Beyond Gender Labels: Equality as Non-Divisive Recognition

Beyond Gender Labels: Equality as Non-Divisive Recognition argues that equality cannot emerge from identity-based oppositional frameworks such as patriarchy, feminism, or gender-centered ideological structures. While these frameworks historically respond to genuine injustices, they often sustain categorical division by operating within binary oppositions. Drawing on political philosophy, feminist theory, and theories of recognition, this paper contends that equality is not achieved through counter-identification or ideological victory. Instead, equality arises through a transformation in relational perception: granting others the same intrinsic importance one grants oneself. Equality is thus framed not as sameness or competition, but as non-divisive ethical recognition.