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Kathleen Mary Linn Stock OBE (born November 1972) is a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex. She has published on aesthetics, fiction, imagination, sexual objectification, sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Her views on gender self-identification have become a contentious issue. Stock received broad media attention in January 2021 when she was criticised in a letter signed by 600 philosophers and other academics for what they described as transphobia, objecting to her receiving an OBE. In October 2021, a student campaign calling for her dismissal received significant media attention, and prompted both criticism and support of Stock.

Academic work

Until 2020, Stock was the vice-president of the British Society of Aesthetics. In her monograph Only Imagine: Fiction, Interpretation and Imagination (2017), she examines the nature of fictional content.

Stock has written one monograph as well as articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, 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).

Stock has given lectures at the University of York, the Aristotelian Society, the London Aesthetics Forum, the University of Wolverhampton, the American Society for Aesthetics, and other places.

In 2021, Stock made a submission to the proposed Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, highlighting what she described as harassment and a culture of fear and self-censorship in British universities in relation to her views on gender.

Views on gender identification

Stock is acknowledged as a prominent "gender-critical" feminist.

She has opposed transgender self-identification in regards to proposed reforms to the UK Gender Recognition Act. She has called for trans women who have male genitalia to be excluded from women's changing rooms, characterising them as "still males" who may be sexually attracted to women. 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 changes to the Gender Recognition Act to allow people to choose which gender to identify as without needing a medical opinion. She received death threats. In 2019, when Stock was due to give a lecture, graduate students ran a simultaneous talk to denounce her views.

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, is that there is "a new orthodoxy, one in which sex gives way to feeling, and feeling trumps facts". In it, Stock supports protective laws for trans people, but opposes the institutionalisation of the idea that gender identity is all that matters—that how one identifies 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 of the LGB Alliance.

Campaign by students at Sussex University

In October 2021, a group of LGBT+ University of Sussex students began a campaign for Stock to be fired, stating that she was "espousing a bastardised version of radical feminism that excludes and endangers trans people". 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 salary comes from our pockets". Police advised Stock to take precautions for her safety, including installing CCTV at her home and using bodyguards on campus.

Reactions

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.

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, barrister Allison Bailey, and writer Julie Bindel spoke in Stock's defence, while University of Sussex vice-chancellor Adam Tickell condemned the campaign as a threat to academic freedom. 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".

In response to the vice-chancellor's comments, 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. 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, called UCU's statement "strong and principled" and said she was "greatly concerned by work 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."

The head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, described the attacks on Stock as "disgraceful" and said further regulation is needed. 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 gave Falkner's letter her "full support". Oxford historian Selina Todd described Tickell's statement as paying "lip service to academic freedom while assuring students of the university's 'inclusivity'" and criticised the Universities and Colleges Union for their silence.

A statement signed by hundreds of people and from the GC Academia Network, a group that describes itself as gender-critical, expressed concerns "about the ongoing erosion of women’s sex-based rights in law, policy and practice” and condemning the recent escalation of intimidation by a small group.

Honours

Stock was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours 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.

Selected works

• Philosophers on Music: Experience, Meaning, and Work (Oxford University Press, 2007), ed.
• New Waves in Aesthetics, edited with Katherine Thomson-Jones (Palgrave-Macmillan, 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.
• Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism (Fleet, 2021).

