The author analyzes attitudes to the phenomenon of sexuality on the basis of two theoretical perspectives, the evolutionary and the feminist, between which there has long been conflict. In his opinion, however, they are only seemingly contrary. The main texts of both trends of thought concern entirely different problems and at the substantive level there is basically no contradiction between them. It is important that evolutionary theory often undermines existing cultural schemas, although this is rarely perceived by proponents of feminist theories. Evolutionists, in turn, rather too often identify feminism with radical social constructivism. Another extreme is a view that could be described as evolutionary sexism, consisting in justifying the gender status quo by reference to biological essentialism. After elimination of the extreme approaches, which are rare in any case, it is possible to use the results of evolutionary research in the debate over gender equality and to transform the two monologues into a cohesive dialogue; this, in the author’s opinion, is an important task for empirically oriented social theory.

After World War II, sexology developed in Poland as a holistic discipline embracing achievements in medicine, psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, history, and religious studies. Sexuality was perceived as multidimensional and embedded in relationships, culture, the economy, and society at large. This approach was fundamentally different than the biomedical model, which started to develop rapidly in the United States after Masters and Johnson’s Human Sexual Response. The author discusses the impact of the two different models of sexology on the understanding of gender, while also considering the influence of economic and political factors (capitalism and socialism) on the development of scientific knowledge.

This paper addresses issues of feminism, masculinity, and the emotional culture of middle-class men who self-declare as feminists. The author discusses feminist theories on masculinity and its relations with femininity, critical theories of masculinity, and the role of emotional culture in the expression of masculinity. Feminists have proposed a dimorphic definition of feminism as a political movement and personal attitude critical of masculine domination. The critique of patriarchal, hegemonic masculinity has led feminists either to identify with “positive” masculinity or to reject masculinity for a post-gender narrative or material-discursive fact of “being a man,” which suggests an inadequacy of the sex/gender distinction in the description of gender identity. The identification with feminism allows men to avoid the crisis of traditional masculinity and the perspective of gendered emotions, as well as to gain insight into gendered determinants of emotional expression.

The aim of the paper is to assess the feminist potential of political liberalism, as the latter was defined by Charles Larmore and John Rawls. The analysis focuses on liberal feminism to determine whether it would be more convincing if it became politico-liberal feminism. This problem is addressed with reference to two authors – Martha C. Nussbaum and Susan Moller Okin – the former being an advocate and the latter a critic of the liberal feminism and political liberalism merger. It is argued that Okin’s worries about this combination are justified. However, the conclusion is that Okin’s criticism emphasises the necessity and possibility of the revision of political liberalism – as a possible background of liberal feminism and a general orientation in political philosophy.

Gender and representing the feminine in legal and administrative texts in Italy – The paper examines the linguistic treatment of the genre (delimiting the concept to ‘female’, ‘woman’) at various levels of legal communication, through the analysis of legal and administrative texts of different kinds produced in Italy in the 20th and 21st centuries (codes, sentences, regulations, etc). The survey focuses on lexical aspects and is supported by lexicographical research.