Kathleen Mary Linn Stock is a British philosopher and writer. She was a professor of philosophy at the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
until 2021. She has published academic work on
aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...
, fiction, imagination,
sexual objectification
Sexual objectification is the act of treating a person solely as an object of sexual desire. Objectification more broadly means treating a person as a commodity or an object without regard to their personality or dignity. Objectification is mo ...
, and
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
.
Her views on
transgender rights
A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to esta ...
and
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...
have become a contentious issue.
In December 2020, she was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(OBE) in recognition of services to higher education,
a decision which was subsequently criticised by a group of over 600 academic philosophers who argued that Stock's "harmful rhetoric" contributed to the marginalisation of transgender people.
In October 2021, she resigned from the University of Sussex in the aftermath of a student campaign that called for her dismissal and allegations of the Sussex branch of the
University and College Union
The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff.
UCU is a vertical union representing casualised researchers and teaching staff, "permanent" ...
of "institutional transphobia."
A group of over 200 academic philosophers from the UK signed an open letter in support of Stock's academic freedom.
[
]
Early life
Stock was born in Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...
and raised in Montrose Scotland; the daughter of English academics at Aberdeen University
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
, a philosophy lecturer and a newspaper proofreader. She was an undergraduate reading French and philosophy at Exeter College, Oxford
(Let Exeter Flourish)
, old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall''
, named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter
, established =
, sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, rector = Sir Richard Trainor
...
, followed by an MA at St Andrews
St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...
. Stock then won a scholarship for a philosophy PhD at Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
.
Academic career
Following her graduation, Stock briefly taught at the University of Lancaster
, mottoeng = Truth lies open to all
, established =
, endowment = £13.9 million
, budget = £317.9 million
, type = Public
, city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster
, country = England
, coor =
, campus = Bailrigg
, faculty = ...
and the University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
before joining the University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
in 2003, where she worked as a reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
and later a professor of philosophy. On 28 October 2021, the university announced Stock's resignation from the position following controversy around her views on gender identity; the announcement, written by the school's vice-chancellor, expressed regret that Stock did not "feel able to return to work" and that she had been subject to "bullying and harassment".
Stock has written one monograph as well as articles in peer-reviewed
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...
academic journals
An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...
, and has contributed several chapters to edited volumes. She edited ''Philosophers on Music: Experience, Meaning, and Work'' (first edition 2007), and together with Katherine Thomson-Jones, she edited ''New Waves in Aesthetics'' (2008). In her monograph ''Only Imagine: Fiction, Interpretation and Imagination'' (2017), she argues for authorial intentionalism.
Stock was the vice-president of the British Society of Aesthetics from 2019 to 2020. She has given lectures at the University of York
The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for post-nominals) is a collegiate research university, located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, co ...
, the Aristotelian Society
The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, more generally known as the Aristotelian Society, is a philosophical society in London.
History
Aristotelian Society was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Squa ...
, the London Aesthetics Forum, the University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...
, and the American Society for Aesthetics
American Society for Aesthetics (ASA) is a
philosophical organization founded in 1942 to promote the study of aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the ...
. On 28 October 2021 Stock resigned from the University of Sussex. Following Stock's resignation, she announced she would be joining the University of Austin
University of Austin (UATX) is a proposed American private liberal arts college. Announced in 2021, it is to be located in Austin, Texas. , the venture was reliant on a fiscal sponsor and was seeking accreditation in the process of securing a ...
as a fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
on a part-time basis without the requirement to move to Austin.
Views on gender self-identification
Stock is acknowledged as a prominent "gender-critical
Feminist views on transgender topics vary widely. Third-wave feminists and fourth-wave feminists tend to view the struggle for trans rights as an integral part of intersectional feminism. Former president of the American National Organization f ...
" feminist. She has opposed transgender self-identification in regards to proposed reforms to the 2004 UK Gender Recognition Act. She has said that many trans women are "still males with male genitalia, many are sexually attracted to females, and they should not be in places where females undress or sleep in a completely unrestricted way." She has denied opposing trans rights, saying, "I gladly and vocally assert the rights of trans people to live their lives free from fear, violence, harassment or any discrimination" and "I think that discussing female rights is compatible with defending these trans rights".
Students and academics began to criticise Stock's views in 2018, when she spoke against proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act; the changes would have allowed people of all ages to legally self-identify as a particular gender without the requirement of a psychological or medicalised diagnosis. She received death threats as a result of her position.
In 2019, Stock signed the "Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights" from the Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC). In June 2019, Stock was invited to speak at the Aristotelian Society
The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, more generally known as the Aristotelian Society, is a philosophical society in London.
History
Aristotelian Society was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Squa ...
about her views on gender identity. The organization Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) UK and their international counterpart released a joint statement against Stock speaking at the event, saying "Not every item of personal and ideological obsession is worthy of philosophical debate. In particular, scepticism about the rights of marginalised groups and individuals, where issues of life and death are at stake, are not up for debate."
