Abstract

SILVA, Emanuelle Castaldelli  and  LAURENTI, Carolina. B. F. Skinner and Simone de Beauvoir: "womankind" in the light of the model of selection by consequences. Perspectivas [online]. 2016, vol.7, n.2, pp. 197-211. ISSN 2177-3548.  http://dx.doi.org/10.18761/pac.2016.009.

Skinner and other behaviour analysts advocate that Behaviour Analysis' principles may be used for constructing a better world. However, recent studies have pointed out the need of further exploitation into this potential, especially in discussions regarding social matters, such as feminism. Considering this critical analysis, this article aims to discuss how the anti-essentialist and complex conception of human being, implied in Skinner's model of selection by consequences, may be consistently associated with one of the major feminist thesis, the distinction between sex and gender, structured and highlighted by Beauvoir's work. By understanding anti-essentialism and human multidimensionality, this article sets matching points between Skinner's propositions on human behaviour and Beauvoir's statements on the feminine condition. We conclude that the notion of human being encouraged by the model of selection by consequences sets a pluralist conception of womankind, being compatible with the thesis that there's no such thing as a feminine essence and that cultural practices define a woman's place in society, not her biological sex.

Keywords : womankind; feminism; selection by consequences; human being; complexity.

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