Paper short abstract:

Gender essentialism has been supported by many branches of knowledge through centuries, from religion to philosophy, even biology. Nowadays, many of its main defenders come from the area of psychology and their supposed scientific statements are used by many as the justification of gender inequality

Paper long abstract:

Gender essentialism is a school of thought that has been present in Western culture throughout the centuries, generally serving as a tool to justify inequality between women and men. With the

passage of time and social, cultural and scientific advances, essentialist thinking has evolved and

modified its discourse and foundations, in such a way that it has remained latent to this day. In this way, the essentialist discourse predominant today, far from relying on religious or philosophical postulates, as it did in the past, has sought refuge and legitimization in certain branches of science, one of the most prominent since its beginnings being psychology.

Through this work, I propose to analyze the role that psychology has played in the dissemination of gender essentialist ideas during the last century, as well as the survival of this current of thought until today, the postulates and influence held by its main defenders and its impact at a social level as a “scientific” explanation of inequalities between the sexes. To do this, I have made a selection of some of the authors who have most influenced the development of psychology and who have maintained essentialist positions. Regarding the modern authors that I consider representatives of this discourse, they have been selected based on their academic prestige and the impact that their theses have, both on a scientific and social level.