In 2020, Stock testified before the Women and Equalities Committee
The Women and Equalities Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was established following the 2015 general election to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Governme ...
of the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, and gave oral evidence in response to the reform of the Gender Recognition Act
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows people who have gender dysphoria to change their legal gender. It came into effect on 4 April 2005.
Operation of the law
The Gender Recognition Ac ...
.
Journalist Janice Turner
Janice Turner (born 8 April 1964) is a British journalist, and a columnist and feature writer for ''The Times''.
Early life
Turner was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. She went to Ridgewood School in the north of Doncaster. She attended the ...
wrote in ''The Times'' that Stock "teaches trans students, respecting their pronouns, and has written repeatedly in support of their human rights".
In 2021, Stock made a submission to the proposed Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill is a proposed Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that would impose requirements for universities and students' unions to protect freedom of speech. The legislation would allow speakers to s ...
, highlighting what she described as harassment and a culture of fear and self-censorship in British universities in relation to her gender critical views concerning "transactivist demands to recognise and prioritise gender identity".
Her 2021 book, ''Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism'', offers a critical discussion of gender identity theory. Her thesis, according to reviewer Christina Patterson
Christina Mary Patterson (born 1963) is a British journalist. Now a freelancer, she was formerly a writer and columnist at ''The Independent.''
Biography
Patterson was born in Rome to a Swedish Lutheran mother and Scottish Presbyterian father wh ...
, is that there is "a new orthodoxy, one in which sex gives way to feeling, and feeling trumps facts". In the book, Stock supports protective laws for trans people, but opposes, according to ''The Guardian'', "the institutionalisation of the idea that gender identity is all that matters – that how you identify automatically confers all the entitlements of that sex". She describes the law that gives trans people the right to change gender as a legal fiction, a kind of "useful untruth".
In May 2021, Stock was appointed as a trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...
of the LGB Alliance
The LGB Alliance is a British advocacy group founded in the UK in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall (charity), Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders were Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malc ...
.
Campaign by students at Sussex University
In October 2021, a group describing themselves as queer, trans, and non-binary University of Sussex students began a campaign for Stock to be fired, stating that she was "espousing a bastardised version of radical feminism
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a Political radicalism, radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are al ...
that excludes and endangers trans people". Students criticised Stock for being a trustee for LGB Alliance
The LGB Alliance is a British advocacy group founded in the UK in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall (charity), Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders were Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malc ...
and for signing the declaration of the Women's Human Rights Campaign. The group, Anti Terf Sussex, said Stock was a danger to transgender people and that "We're not up for debate. We cannot be reasoned out of existence". A statement on Instagram said it was from "an anonymous, unaffiliated group of queer, trans and non-binary students who will not allow our community to be slandered and harmed by someone who's icsalary comes from our pockets". Police advised Stock to take precautions for her safety, including installing CCTV at her home and using bodyguards on campus.
Stock herself said: "Universities aren't places where students should just expect to hear their own thoughts reflected back at them. Arguments should be met by arguments and evidence by evidence, not intimidation or aggression". She said that months previously, she had complained to the University of Sussex, alleging it had failed to protect her and to safeguard her academic freedom.
Supporters of Stock's position
Junior Minister for Women and Equalities
The minister for women and equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom which leads the Government Equalities Office. This is an independent department within the wider Cabinet Office that has responsibility for addressing all fo ...
Kemi Badenoch
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch ( ; née Adegoke, 2 January 1980) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for International Trade, President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2022. She previously served in ...
, barrister Allison Bailey, and writer Julie Bindel
Julie Bindel (born 20 July 1962) is an English radical feminist writer. She is also co-founder of the law reform group Justice for Women, which has aimed to help women who have been prosecuted for assaulting or killing violent male partners.
A ...
spoke in Stock's defence and University of Sussex vice-chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...
Adam Tickell
Adam Tickell FAcSS (born 1965) is a British economic geographer, whose work explores finance, English local governance, and the politics of ideas. He is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, and was formerly Vice-Chancellor of the Uni ...
condemned the campaign as a threat to academic freedom
Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...
. Announcing an investigation into the protests, the vice-chancellor stated "I'm really concerned that we have masked protesters putting up posters calling for the sacking of somebody for exercising her right to articulate her views", and that the institution had "legal and moral duties to ensure people can speak freely".
A group of over 200 academic philosophers from the UK signed an open letter in support of Stock's academic freedom, and her ability to engage "in open and scholarly debate without fear of harassment." Another open letter in support of Stock's academic freedom was signed by legal academics.
''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' reported that the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...
, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, "called the attacks on Professor Kathleen Stock disgraceful and said that tougher regulation was needed to protect people from abuse." She said: "The rights of trans people must of course be protected, but the attempt to silence academic freedom of expression is the opposite of what university life is about". Minister for women and equalities Liz Truss
Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...
gave Falkner's letter her "full support". Oxford historian Selina Todd
Selina Todd (born 1975) is an English historian and writer. From 2015, she has been Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Todd's research focuses on the history of the working-class, women and feminism in modern Britain. Since ...
described Tickell's statement as paying "lip service to academic freedom while assuring students of the university's 'inclusivity'" and criticised the University and College Union
The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff.
