Writer’s Choice

Although MacKinnon does not put it in these words, her claim about coercion at the level of identity is based on the following coercive threat:
If you do not identify as the “woman” that our sexist society forces you to be, then there is no you.
If this threat to identity is TRUE — if that is the way that identity works — then we have some reason to be persuaded by her argument.
But, if it is FALSE, the we don’t.
Harris argues that the threat to identity is FALSE.
It is FALSE, she argues, because even when we assume that the Antecedent is true (“You do not identify as the “woman” that our sexist society forces you to be”), the Consequent is false.
As a matter of logic, a Conditional that has a true Antecedent and a false Consequent is a FALSE statement.
In this case, according to Harris, the conditional is a False statement because there IS still a “you” even if you do not identify as the “woman” that our sexist society forces you to be.
So, is the conditional threat to identity true or false?
That depends on how we understand identity — is it like a road or an intersection? Or like something else?
Assignment:
In a full 3-page essay, typed in 12-point font and double spaced, please think critically about Harris’s critique of MacKinnon’s argument.
QUESTION: Is the conditional threat to identity TRUE or FALSE? Defend your position.
Please support your position with references and citations to the essays by Harris and MacKinnon.