essentialism

noun

es·​sen·​tial·​ism i-ˈsen(t)-shə-ˌli-zəm 

1

: an educational theory that ideas and skills basic to a culture should be taught to all alike by time-tested methods compare progressivism

2

: a philosophical theory ascribing ultimate reality to essence embodied in a thing perceptible to the senses compare nominalism

3

: the practice of regarding something (such as a presumed human trait) as having innate existence or universal validity rather than as being a social, ideological, or intellectual construct

essentialist

i-ˈsen(t)-shə-list 

adjective or noun

Examples of essentialism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Though cis creators have played with the concept of post-apocalyptic worlds in which groups of people are mysteriously eliminated based on biological characteristics, Manhunt avoids essentialism by centering its narrative around two trans women, Beth and Fran. —James Factora, Them, 11 Oct. 2024

Throughout the years, different editions of Dungeons & Dragons have reconsidered some of these components of essentialism. —Steven Dashiell, Scientific American, 31 July 2024

This ultimately works to reinforce the norm through gender essentialism that upholds a social hierarchy that brands effeminate or ambiguous men as second class citizens. —Josh Greenblatt, WIRED, 17 July 2024

Mussolini’s Motherhood Factories In fascist Italy, childbirth, breastfeeding and motherhood were given a hybrid structure of industrial management and eugenicist biological essentialism. —JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined at sense 1