The po-faced nature of ‘gender studies’ has long been the subject of ridicule.

So two American academics set up to deliberately expose the ‘fashionable nonsense’ emanating from social science departments by writing a hoax paper on the ‘The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct’.

Despite being made-up twaddle, their effort was subsequently published to acclaim in a leading UK journal.

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Two American academics set up to deliberately expose the ‘fashionable nonsense’ emanating from social science departments on gender studies by writing a hoax paper on "The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct" (stock image)

GENDER AGENDA Two academics in the US wrote a hoax paper on the ‘The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct’ to prove gender studies is 'fashionable nonsense’. Their jargon-laden essay included the phrases ‘gender-performative, high fluid social construct’, ‘exclusionary to disenfranchised communities’, and ‘isomorphic to performative toxic masculinity’. The hoax paper was sent to UK journal the Cogent Social Scientist, which duly published it. A member of one team of independent academic reviewers described the piece as ‘outstanding’. Another praised the authors for their treatment for the ‘issue of hypermasculinity through a multi-dimensional and non-linear process.’ Advertisement

Peter Boghossian and James Liddle, from Portland State University, later confessed to inventing the nonsense article, and said they wanted to expose what they saw as the low academic standards of ‘gender studies scholarship’.

‘We wrote an absurd paper loosely constructed in the style of post-structuralist discursive gender theory,’ Mr Boghossian explained.

‘[But] We made no attempt to find out what ‘post-structuralist discursive gender theory’ actually means.’

His colleague, James Lindsay, a mathematician, added of their plan: ‘As they seem to have a fondness for claiming that concepts like gender are best understood as social constructions, we figured it would be likely to succeed if we wrote a bogus paper claiming that we shouldn’t think of penises as anatomical organs and yet as the cause of many of the world’s evils.’

Their jargon-laden and frankly absurd scribblings included the phrases ‘gender-performative, high fluid social construct’, ‘exclusionary to disenfranchised communities’, and ‘isomorphic to performative toxic masculinity’.

They even associated male anatomy with climate change.

It read: ‘Through detailed poststructuralist discursive criticism and the example of climate change, this paper will challenge the prevailing and damaging social trope that penises are best understood as the male sexual organ.’

The hoax paper was sent to UK journal the Cogent Social Scientist, which duly published it.

A team of independent academic reviewers were also asked to review the work, with one describing the piece as ‘outstanding’.

Academic reviewers praised the authors for their treatment for the ‘issue of hypermasculinity through a multi-dimensional and non-linear process', despite it being made up twaddle (stock image)

Another praised the authors for their treatment for the ‘issue of hypermasculinity through a multi-dimensional and non-linear process.’

A spokesman for Taylor & Francis Group, which published the journal, said it was investigating.

‘We are currently investigating the publication of this paper and will be commenting on it one we have had the opportunity to look into this thoroughly,’ they said in a statement.

However the two US academics responsible for the sting said they feared it would do nothing to change the ‘morally driven, fashionable nonsense’ coming out of the ‘postmodernist social ‘sciences’ in general, and gender studies departments in particular.'