Queers, sissies, dykes and tomboys: Deconstructing the conflation of 'sex,' 'gender,' and 'sexual orientation' in Euro-American law and society

This Project documents and critiques the "conflation" of sex, gender, and sexual orientation in modern Euro-American society and in contemporary American law by looking at historical examples and textual sources that represent this conflation socially and legally. The thesis of this Project is that the conflation is a negative force both in law and throughout society because it subordinates women and sexual minority, and because it more generally engenders dishonesties, inequalities, and disharmonies both culturally and legally. This Project therefore argues in favor of non-conflationary, anti-conflationary, and post-conflationary re-arrangements of sex, gender, and sexual orientation as social and legal concepts.; To advance this thesis, this Project divides into a Foreword, five main Parts, and an Afterword. The Foreword introduces the conflation, clarifies key terms, and briefly outlines the conflation's relevance to the law. Part I then documents and deconstructs the conflation in modern culture, both as an intellectual conception as well as a normative standard, that is pervasive and ubiquitous. Part II next presents a similar deconstruction focused specifically on American legal culture, primarily as evidenced by Title VII case law. Part III continues with a summary presentation of Native American arrangements as a means of providing a concrete comparative counterpoint to the cultural and legal deconstructions already presented. Part IV follows by grouping together the "lessons" of the cultural, legal, and comparative deconstructions in order to take stock of the insights afforded by the preceding discussions. Part V looks toward doctrinal reconstruction by reworking legal rules based on these concepts to help cohere law and reality. Finally, the Afterword ends this Project with a discussion of Queer legal theory, multiplicity, intersectionality, and connectivity to help elaborate this Project's overall relevance to critical legal theories. Cumulatively, the several Parts of this Project endeavor to make some contribution toward the attainment of sex/gender equality in American law and society.