性別詞的恆定主義、脈絡主義及相對主義

Invariantist, Contextualist, and Relativist Accounts of Gender Terms

本文探討的是數個現存與可能的關於性別詞的改良型語義學理 論：根據「恆定主義」，性別語詞的意義無關於脈絡；根據「脈絡主 義」，性別詞的意義是在使用脈絡中被確立；根據「相對主義」，性 別詞的意義則是在評價脈絡中被確立。本文指出這些理論都面臨一個 困境，即，它們皆無法妥適處理跨性別者選擇符合其自我認同的性別 詞。作者提出一個基於自我認同的恆定主義的分析，並討論這樣的處 理所面臨的一些挑戰。

In this paper, I explore a range of existent and possible ameliorative semantic theories of gender terms: invariantism, according to which gender terms are not context-sensitive, contextualism, according to which the meaning of gender terms is established in the context of use, and relativism, according to which the meaning of gender terms is established in the context of assessment. I show that none of these views is adequate with respect to the plight of trans people to use their term of choice to self-identify and be referred to accordingly. I then consider an invariantist view based on self-identification and explore some of its challenges.