Here's a question: if gender is socially constructed and it's good or correct to say that gender is on a spectrum, then why isn't it good or correct to say that race, which is also socially constructed, is also on a spectrum (from say the darkest-skinned people to the lightest-skinned)?
Essentializing race is also incredibly problematic, and we talk about the social construction of race all the time. So I don't get your point. We do examine the impact of colorism.
I don't really think that it makes sense to say that gender is on a spectrum is my point, and I'm trying to make the point by saying that if it were correct to say that gender is on a spectrum then it would also be correct to say that race is on a spectrum. But when it comes to race we say that
Why are you coming into my post to make this point. And race and gender are different types of social structure that function differently and in tandem (legally, socially/culturally), so saying gender is a spectrum means that race has to be a spectrum is nonsense.
I was just curious. I'll take my questions elsewhere in the future.
ultimately--a la Karen and Barbara Fields in their book Racecraft--what we want is to end up in a place where we realize that race is not real but socially constructed. When people say that gender is on a spectrum, though, it feels like they're saying that there is something real about gender.