UCU is a vertical union representing casualised researchers and teaching staff, "permanent" ...
for their silence. ''The Times'' published a letter in support of Stock from a group of trans people, saying that they were "appalled that trans rights ... are being used to excuse an unprincipled campaign of harassment and abuse."
A statement of solidarity signed by hundreds of "academics, retired academics, students, alumni and university/college employees" circulated by the GC Academia Network,[ (As of 16 October 2021: 2155 signatories.)] a group that describes itself as gender-critical
Feminist views on transgender topics vary widely. Third-wave feminists and fourth-wave feminists tend to view the struggle for trans rights as an integral part of intersectional feminism. Former president of the American National Organization f ...
, expressed concerns "about the ongoing erosion of women's sex-based rights in law, policy and practice" and condemns the recent escalation of intimidation by a small group.
Opponents of Stock's position
The Sussex branch of the University and College Union (UCU) strongly criticized the vice-chancellor over his statement, saying that Tickell had not upheld the dignity and respect of trans students and staff. The union said that it stands in solidarity with the students and their right to protest, and that "we urge our management to take a clear and strong stance against transphobia at Sussex." It also called for an investigation into "institutional transphobia" at the University of Sussex. However, it added "we do not endorse the call for any worker to be summarily sacked." Responding to the statement, Stock said that it had "effectively ended" her career at Sussex University.
The Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Taiwo Owatemi
Taiwo Owatemi (born 22 July 1992) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North West since 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she was Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from September 2021 to Septembe ...
, called UCU's statement "strong and principled" and said she was "greatly concerned by tock'swork as a trustee for the LGB Alliance group" which she said should be "rejected by all those who believe in equality."
Shortly after releasing the statement, members of the UCU Sussex branch executive said they had received personal threats, and had their contact details released. A spokesperson on behalf of the UCU's national organisation condemned this and said "these matters are being raised immediately with leadership at the university."
Resignation
After announcing her resignation from the university on 28 October, Stock gave a radio interview on ''Woman's Hour
''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946.
History
Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...
'' on 3 November. She denied that she is transphobic and explained that her resignation followed attacks on her by colleagues who are opposed to her views and who foster an "extreme" response from their students: "instead of getting involved in arguing with me using reason, evidence – the traditional university methods – they tell their students in lectures that I pose a harm to trans students."
Honours
Stock was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours
The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...
for services to higher education. In response, over 600 academics signed a letter criticising the government's decision and expressing concern about a "tendency to mistake transphobic fear mongering for valuable scholarship, and attacks on already marginalised people for courageous exercises of free speech". Stock responded that the content of the letter was ridiculous, saying "they accused me of completely wild things like supporting patriarchy and preventing transgender people from accessing medical care, even though I have not said anything about it except when it comes to children". A counter letter defending her was signed by more than 400.
Personal life
Stock is lesbian, having come out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
later in life; in ''Material Girls'', she describes herself as "a lesbian and... a sex-nonconforming woman". Janice Turner
Janice Turner (born 8 April 1964) is a British journalist, and a columnist and feature writer for ''The Times''.
Early life
Turner was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. She went to Ridgewood School in the north of Doncaster. She attended the ...
in ''The Times'' described her, amongst other terms, as a "left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
lesbian".[ She lives in Sussex with her partner and two sons from a previous marriage.]
Selected works
* ''Philosophers on Music: Experience, Meaning, and Work'' (Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2007), ed.
* ''New Waves in Aesthetics,'' edited with Katherine Thomson-Jones (Palgrave-Macmillan
Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...
, 2008).
* ''Fantasy, imagination, and film''. ''British Journal of Aesthetics,'' 2009. 49 (4): 357–369.
* ''Fictive Utterance and Imagining''. ''Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume.'' 2011, 85 (1): 145–161.
* ''Some Reflections on Seeing-as, Metaphor-Grasping and Imagining''. ''Aisthesis: Pratiche, Linguaggi E Saperi Dell'Estetico.'' 2013, 6 (1): 201–213.
* ''Imagining and Fiction: Some Issues''. ''Philosophy Compass.'' 2013, 8 (10): 887–896.
* ''Sexual Objectification''. ''Analysis,'' 2015, 75 (2): 191–195.
* ''Learning from fiction and theories of fictional content''. ''Teorema: International Journal of Philosophy,'' 2016, (3): 69–83.
*''Only Imagine: Fiction, Interpretation and Imagination'' (Oxford University Press, 2017).
* ''Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism'' (Fleet, 2021).
References
External links
*
University of Sussex bio
*
*
How I survived my annus horribilis
by Kathleen Stock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stock, Kathleen
Living people
Philosophers of literature
Philosophers of music
British women philosophers
21st-century British philosophers
Academics of the University of Sussex
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Alumni of the University of St Andrews
Academics of Lancaster University
Academics of the University of East Anglia
British feminists
Lesbian feminists
LGBT writers from the United Kingdom
Feminism and transgender
LGBT philosophers
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Montrose, Angus