirm it since it would be meaningless to call oneself bisexual, for example, if there were not at least two sexes“. She continues: “The desire to determine one’s own gender reflects […] a desire to escape the limits of our human condition: a carnal and living being, for whom gender and death mean its own finiteness”.
Regarding the controversy about ‘parent 1’ and ‘parent 2’, she explains that “philosophers like to say, with Hegel, that ‘we think in words’”. But words have the ambiguous power to show — or hide — reality. The lexical distinction between father and mother comes from the fact that one cannot replace the other because they do not have equivalent roles“. In reality, “two parents of the same sex is not enough, at least not to have a child. A third person, what I call a third body, has to be involved. She point out that “in California, this fragmented human body has become a biological resource available on the market”.
Le Figaro, Eugénie Bastié (07/03/2019)