Closer or beyond of sexual difference : For an alternative feminist epistemology through Elizabeth Grosz and Myra Hird

Con el objeto de contribuir a la reflexión sobre una epistemología feminista alternativa, este trabajo presenta ideas en torno a la naturaleza, el cuerpo y la diferencia sexual en dos autoras feministas escasamente conocidas en el contexto latinoamericano: Elizabeth Grosz y Myra Hird. A través del análisis que en ambas ejerce la influencia teórica deleuziana, el artículo sugiere la figura de la bacteria como símbolo de lo que cada autora re-elabora distintamente de la corriente deleuziana, para confluir sin embargo en un aporte a las epistemologías feministas en contraste con las vertientes constructivistas del feminismo contemporáneo. Elizabeth Grosz considera que la diferencia sexual es el metaprincipio que, una vez azarosamente aparecido, reorganiza la evolución de la naturaleza y se convierte en el garante del surgimiento incesante de diferencia. Por el contrario, Myra Hird propone que una ontología bacteriana constituye, en cierta medida, el futuro de la naturaleza, en tanto naturalmente queer, despreocupadas por la diferencia sexual como mecanismo reproductivo, las bacterias son el ser con mejor pronóstico de supervivencia. Ambas autoras aportan una mirada distinta a las epistemologías feministas de corte constructivista, contribuyendo una consideración crítica de la naturaleza, el cuerpo y la diferencia sexual, centrales para el feminismoWith the aim of contributing to a reflection on the possibility of an alternative feminist epistemology, this article discusses ideas about nature, the body and sexual difference in two feminist authors scarcely known in the Latin American context: Elizabeth Grosz and Myra Hird. Through the analysis of the influence of Deleuzian thought on both authors, the article suggests the bacterium as a symbol that renders visible the differences between the authors' thinking. Both authors share however, the fact that their contribution to feminist epistemologies is different to those currently prevalent and epitomised in constructivist takes on feminism. Grosz considers that sexual difference is a sort of meta-principle that, once randomly appeared, re-organises the modes in which nature evolves, becoming the guarantor of the emergence of incessant difference. The bacterium figures in this form of thinking as the residue of a previous and not creative way of reproducing. On the contrary, Myra Hird suggests that a bacterial ontology represents, to a certain extent the future of nature, insofar as naturally queer, and unconcerned by sexual difference as a reproductive mechanism, bacteria are the beings with a better chance of survival. Both authors contribute to an alternative view of feminist constructivist epistemologies, critically considering nature, the body and sexual difference, which are central to feminis