References

1. "Kathleen Stock : University of Sussex". University of Sussex. 2021. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
2. ^ "Kathleen Stock (University of Sussex): Publications". PhilPeople. 8 October 2021. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021.
3. Badshah, Nadeem; and agency (7 October 2021). "University defends 'academic freedoms' after calls to sack professor". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. A university has said it will not tolerate threats to "academic freedoms" after a professor faced calls to be sacked over her views on gender identification.
4. Lawrie, Eleanor (8 October 2021). "University of Sussex backs professor in free speech row". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. The University of Sussex's vice chancellor has defended a professor after protesters tried to have her sacked for her views on gender identity.
5. Grove, Jack (7 January 2020). "Kathleen Stock: life on the front line of transgender rights debate". Times Higher Education (THE). Archived from the original on 7 January 2020. "It is quite a strange situation to work somewhere where people make it clear that they loathe you," reflected Kathleen Stock, professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, on the backlash she faced for her views on gender identification.
6. "Outraged academics condemn government for handing anti-trans professor Kathleen Stock an OBE". PinkNews. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
7. ^ Woolcock, Nicola (12 October 2021). "Universities union backs trans rights over threatened professor Kathleen Stock". The Times. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
8. ^ "Professor says career 'effectively ended' by union's transphobia claims". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
9. "About the Society". The British Society of Aesthetics. 2019. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019.
10. Gilmore, Jonathan (4 May 2018). "Review of Only Imagine: Fiction, Interpretation, and Imagination". Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
11. "Visiting Speaker: Kathleen Stock - Philosophy". University of York. January 2019. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
12. "Kathleen Stock". The Aristotelian Society. 8 December 2018. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019.
13. "Kathleen Stock". London Aesthetics Forum. 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
14. "Dr Kathleen Stock". University of Wolverhampton. December 2017. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
15. "67th Annual Meeting" (PDF). The American Society for Aesthetics. October 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 October 2021.
16. Stock, Kathleen (16 September 2021). "Written evidence on the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill". www.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
17. ^ O'Malley, Stella (27 April 2021). "Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism by Kathleen Stock review". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021.
18. ^ "A backlash against gender ideology is starting in universities". The Economist. 5 June 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021. When Kathleen Stock, a professor of philosophy at Sussex University and one of Britain's most prominent gender-critical academics, was given a government award for services to education last December, hundreds of academics from around the world signed an open letter denouncing her. More than 400 signed a counter letter in her defence.
19. "Changing the concept of "woman" will cause unintended harms". The Economist. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
20. "A conversation with Kathleen Stock on Transgender Identity". The Badger. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
21. Fazackerley, Anna (30 October 2018). "UK universities struggle to deal with 'toxic' trans rights row". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019.
22. Doherty-Cove, Jody (5 July 2018). "'Trans women are still males with male genitalia' - university lecturer airs controversial views". The Argus. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
23. ^ Griffiths, Sian (9 October 2021). "Kathleen Stock, the Sussex University professor in trans row, urged to get bodyguards". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
24. Turner, Janice (8 October 2021). "The silent majority must stand up to student bullies". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
25. Bindel, Julie (15 May 2021). "The gender identity issue: Kathleen Stock puts her head above the parapet". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021.
26. ^ Patterson, Christina (25 April 2021). "Material Girls by Kathleen Stock, review — a controversial look at transgender issues". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021.
27. O'Grady, Jane (30 April 2021). "If biological sex is a myth, so is evolution". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021.
28. Moorhead, Joanna (22 May 2021). "Kathleen Stock: taboo around gender identity has chilling effect on academics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021.
29. ^ Tande, Mikkel Ihle (30 July 2021). "Hun ble i januar anklaget for transfobi av 600 kolleger. Nå har professoren skrevet bok". Aftenposten (in Norwegian Bokmål). Oslo. Archived from the original on 12 October 2021.
30. "LGB ALLIANCE". GOV.UK. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 15 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
31. ^ Kelleher, Patrick (7 October 2021). "Students demand Sussex uni fire anti-trans professor Kathleen Stock: 'We've f**king had enough'". PinkNews. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
32. ^ Woolcock, Nicola (7 October 2021). "Sussex University students campaign to have 'transphobic' professor Kathleen Stock sacked". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021.
33. ^ Lawrie, Eleanor (8 October 2021). "University of Sussex backs professor in free speech row". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. The University of Sussex's vice chancellor has defended a professor after protesters tried to have her sacked for her views on gender identity.
34. ^ Woolcock, Nicola (9 October 2021). "Professor hits back in 'toxic' transgender row". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
35. "Une universitaire britannique accusée de transphobie dénonce une campagne de « harcèlement »". KOMITID (in French). 11 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
36. ^ "Free speech is a moral issue". The Daily Telegraph. 8 October 2021. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021.
37. "Shadow minister criticises Kathleen Stock for being LGB Alliance trustee". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
38. Knowles, Tom (11 October 2021). "Liz Truss hits out at abuse of Kathleen Stock, professor in trans dispute". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021.
39. Woolcock, Nicola (13 October 2021). "Kathleen Stock: academics back Sussex professor accused of transphobia". The Times. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021.
40. "No. 63218". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2020. p. N14.

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