The Enigma of Gender: Why Identity Is Neither Individual Nor Essential

Current debates about gender identity are fraught with contradictions. Even as we increasingly recognize gender as an assigned category or social convention, we still see it as inherent to who we are, fundamental to our sense of self. But the quest to find one’s true self is unfulfillable. How can we find alternatives to the focus on getting our identity “right”?

This book offers a cultural critique of gender narratives, spanning traditional conformity to gender roles, the modern quest for individual authenticity beyond gender, and the recent social media–fueled concern with curating gendered profiles. Hans-Georg Moeller puts Daoist philosophy into conversation with present-day thinkers, showing why it helps us rethink common notions about identity. Discussing a wide range of cases, from Chinese foot binding to the politics around transgender issues today, he argues that we can defuse our anxieties by recognizing that gender―like all identities―is social, not individual, and changes at different times and in different places. Accessibly written and empathetic, The Enigma of Gender calls on us to be at ease with whoever we happen to be.

Hans-Georg Moeller is professor of philosophy at the University of Macau. His Columbia University Press books include You and Your Profile: Identity After Authenticity (2021) and Genuine Pretending: On the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi (2017), both with Paul J. D’Ambrosio.